Monday, July 30, 2007

An Angry Look At the Accent Core Wii Controls

Okay. Before I go on the upcoming rant, I understand that Guilty Gear Accent Core for the Nintendo Wii has not ruined anything technically. For all of the purist out there (and I consider myself one of them), Accent Core features a completely traditional control style for use with the Classic Controller (or the Gamecube controller - which I don't recommend). The Nintendo Wii is also receiving a Hori Fighting Stick sometime in August. These should be the only ways that you play this game. Period.

Am I just being a difficult traditionalist who is refusing to see the light of motion controls in a fighting game? Perhaps, but only if you thought Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO was a good idea.

Before I preface into how exactly the game controls, I find it extremely funny that in nearly all of the promotions for the game (including the manual) Arc System Works has recommended the use of the Classic Controller or the Gamecube Controller. The Wii Remote and the Nunchuck seems to be the red headed step child of Accent Core control schemes. A necessary evil, but one that you would much rather be done with and ignore than to let see the light of day.

But I gave it a chance. I promise I did.

When I first picked up the game after using my Classic Controller for a few rounds of Axl on Bridget action, I immediately set the Classic Controller aside to give the Wii Remote and Nunchuck a fair shake. "How bad can it really be?" I thought to myself, unknowing of the can of worms I was about to open up. For those who haven't read up on how the Wii Remote and Nunchuck works in Accent Core for the Wii, let me give you a run down:

Nunchuck
* Analog stick - Responsible for movement
* C Button - Hold the button and perform a shake with either the Nunchuck or the Remote to do a special move
* Z Button - Same as C, but features different moves
* If you shake the Nunchuck quickly without holding a C Button or Z Button, you perform punch
* If you shake the Nunchuk strongly without holding a C Button or Z button, you perform a kick

Remote
* D-Pad Left - Punch
* D-Pad Right - High Slash
* D-Pad Up - Slash
* D-Pad Down - Kick
* A Button - Dust
* B Button - Force Break
* 1 - Taunting
* 2 - Respect

Yeah... It really is as convoluted as it seems.

Essentially with the addition of an easy input and easy False Roman Cancel input mode, any sort of timing is thrown out the window in a mess of shakes, twirls, and hops, while you try to get your character to perform exactly like you want it to. These controls are not just an issue of essentially "dumbing" down the game for the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, but they also successfully take almost all of the skill out of the Guilty Gear engine and replace it with a haphazardly tacked on series of waggles and obscenely unergonomic button presses to perform moves that on a Classic Controller are second nature.

Furthermore, they are badly implemented. There is a bit of a lag in response while trying to use specific moves, meaning that while you may be attempting to Cancel out of a maneuver to continue a chain, you end up trying to perform a Kick and end up eating a 27 hit combo from someone smart enough not to be using the Wii Remote and Nunchuck.

This is probably one of major issues with the Nintendo Wii as a whole. The system's primary control function is inherently difficult to program certain genres for. Attempts to do so are often left in a mess, with developers forced to use alternative control methods such as the Classic Controller as the control method of choice for their Wii games. Nintendo may be ushering in a new era of motion controlled game play, but if this sort of game play is the future, I'm not sure if I'm ready for it yet.

But I digress.

Guilty Gear Accent Core's Nunchuck and Wii Remote control stylings are bad. It is essentially taking the worst parts about Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO and redressing it for the Wii console. If you are a gamer who feels that one flick Shoryukens are a good thing, you are going to feel that Accent Core's controls are right up your aisle.

The gameplay in Accent Core for the Wii while using these control methods however is broken to the point of unplayability.

And this is the real shame of the situation.

Guilty Gear Accent Core for the Wii is a strong port that features several fixes over the PS2 version. However, it is held back by the fact that the Wii Remote and Nunchuck control option is out of the box unpractical for fighting game fans. For people wanting to purchase this game, the price has essentially increased $20 so that you can own a Classic Controller. There are other uses for it of course, but for a series that already has a niche following, this is a good way to alienate fans and to ensure that they will not be encouraged to move away from their comfortable PS2 in order to try out something new.

Reports from Arcade Heroes and the Stinger Report

Today was pretty busy over at Arcade Heroes. Using Kevin Williams at the Stinger Report as a primary source, they broke out a few stories to keep an eye on for the next couple of months while we get into the primary amusement show season. Here's the run down of the rumors, take them for what they are worth.

Street Fighter 4 May Still be on the Way
Thanks to a tip from the Stinger Report, it appears that Capcom may be soon revealing a new Street Fighter arcade title. It is unknown if this would be Street Fighter 4 something else but at the recent Anniversary celebration for Street Fighter at a number of Capcom arcade venues, displays have appeared with copy that alludes to a new Street Fighter arcade title.

My thoughts - We already know from a previous interview with Capcom that there are definitely some plans involving Street Fighter in the near future. Though there wasn't anything definitive in the interview, catch phrases such as "building our brands" and "multiplatform approach" were used to describe Capcom's potential plans for the upcoming year. Do I think that means a Street Fighter IV? Yes and no.

I think that whatever we see in regards to Street Fighter IV is going to be primarily seen through Capcom USA and I also have a feeling (call it a gut hunch based on "rumors") that its primary format will not be arcades. An important thing to note here about the interview that I've sourced from Charles Bellfield - whatever we see in regards to information about the Street Fighter movie or new games and marketing probably won't be seen until late 2007, since he claims in the interview that releases won't begin until 2008.


Stinger Uber Crystal Ball for JAMMA show
It’s time for The Stinger Report’s predictions of what we might expect to see at the 45th Amusement Machine Show in Japan this September. It only mentioned games that have been seen on test or rumored and not seen at recent private shows. Enjoy and have fun speculating!
‘what might be at JAMMA’

Virtua Fighter 5 EVOLUTION (Sega) Fighter Rumor
Sengoku Basara X (Taito)* Fighter On test
The King of Fighters XII (Taito) Fighter On test
Samurai Spirits Sen (Taito) Fighter Rumor
Oriental Legend 2 (IGS) Brawler On test
New Gungame (Namco) Shooter Rumor
Guitarfreaks V4 & DrumMania V4 Rock x Rock (Konami) Music On test
Taiko no Tatsujin 10 (Namco) Music On test
DDR Supernova 2 (Konami) Music On test
War of Grail (Capcom) Brawler Rumor
D1GP Grand Prix (Taito) Driver On test
Super Hang-On 2 (Sega) Driver Rumor
Sega Rally 3 (Sega) Driver Rumor
Baseball Heroes 3 (Konam) Sports On test
Silent Hill: The Arcade (Konami) Shooter On test
Zombie Shooter (Taito) Shooter Rumor


My Thoughts - Most of these are pretty reasonable. As just a small note about one of the games listed above: it seems that according to inside sources King of Fighters XII is facing more problems than a simple lack of "talent" (the words of Falcoon, not mine). Though I have not been able to substantiate this entirely, the next installment of the King of Fighters seems to already be facing a rough time. Some people have begun murmuring that the project may be scratched and restarted again (as it has been once before).

This is only a rumor from someone who is only passingly connected to the company, so I'm taking it with a grain of salt for now. I would love to see the King of Fighters XII prove me a liar.

*Just a small correction, this one isn't related to Taito as Capcom has chose to use the System 256 hardware for the title.

(Image of Street Fighter II cabinet from Killer List of Video Games)

Dynamite Deka EX Hits Arcades Today

Sega's workhorse NAOMI hardware is an odd beast. Despite the 8+ years of being a mainstay in arcade circles both in Japan and abroad, the system has shown no signs of going gently into the night. Though a lot of releases on the system recently have been simple games dedicated primarily at quick cash ins on the extremely inexpensive development costs, occasionally a random jewel gets thrown in with the mix and shows that the system is still competent now even for larger release. This is of course despite being overshadowed by new hardware by Taito, Namco, and even Sega themselves.

With that said, the latest game in Sega's Dynamite Deka series has opened in Japan starting today. Dynamite Deka EX Asian Dynamite will not win any awards visually and the controls seem to be as sluggish now as they were years ago, but despite the issues with the title, the simple fact that we are getting a new arcade beat-em up in 2007 is a great sign that someone up there loves me. I'm a sucker for the genre, and though most of the games have never been able to capture the same feel as the old standbys, I still put my quarters in and bash the attack button as quickly as I can.

Like the previous games in the series, Dynamite Deka EX has cut scene sequences that require you to press a specific series of buttons or directions to successfully navigate to the next area or to provide other beneficial effects. Though Shenmue was probably the most famous example that I can think of to describe these Quick Time Events, the Dynamite Deka series was one of the first. Added features to Dynamite Deka EX include a costume change feature and mid-level minigames like quizzes.

For those in the US, Coinopexpress is offering new ROM boards for about $1200.



Rumored Soul Calibur Movie Poster

Over at Fighters Generation, a small image of a Soul Calibur movie poster was put up online with the claim that this is indeed the first glimpse of the Soul Calibur movie currently in production by 2nd Degree Media and Anthem Pictures. Last time we heard anything about this movie was sometime in 2006 when the official site launched with a simple teaser promoting the film for release sometime in 2007.

Unfortunately, if this poster is real, the earliest we are going to see the movie is going to be 2008. However that's a big if on the question on whether or not this poster is real. For all intents and purposes it has been thought that this project was shelved quite some time ago (further proof to this fate is the fact that Namco has been coy on talking about the project) and the website was simply an abandoned site on the web.

Is this the first step to seeing the project through? I don't know. I've put the poster up for you guys to judge, but I'm planting this one firmly into speculative until I get a cleaner shot of the image or I see it on another source.

Friday, July 27, 2007

Shin Chuka Taisen Home Page Launched, Wii Controls Revealed

Starfish's revision of the original Taito arcade classic Chuka Taisen finally found a home on the web. Though there isn't much in the way of videos or more screenshots of the game, Starfish has listed a few additional details that were previously unknown. First and foremost, the game is set to be released in August in Japan for 6,090 yen. There is currently no word on whether or not the game is going to make it stateside.

Secondly, the game is going to be adding a unique set of Wii-motion controls to the shooting genre, something that I'm both apprehensive and intrigued at the possibility of. To play the game, you will hold the Wii remote sideways. The direction pad controls your character while the 1, 2, and A button perform specific functions in the game. The Wii-motion controls come in by tilting the controller left or right. By doing so, you speed up or slow down and the screen tilts with you. This provides you more room to navigate through tight spaces, around numerous enemies, or to line up a better shot against one of the many bosses.

We'll have more information about the game next month when my copy is received. Until then, check out the game's official website.

Donkey Kong Record Falls - Billy Mitchell Lays Down the Gauntlet

Some of you may recall the King of Kong documentary that is currently making the rounds (trailer above). Though I haven't had a chance to see it yet, I do know what the outcome is in the end. If you wish to be surprised by the documentary, don't continue reading past this point.


Essentially, Steve Wiebe despite all of the hardships he suffered during the course of the film breaks the Donkey Kong record and takes his name on top of the high score table that has stood pretty much set in stone since the mid-80's.

Hot on the heels of the documentary's impending wide release (late August I believe), Billy Mitchell, the former record holder and self proclaimed World's Greatest Video Game Player has once again proven why his former record was so formidable.

On July 14th, Billy Mitchell shattered the previous record set by Steve Wiebe exactly 25 years after he set his original record that stood up until Wiebe was able to capture it earlier this year. Twin Galaxies published a press release regarding the accomplishment yesterday and with it posted the new official record at Donkey Kong, 1,050,200 points.

You can read the press release by Twin Galaxies and also find a link to videos of the footage of Billy Mitchell's record breaking attempt here.

But it doesn't stop there.

Not satisfied with simply holding the record, Billy Mitchell is now out to show the world that he stands behind his score 100%. The gloves have come off and the gauntlet has been thrown down at the Classic Gaming Expo on July 28th and 29th in Las Vegas, NV, as the first person who can break the new record at the two day show will win $10,000 from Mitchell himself.

Crazy?

Perhaps, but when you consider yourself to be the best video game player of all time, sometimes you have to put your money where your mouth is.

Billy Mitchell, I salute you.

Press Start Interviews SideQuest Studios

I missed this one last week, but Press Start has taken the time to interview Marcus Pukropski of SideQuest Studios in regards to the Soldner-X project. Some interesting things were revealed in the interview, including the first details in regards to the chaining system in the game.

Still no word on what system or platform the game's going to be released on, but according to Marcus Pukropski in the interview, that should be revealed "during the next couple of weeks".

To read the interview, head over to Press Start. Also be sure to keep an eye on the game's official website for any updates that the development team may put up.

As a side note on the poll that was originally put up by the SideQuest Studios team in regards to the platform of choice for gamers visiting the website - the Playstation Network for the Playstation 3 still seems to lead the votes with over 2,500 votes cast.

Sega Sammy Holdings Slip into the Red

As reported by Yahoo!:

TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese game company Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. said Friday it slipped into the red in its first quarter as its businesses aimed at children slipped.

The company -- born through a 2004 merger between video-game maker Sega and pinball machine company Sammy -- posted a net loss of 5.08 billion yen (42.87 million dollars) during the three months to June, reversing the year-earlier net profit of 779 million yen.

The company also went into the red on an operating level, posting a loss of 2.43 billion yen compared with an operating profit of 2.80 billion yen.

Revenue grew 11.4 percent year-on-year to 95.42 billion yen.

The company said it continued to enjoy strong sales in its key business of pachinko -- a pinball game played in thousands of garish, smoky parlours across Japan. Critics say pachinko is a barely disguised form of gambling.

Revenue in the pachinko division jumped 75.23 percent to 38.2 billion yen.

But the company said it faced tough competition for other forms of entertainment, particularly those geared towards children. Japan has one of the world's greyest populations with young people having fewer and fewer children.

Sega Sammy said one ray of hope was its "Dinosaur King" card games, which have grown in popularity after becoming a Japanese television animation earlier this year.

Sega Sammy said it continued streamlining game arcades, closing 10 more and opening three to leave a net total of 442 at the end of June.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Sengoku Basara X Location Test Videos Part 3 and Impressions

More location test videos of Sengoku Basara X have been appearing on YouTube! This one is another one uploaded by mirafi, and is one of the better ones of the bunch. The location test formally ends today, so this is going to be one of the last looks we are going to be receiving of the beta until perhaps the JAMMA show or the Tokyo Game Show depending on how Capcom and Arc System Works feels.

While I am waiting for my sources to get back to me in regards to their impressions of the title, Insert Credit drew my attention to a post over on the Madman Cafe Forums by Maese Spt in regards to his opinion on how the testing went. I've copied and pasted a selection below, but you can find the full original post here:
As somebody pointed out before, it’s a bit too early to pass any serious judgment about gameplay, because most players were quite noobish. I only got two see two supers and one “Basara KO” on the whole time I spent there, and since the queue was quite long I didn’t even bother to try to play myself. I might have better luck today, tough.

The general looking, as expected, is quite GG-ish, but it seemed not so chaotic to me. It’s fast, yeah, but not vertiginous. That’s a good point in my book, actually.

The presented game was only a beta with 4 selectable characters and a few stages: Yukimura, Masamune (not a surprise, huh), Keiji and Kenshin. What’s worse, all the fangirls there kept selecting Yukimura and Masamune all time, so there was little chance to see other guys in action. I’m not an expert in other Arc System games, but the kind of combos and specials reminded me of the few times I had played GG X. Hmm, that’s quite obvious, I guess.

However, Yukimura and Masamune didn’t feel just like the Sengoku versions of Sol and Ky, respectively; they had quite different movesets and stuff. Generally speaking, specials and supers were not as flashy as I expected, tough. A bit disappointing, yeah, but maybe other characters would have cooler, more spectacular specials. Or maybe it’s just that noobish players could only pull out low level specials. We’ll see today. Not that I’m going to be able to pull out decent combos or whatever, tough!

The engun system is still a mistery to me. Yukimura and Keiji had indeed two supporting characters (they were not present from the start, it seems you have to fill a gauge or something to make them show up), while Masamune had only Kojuro to lend him a hand. It seems the main usage for the engun is to power up your supers and make some special combos, but probably there will be more than that.

Nobody was able to make use of Yukimura’s second engun, tough. Sasuke popped up on the melee every once in a while, but nobody could make Shingen participate, even tough he was present at the background along Sasuke. I think that has to do with the “level” you earn for your engun during the battle: the more level you get, the more (or more powerful) stuff he can do; maybe Shingen is a high level engun and would only show up with really huge gauge levels. Or maybe it’s just he was not yet fully implemented in the beta. Oh, yeah, and Kojuro’s aid seemed quite cheap to perform juggles and the like. I can see people bitching about that when game finally comes out.

Exzeal and Shooting Love 2007 Now Shipping

Triangle Service's follow up to Trizeal, Exzeal and Shmups Skill Test (both part of the Shooting Love 2007 series) is now shipping to arcades across Japan. I'm not to sure where I would put these in the grand scheme of shooting game releases, but Trizeal was a solid experience that was well worth the cost of admission. The games run on the NAOMI arcade hardware, however due to Sega stopping production of GD-ROMs, the chances of a Dreamcast console port is highly unlikely (no matter what die hard Sega fans may want to believe).

For more information about the two games, head over to Triangle Service's official homepage. The kits are relatively inexpensive, so I am planning on purchasing one of these in the near future.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Additional Details from the Sengoku Basara X Location Test

Japanese Arcade gaming news site Am-Net have posted up several detailed images regarding the recent Sengoku Basara X location test. Included in the images was a close look at a poster/flyer for the game as well as several shots of some of the cabinet pieces including moves list for some of the characters. I've pulled a few of the interesting shots that I could find from the posters and have posted them here so you can take a look at some of the latest details coming out about Sengoku Basara X.

To start with, as you can see above, the game is using a basic 4 button layout that features 3 attack buttons and one reinforcement button. The attacks are Light, Medium, and Strong. These are the buttons across the top row. The bottom row has a single button, the Reinforcement button that is used to start Reinforcement attacks, Assists, and Counter-Assists in the game. From my understanding, in order to use the Reinforcement maneuvers you first press the Reinforcement button to queue your ally and then use one of the other buttons to unleash another attack.

I'm getting confirmation on this to be sure, but it does seem that they are trying to add another layer of depth on top of the semi-familiar VS engine of Assists that Capcom has relied on traditionally in some of their cross over titles. I'm not sure whether or not this additional layer is going to be a benefit or a hindrance to the title, so I'm holding off judgment until I can get some hands on time with it.

The second shot was a basic movelist for four of the characters in the game. Anybody familiar with the Guilty Gear series should be able to pick up the characters relatively easily. The four movesets revealed are practically clones of each other, though more than likely, just like in the Guilty Gear series, the different characters will play wildly differently based on their speed, power, and range. Though it is only four characters, I'm disappointed that there isn't a single charge move revealed yet. I'm a sucker for holding down back during the course of a match. Quarter Circle Forwards have just never been my thing...

The characters shown on the cabinet decal above are Date Masamune, Sanada Yukimura, Maeda Keiji, and Uesugi Kenshin.

The final picture of interest I found on AM-Net was an image of a display piece that goes into the details behind some of the Reinforcement mechanic of the game. I'm trying to get a cleaner image of this scan since I'm having a hard time making out the details, but it appears to go into different button commands you can perform with your ally characters in different situations for different effects. For example, there seems to be a mention of an aerial attack that can be used by pressing down and the strong attack button. There are also mention of Guarded abilities, but I'm having a hard time breaking it down.

If anyone has a breakdown of what this scan details or a higher quality version, I would appreciate being notified by e-mail or in my comments.

So far, so good I think. Sure some people may be disappointed at the choice of source material, but the character designs as well as back story has me compelled.

If you are interested in the location test videos that I've found from the event, you can check them out here.

Sengoku Basara X Location Test Video Part 2

This has little to do with the game itself, but I thought it deserved a post as well. This is the video shot by mirafi that shows the line for the location test for Sengoku Basara X. I hope Capcom's watching...

First Basara X Location Test Videos

YouTube! user Mirafi has posted the first videos of the Sengoku Basara X location test. I haven't had a chance to really break down these videos yet, but I'm planning on going through all of them tonight so I can really sink my teeth into the gritty details. The two primary videos are embedded below for your convenience.

I do like the look of the game, and though the videos are a bit poor quality overall (YouTube! compression strikes again...), they go a long way of showing just what Arc System Works and Capcom are attempting to accomplish with the title. To me the game screams Last Blade, which makes sense in a way. I have one person at the location test getting all the information they can about the title, so when I get a report back from them I should have more information for you.



Thanks to GamerCafe for the links.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

GLOBAL VR TO DEBUT EA SPORTS NASCAR RACING AT AAMA’S GALA

Global VR has announced the second major game that is debuting from the company's line up at the AAMA gala. After last week's announcement that America's Army would be on display, this week Global VR has announced that their NASCAR racing game is set to finally be shown to the public.

After about a year in development, this game has been high on the anticipation list for a lot of racing fans. Considering the amount of time and effort that has went into providing a realistic NASCAR experience (and the quality of the cabinets which can be seen over at Arcade Heroes), Global VR more than likely has a winner on their hands with this game.

It will be interesting to see how its received from the gaming population. The popularity of the NASCAR brand in the US is undeniably strong. Living outside of Memphis myself (and deep in the heart of the American south), I can not go to into any retail location, arcade, or theatre, without seeing a NASCAR fan wearing a shirt, hat, or bumper sticker.

Though I'm not a huge fan of the sport, I do enjoy a good sit down racer. It will be interesting to see the choices of the officially licensed tracks by Global VR that are going to be playable in the game. I'm assuming Talladega and Daytona will be at the top of the list, but it will be neat to see some of the road courses as well.

The press release is below for those interested in a bit more information about the game.

SAN JOSE, Calif – GLOBAL VR® is pleased to announce that EA SPORTS™ NASCAR® Racing will premier at the August 3rd AAMA Gala in Itasca, Illinois. The fully licensed NASCAR game has hit all major development milestones and is now ready to be introduced to the coin-op market. Jim DeRose, GLOBAL VR president and CEO commented, “We are anxious to present this NASCAR masterpiece to distributors, and what better way to do that than at our Industry Gala? Extensive consumer and field testing have given us the data with which to make our final game adjustments. We are confident that this will not only meet our industry’s expectations but significantly exceed them.” He went on to comment, “NASCAR’s game development has been spear-headed by John Ray, GLOBAL VR Vice-President and Executive Producer and ex-Atari racing game guru. John, along with his experienced team, has pulled out all the stops and the end result is nothing less than spectacular.”

GLOBAL VR entered into an exclusive agreement with Electronic Arts which gives GLOBAL VR rights to develop and manufacture the only coin-operated version of EA’s NASCAR franchise hit. “NASCAR racing fans will recognize the tracks, the drivers, and the cars,” said Jim DeRose. He went on to comment, “While others might suggest their games are NASCAR licensed by using the city names and look-alike cars, only GLOBAL VR’s game will deliver the real-deal. And, as guests at Gala will learn, when you see the extra-ordinary game cabinet and get seated behind the wheel the NASCAR experience will be complete!”

EA SPORTS NASCAR Racing will be available in deluxe, motion-deluxe, and a very affordable standard cabinet configuration. The game cabinets will be linkable and offer players the opportunity to race against 30 different NASCAR drivers in 30 different cars. Featured tracks will include six major, well known tracks.

For information about other GLOBAL VR products, please visit www.globalvr.com or contact your local GLOBAL VR distributor or sales representative.

About GLOBAL VR:
Founded in 1998 and headquartered in San Jose, California, GLOBAL VR® is one of the world's leading manufacturers of coin-operated video games based on home gaming technology. GLOBAL VR is able to leverage the massive investment in development of PC and console games by third party developers by making them suitable for play in out-of-home locations. License agreements are in place with some of the world's leading game publishers including Electronic Arts, Midway, Ubisoft, and Atari. These agreements provide GLOBAL VR rights to create coin-op versions of popular home games such as EA SPORTS™ PGA TOUR® GOLF, Underground, NASCAR, Blazing Angels, Beach Head and Operation Blockade. GLOBAL VR has recently entered the gaming industry where contracts are in place with Bally Gaming for development of video casino game entertainment. More information on GLOBAL VR can be found at www.globalvr.com.


New Star Soldier for the Nintendo Wii

Hudson's Star Soldier series has always held a special place for me. In a lot of ways, it was one of the first game that truly introduced me to the world of vertically scrolling shooters. One of the unheralded gems of the Gamecube in my opinion happened to be an import only remake of the original Star Soldier for the system. Though it was definitely a throw back in every sense of the word, the game delivered the quality shooting experience that fans of arcade styled shooters would appreciate, despite its mediocre sales and lackluster reviews from a lot of mainstream media sources.

With that said, it seems that Hudson is planning on revisiting the franchise with a new game in the series for the Nintendo Wii. In a short blog post, Takahashi (from Hudson) has stated that they are currently planning on a Star Soldier title for the Wii, tentatively named Star Soldier R. Though no further information is provided (including whether or not this is another remake or a new game entirely), he states that the game will be revealed with the 2007 Caravan tour.

Though the game is only in its early stages, Hudson seems keen on trying to drive up support for the title to determine whether or not there is a demand for this sort of shooter on the Wii. I know I would personally love to see another vertical shooter coming to Nintendo's newest console, but whether or not we see this title is going to be determined by the initial customer feedback provided to Hudson by fans of the series.

We should have more information soon. I'm crossing my fingers that this title does come through to fruition.

Super Contra shooting the Xbox 360 this Wednesday

It's about time really.

After showing off Super Contra for the XBLA downloadable service last September, fans have been clamoring for their opportunity to get their hands on the superior sequel to the original Contra that is already available on Xbox Live. However you can forget the bright color palettes and horizontal orientation of the NES ports - Super Contra (like Contra before it) is based on the original arcade game and not the Famicom/NES versions.

What does this mean for Contra fans?

A much darker color palette, enemies that are more detailed, and the classic Contra-styled bosses in their original arcade glory. Sure the bright reds and blues of the NES and Famicon Contra/Super C games are not present in Super Contra, but what you get instead is a hardcore action shooter that takes no prisoners and bombards you at every stage with a level of detail that was not possible anywhere else but arcades at the time of its release.

Personally there is a slight downside to Super Contra. The overhead levels, while "okay", I felt were slightly more abrasive than the previous corridor levels of Contra. There were only two of them in the course of the game, but both were a bit jarring in my opinion. Some people swear by them however, so I do understand that this could just be my preference for the side scrolling and up scrolling levels.

The game launches tomorrow for those interested. Online co-op will be available as well as the standard Xbox Live Arcade face lift. At a $5 entry price its an absolute steal for action fans.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

More Sengoku Basara X Details

I know this is has taken up the front page of my blog for the last few days, and I apologize for that. In a traditionally slow period for arcade news (late summer to the Tokyo Gaming Show and the Jamma Show), to have Capcom announcing Sengoku Basara X as well as having them already planning on a location test is pretty exciting.

With that said, Gpara has some more basic information released about Sengoku Basara X that I didn't see on any other source this weekend. According to the Japanese news site (and relayed to me via GamerCafe), Sengoku Basara X is currently being developed for the System 246/256 arcade hardware (according to the source its only using the 246's features). This means that any port to the PS2 will be agonizingly easy.

It's a surprise to see Capcom using the Namco developed arcade hardware after several weeks of rumors that the game would be running on the Type X2. It was my understanding that this game was essentially locked for Taito's board based on early reports about the game.

The reinforcement system is also outlined a bit more, but it does seem that it is essentially going to be the same system that we already know and love from Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Your reinforcements however use a timed level bar that increases during the match due to the lapse of time. If you use the reinforcement technique a lot during the course of a match, the amount of damage you perform will be substantially lowered. If you hold off on reinforcement until a lot of time has passed, your allies' abilities will be a lot more powerful.

More information should be coming out after the location tests, so keep an eye here a bit later this week.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Global VR to Deploy America's Army at AAMA Gala

Special thanks to Arcade Heroes and The Stinger Report for the press release in regards to the latest project by Global VR. It'll be interesting to see how the heavy rules based America's Army games translate to the arcade environment.

Arcade Heroes pointed out a rather interesting fact about the game. On the cabinets upper left, the Unreal logo is visible, meaning that this game is powered by Epic's proprietary development platform.




SAN JOSE, Calif – (July 19, 2007) – GLOBAL VR today announced that it plans to unveil the latest addition to the company's 2007 line-up of exciting titles, AMERICA'S ARMY . The AMERICA'S ARMY coin-operated game is based on the extremely popular AMERICA'S ARMY game brand which is developed by the U.S. Army and includes PC, console and cell phone games, and other branded properties. The “green label”, coin-operated AMERICA'S ARMY game is the result of a unique partnership between the U.S. Army and GLOBAL VR. The partnership which encompasses the development and manufacturing of an official U.S. Army game for the arcade market, will create a new communication channel with young Americans.

Working hand-in-hand with U.S. Army Subject Matter Experts and with the full cooperation of units of the U.S. Army, the coin-operated AMERICA'S ARMY is a realistic and engaging game centered on exciting training exercises, and includes a significant amount of authentic Army videos and other information designed to immerse the player in the Army culture.

“AMERICA'S ARMY is an arcade style training game based on actual Army training exercises designed to challenge Soldiers to hone their skills. Players are rewarded for teamwork, proper use of the Rules of Engagement, accuracy, and target identification,” says Mike Kruse, GLOBAL VR Producer. “The game's many marksmanship exercises are entirely target shooting challenges which makes this unique product appropriate for many location types that do not desire simulated combat games.” Mike went on to comment, “Being a veteran myself, I can honestly report that AMERICA'S ARMY is a highly authentic depiction of Army training exercises and the Army's unique organizational culture…down to the drill sergeant who is constantly by your side to bring out the best performance from each player.”

AMERICA'S ARMY is designed for one or two players and consists of a series of eight training mini-games. Each game is designed with a dynamic difficulty system making the game easy for new recruits and more difficult for experienced players. Bonuses are also important as they reward players with extra experiences and point rewards for jobs well done. Leader boards for each mini-game add fuel to the competition, and give players incentives to beat the top score.

We are so proud to be working directly with the U.S. Army on this project,” stated Jim DeRose GLOBAL VR President and CEO. “To have earned the Army's confidence throughout the game's development and delivered a coin-op game that fits the market needs of most video equipment operators is a huge accomplishment. We are convinced that the cabinet's small footprint, outstanding graphics, “green label” rating, and value pricing will make the game a natural for all locations.”

For information about other GLOBAL VR products, please visit www.globalvr.com or contact your local GLOBAL VR distributor or sales representative.

###

About the America 's Army Brand
Launched in July 2002, the America's Army game has become one of the most popular computer games in the world. America's Army has penetrated popular culture and is one of the most recognizable game brands as a result of its unique inside perspective on the U.S. Army and exciting gameplay. As the game's popularity continues to grow with each new release, the Army has expanded the brand through a variety of products to include console and wireless games, America's Army merchandise such as t-shirts and action figures, as well as training applications for use within the military and government sectors. The America 's Army game for the PC can be found online at www.americasarmy.com.

About GLOBAL VR: Founded in 1998 and headquartered in San Jose , California , GLOBAL VR® is one of the world's leading manufacturers of coin-operated video games based on home gaming technology. Through the development of proprietary technology, GLOBAL VR is able to leverage the massive investment in development of PC and console games by third party developers by making them suitable for play in out-of-home locations. Development agreements are in place with some of the world's leading game publishers including Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS ), Ubisoft, and Atari (NASDAQ:ATAR). These agreements provide GLOBAL VR rights to create coin-op versions of popular home games such as EA SPORTS™ PGA TOUR® GOLF , Underground, NASCAR, Blazing Angels, Beach Head and Operation Blockade. In addition, GLOBAL VR also develops and manufactures products previously marketed under the UltraCade label including Global Arcade Classics and Ultrapin. More information on GLOBAL VR can be found at www.globalvr.com.

Doujin Shooter PC Demo Updates

There were several PC doujin shooter projects that received trial versions and demos this past weekend. Though I haven't had a chance to work through them yet to determine their quality, I'm planning on doing so a bit later. For those interested in putting them through the ringers now, check out the screen shots and the links below.

A couple of them look mighty tempting...

Zillion Beats


Micoblaster


Trouble Witches


Banshiryuu

Sengoku Basara X Images

Dengeki Online posted up a series of first look screen shots of Sengoku Basara X in action. The images (which are fortunately a lot cleaner than the Famitsu scans) really begin to show the quality of 2D spritework that Capcom and Arc System Works are utilizing for the game. It's hard to judge the game when its not in motion, but if these screens are representative of the finished product, 2D fighting game fans should have a lot to be excited about in the upcoming months.

Something kind of neat about the screen shots are that they also reveal some of the "assist" mechanic that Sengoku Basara X is going to be featuring. During specific moments in a match you'll be able to call out a "partner" to assist in counter attacks and during combos. How similar this is to the VS. system assist maneuvers is anyone's guess, but the game thus far seems much more grounded than the Vs. system series from Capcom and Arc System Works other 2D titles.



For the full size images head over to Dengeki Online.

Fighting Game Spin Off Updates!

Famitsu posted an update earlier today with a few new screenshots of Guilty Gear II Overture and Soul Calibur Legends. Both of these games have seem to inspire quite a bit of criticism by hardcore fans of the series, which I don't necessarily blame them for (especially in the case of Guilty Gear II Overture). As always though, I'll reserve my judgment for the end (and in a way, I'm actually looking forward to Soul Calibur Legends)...

Guilty Gear II: Overture (Xbox 360)


Soul Calibur Legends (Nintendo Wii)

Sengoku Basara X Website Revealed and Location Test Announced

The teaser site for Capcom's arcade fighting game has been updated this morning to redirect to the official Sengoku Basara X website. You can find the official site for the new game here. A few things were listed on the new site that confirms some of the insider reports by Am-net in regards to the title. Number one, Sengoku Basara X is being developed first as an arcade game (no mention of any home port on the website can be found), and number two, the game is co-developed by Arc System Works (which makes sense considering that Capcom cut most of their arcade division not too long ago).

The character page is updated with 10 fighters, but fighters profiles and more information on the story is currently listed as coming soon.

For those seeking out a chance to play the game early, Capcom already has a location test scheduled for the game on the 25th and 26th of this month. I'm already working on trying to get someone to provide a report for the test, but at the very least I'm sure a rash of videos will be hitting YouTube! once the location tests are completed later this coming week.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Silent Hill the Arcade Game Official Site With Release Date

This may be old news to some... Or maybe not. But the Silent Hill Arcade game official site has been updated with the release date for the game. Silent Hill will be released across arcades in Japan on July 25th.

Though a lot of the impressions about the game have been mediocre from people claiming that it seems to go against the Silent Hill framework, I'm personally interested in seeing what they do with the game simply because the videos posted by Arcade Heroes honestly have intrigued me.

Though there isn't much of the way of details about the game itself, there is a series of random photographs that cycle through the big eye on the site. Most images are predictable creatures you will find in the game, nurses, shamblers, etc. But out of nowhere probably the creepiest creature I have ever seen appeared. What was it you may ask?

A bunny with a chainsaw. I kid you not (see below for the image).



The official site for the game can be found here.

Cave's New Game "Death Lolita"?

It seems that there are finally a few more details on Cave's new shooter revealed earlier this year. According to Mihara (CEO of Arika and the one responsible for the Ketsui DS project), a post on the Japanese site Mixi has stated that the working title for the new shooter is called "Death Lolita".

There was no mention of any additional details about the game, but the post does bring up that Cave also appears to be hiring some people for Cosplay-ing at upcoming events. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to view the post in question since a registration and log-in is required to access the Mixi page, but I have no reason to doubt the information provided.

As fans of the game may remember, Gamengai originally broke the news of a new Cave game with their post featuring the flyer sent out with the soundtrack CD of Mushihimesama Futari. Special thanks for Gamengai again for pointing out this new information from Mihara.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Current PS2 Version of Guilty Gear Accent Core Discontinued?

GamerCafe recently posted a small update that has brought to my attention a new PDF file on the official Arc System Works home page. It seems that the current build of Guilty Gear Accent Core for the PS2 is officially discontinued with no further production planned. What this means for current inventory on shelves, I don't know, but I assume that it will be sold through since there is no mention of a recall.

Fans of the series are probably aware of some of the issues present in the game that I reported on earlier. After Arc System Works apologized for the title and promised better results in the future, speculation went wild that they could be working on an update to the game. Though the PDF doesn't mention the possiblity of a bug fix for the game, it also doesn't explicitly rule it out either. It does seem that Guilty Gear Accent Core for the Wii may indeed be the "best" version of the game for home console buyers.

Unfortunately, there is no word yet on how this is going to affect Aksys's current localization efforts on the game (and their promise to look into fixing some of the game's glitches). You can check out the update yourself on the Arc System Works' homepage here.

Guilty Gear II: Overture (Xbox 360) Revealed

This week's Famitsu has definitely been interesting to say the least. Not only did we get the first screens of Basara X, we also are treated to a surprising revelation that we are also going to be seeing Guilty Gear II very soon. The scans are a bit troubling though, because for the first true sequel to Guilty Gear, the 2D fighting series is going to be making the jump into a 3D action, fighting, real time strategy hybrid. Dynasty Warriors with Guilty Gear characters? ...I'm afraid so.

The game will be featuring Sol as the primary character, with an appearance that is a far cry from the last time we saw him. It is currently around 80% complete and will be released on the Xbox 360 platform. I'm wondering if this is the precursor to a Guilty Gear EX series...

Sengoku Basara X Officially Revealed

Well, it seems that despite my belief that the 2D fighting game teaser site that Capcom posted online early this month was not a teaser for the rumored Arc System Works/Capcom collaboration based on Sengoku Basara X, the latest Famitsu just goes to show how wrong I was. Though the teaser site has not been updated with the information revealing the game yet, I was provided a scan of this week's Famitsu magazine which has a write up on the new project including the first screen shots of Sengoku Basara X in action.

A total of 10 characters were revealed in the magazine, including fan favorites Sanada Yukimura and Oda Nobunga. I'm working on translating parts of the scan, but I can clearly see that the PS2 and Wii are mentioned (but haven't worked out the context yet since that portion of the scan is incredibly blurried). I know that the game was rumored to be hitting arcades sometime this winter, but I'm having a hard time making it all out through the quality of the scans themselves. From my understanding the game should be released on the Taito Type X2 system.

As a side note, if anyone has a high quality scan, I would love to take a look at it so I can try my hand at working through some more of the details since the one I have is a bit shoddy.

From the scans so far, the game reminds me quite a bit of the recently released Hokuto No Ken game developed by Arc System Works. It will be interesting to see what happens with a game that blends two of the most widely known 2D fighting game developers and throws them onto a single project. It looks promising so far, but we still have a ways to go for development before we finally get a chance to take a crack at the game.

I'll be posting a copy of the scan this evening.

*UPDATE* - One of my favorite spots on the web Insert Credit, has posted up a copy of the 2chan scans released earlier today. You can find the scans here. I've also posted a smaller version above.

Also, Am-net's game watch page on Sengoku Basara X can be found here for those wanting to track any information about the arcade version of this game online.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3 Begins Shipping

The latest installment of the popular Midnight Maximum Tune series for the new Bandai Namco N2 arcade hardware will begin shipping next week world wide according to a recent newsletter report by CoinOpToday.

The Maximum Tune series is based on the popular manga Wangan Midnight which follows the underworld of Tokyo street racing in Japan. The first two games were met with critical success, and after positive impressions were revealed during location tests of Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3, there is little doubt that the third game in the series will deliver all the street racing thrills fans have come to expect from the arcade game. The games are noted for their heavy level of customization options as well as an in depth racing experience which has been likened to a hybrid of Ridge Racer and Project Gotham Racing.

A few things have changed in the latest installment of the game. Not only are there new cars and tracks, but Bandai Namco have taken the time to ensure a quality product by featuring new modes and features for long time Maximum Tune players. To start with, the game will now feature a Ghost mode where a Ghost of the #1 time on the machine will appear during Time Attacks. By beating the Ghost, more customization options are open for your car of choice. Also included in the new features are a Battle Mode with team battles and an overhauled Story Mode with over 20 new stages being added into the game's already impressive 80+ episodes.

A video of the game in action has been posted below from YouTube! courtesy of Am-Net.



Playstation Premier Info - Tekken 6 to Feature Online Multiplayer

Bandai Namco recently announced that the home console port of Tekken 6 on the Playstation 3 will be featuring a full multiplayer component allowing for one on one duels between Tekken fans.

The announcement, which was made at the recently held Playstation Premier event in Japan, finally confirms the wide spread belief that Tekken 6 would be following its predecessor, Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection, and its sister franchise, Soul Caibur, online when it is finally released for home gamers. Little new information was revealed at the event in regards to new features for the port, but Bandai Namco has promised an assortment of new modes different from the arcade version when the game is released.

No firm release date has been established yet for Tekken 6 for the Playstation 3, but the arcade game is set for a wide release later this fall. Bandai Namco claims that the game should be available within a year after that release period.

I don't know how other people feel about this decision, but I'm personally glad to see a bit of a delay between when Tekken 6 hits arcades and when the Playstation 3 home console port will be available. This creates a certain demand and hype for the game in the arcade scene before the wave of Tekken 6 Playstation 3 press takes over. I'm interested to see the response this game receives, especially due to the game's higher entry point.

The cell based arcade hardware is a great favor for Sony. Not only does it help ensure quality ports of some of Bandai Namco's higher tier arcade releases, but it also helps encourage Bandai Namco to continue supporting Sony's console.

Part of the announcement mentioned at the Playstation Premier event included talks about the possibility of cross-platform capabilities between the Playstation 3 and Tekken 6 arcade machine. Though no further details were released on what was being considered, chances are some form of character save data and perhaps unlocked extras will be available for those players who spend time in the arcades before Tekken 6 hits home.

We'll have more on that aspect of Tekken 6 as we get it.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Raiden IV Hands-On Quick Impressions

I’m a huge fan of the Raiden series (as I’ve probably said 50 million times). Though a lot of people have criticized the games for not evolving over the last 17 years, the fact that the game play is still as solid as it was when it first hit arcades is a testament to the game’s lasting effects.

While Cave and other companies have spent the last couple of years trying to redefine the shooter genre, Moss (and Seibu Kaihatsu before them) have held firm to Raiden’s roots and its quality through simplicity. Raiden III was a mixed bag because of this, and despite garnering positive reactions from long time fans of the series (and sticking around the top 20 list in Arcadia magazine), it was widely considered old news by those failing to see its appeal.

Predictably Raiden IV has set itself out from the get go to correct the faults of Raiden III and to provide a much more stimulating experience to help draw in a new generation of gamers.

After location tests in June 2006 and October yielded only mediocre results from players, Moss went back to the drawing boards for a bit of a redesign. The effect, while subtle, has changed the game from when it was first seen. The game is brighter, louder, and bigger right from the start. In fact, Raiden IV tries desperately to hold on to your senses right up until the final boss with it’s over the top explosions. In an environment as highly competitive as the Japanese arcade shooter scene, this is a necessary trait. If a game is not able to capture attention it will find more failures than successes.

The backgrounds in Raiden IV are far more detailed than those in Raiden III. However the ship models look like they have only been slightly touched up by Moss’s artists. The game’s difficulty level was improved, but it’s not really evident until you reach stage 3 or begin working on your second loop. The slow as molasses ship from Raiden III has been replaced, but the ship speed still borders on incredibly slow when compared to Raiden IV’s contemporaries. The scoring system was only slightly touched up from Raiden III with a new 5.0X multiplier added which only serves to increase the number of variables for those interested in score attacks or score competitions.

Despite Moss’s intentions (and even with the additional development time), Raiden IV is more of an upgrade to Raiden III than a full fledged sequel. In a lot of ways, Moss could have slapped a new label with a version 2.0 sticker on the old Raiden III cabinets and be on its way. As always with this series, there is nothing revolutionary about the way Raiden IV gets the job done.

And this is where the game has its primary flaws. Like its predecessor, Raiden IV succeeds or fails based on your previous feelings about the series. If you are of the belief that the game play and style of the game is a breath of fresh air in a genre otherwise crowded by bullet hell shooters, Raiden IV will be an enjoyable experience well worth finding in arcades or purchasing a port of when it hits systems in the future.

However, if you are of the belief that this style of shooter is a stale formula that shows a memorable but now archaic past, nothing in Raiden IV will convince you otherwise.

I will be posting images of the game and of the kit as well as hopefully a video or two a bit later this week. As a fan of the series, I'm happy with the purchase, I just don't expect any converts to Raiden based on Raiden IV alone.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Xbox 360 Virtua Fighter Hori Stick Revealed

If I could put a sad face smiley in the title above I would. Seriously. Because right now, a sad face is about all I feel after seeing the first screenshots of the Virtua Fighter Stick being released by Hori for the Xbox 360.

Dubbed the Hori Fighting Stick EX2, I was expecting at least some kind of revision from the Dead or Alive 4 stick previously released for the Xbox 360. Due to the wonky lay-out of the Dead or alive 4 stick, a lot of fans complained about its inconvenience with some popular fighting games (such as Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting on Xbox Live Arcade). So what does Hori due now that they have the opportunity to correct the faults and perhaps give Xbox 360 fans a proper answer to the Playstation 3's Real Arcade Pro or Virtua Stick High Grade?

They re-release the Xbox 360 Dead or Alive 4 stick with absolutely no change in button layout and with the exact same parts. Furthermore, it is still not wireless! (An image of the Dead or Alive 4 stick is below so you can compare the two.)

BAH!

For the modding community, I'm sure you are probably aware that this stick was notoriously difficult to mod. The frustration that it caused myself when I first purchased my Dead or Alive 4 stick to simply upgrade the buttons and joystick to Sanwa parts was a disgusting ordeal that I'm not going to repeat ever again.

I'm incredibly disappointed with this, but I can't say I'm not surprised. Fighting sticks traditionally are not a big seller in the United States, and considering that from my understanding Hori is primarily marketing this stick stateside due to the Xbox 360's increased user base here, perhaps a little less effort was put into providing fans what they really wanted.

I'm also surprised that this stick isn't slathered with some kind of official Virtua Fighter art. Perhaps that will be coming soon and the model on display was only a tester version while they are finalizing it, but for now it just simply appears generic.

I'm probably being a bit hard on this news considering my previous experiences with this joystick. I don't want to make it seem like this is a "bad" stick really, just that I was expecting more than a simple re-release on the part of Hori. For Xbox 360 fans, your options are extremely limited though (you literally have this stick - in either this new form or the Dead or Alive 4 form and that's it). I guess you take what you can get...

The stick is set to retail at around $50 and should be hitting shelves around the same time that Virtua Fighter 5 is available on the 360 console.

(Image of the stick from E3 courtesy of Games Radar. As a side note on their coverage (should you go check out their small write up), this stick is not similar to the Virtua Stick High Grade that was released in Japan for the Playstation 3. The Virtua Stick High Grade was designed by Sega (the Xbox 360 stick shown is simply officially licensed from Sega and designed by Hori), and was developed to behave similarly to the standard Virtua Fighter cabinets in Japan. The Hori Fighting Stick is among the lower end of the Hori line up of arcade sticks, and though it is an acceptable stick, it is no where near arcade standards. I just thought I would mention it in case there was any confusion about the two.)

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Everyday Shooter Coming to the PSN

I loved the trailer that Jonathan Mak posted about Every Day Shooter after the Independent Game's Festival. The fusing of the Rez stylings on music with a more traditional arena shooter atmosphere has shown a lot of promise in my opinion. It seems that other people have agreed, as Sony put out the announcement earlier this week at E3 that the infectious shooter will be appearing on the Playstation Network in the future.

A lot of people have been comparing the game to Geometry Wars. I'm not sure if that's really a fair assessment, but since the game's do share the same basic control, I guess its only natural.

The new E3 trailer is below.

I can't wait to get my hands on it, but until then I recommend heading over to Newsweek's video game blog, Level Up for a great interview with the creator.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Silent Hill Location Test Videos Courtesy of Arcade Heroes



Arcade Heroes posted two videos from their excursion with the Silent Hill Arcade game from this past weekend. I haven't had a chance to really delve into analyzing the game yet based on the videos, but the atmosphere of Silent Hill is definitely there. Everything is drenched with a layer of fog and eeriness despite the relatively fast paced nature of the game.

I'll get a chance to really walk through the videos in a little while, but until then, thank you to Arcade Heroes for the great shots of the location test.

Soldner-X Updates (As Promised)

The SideQuest Studios and the Soldner-X team have posted up their work in progress updates to the game that I promised earlier this week.

Not only are there some additional great shots of the jungle levels that the teaser image that was sent to us showcased, but there are also quite a few images of what appears to be a rather vibrant cityscape that reminds me quite a bit of the Blade Runner movie if Blade Runner was painted with a brighter coat of paint.

Here's the post that talks about all of the new media you can find on the official Soldner-X website:

We are pleased to present another large update on the development of Soldner-X: Himmelssturmer. Above all, a sparkling 26 brand new work in progress screenshots have just been added to our Media Section. All newly added images are reflecting an approx. 50% development stage, so be reminded that content is still subject to change.

Covered this time are screens based on the first world “Soldier unleashed”, where the adventure begins. The first setting contains three beautifully designed stages, including a hi-tech skyscrapers filled science-fiction city, a mysterious and diversified jungle as well as a destroyed city with ruins and debris, providing a dusky scenery. You will also get a glimpse of the very first boss battle.

Additional content added include a music download, featuring previews of the Title Song, World 2 and World 4 BGM and the first game details (Stages, Extras, GUI).

Feedbacks and discussions are welcome in our official forums. Also don't forget to check back often for updates.
Looking at the Features section of the website, we can see that the cityscape and jungle all are part of the same world. The transition of the different parts of the world seems to imply specific level breaks (which is supported by the claim of there being 12 stages to the game).

The first world is currently called Soldier Unleashed. The screenshots of the asteroid/space-based levels that we received in our first media update is listed as World 3: Hyper Space Assault.

The game's "Extras" page reveals a lot of the power ups that can be obtained in the game. Most of them are pretty standard shooting power ups, but others (like the enemy freeze) imply a specific power that hasn't been used in a standard scrolling shooting game in quite some time. I think I said this in my previous update, but a lot of the weapon names feel like a successor to the Thunderforce series, so it should be interesting to see just how exactly the game plays over all.

The multi-shot is the weapon shown in most of the screenshots (I presume), but the game is currently displaying 7 unique items to collect which will change your attack. Unfortunately, outside of scouring screen shots, we still are in the guessing stages of just how each of these weapons react since currently the Weapon's section is still a work in progress. We'll have more information on the different Power-up types as we get them...

The GUI clears up a little bit of the question marks about the game's HUD. From what I can tell, the game is using both an energy system and a life counter for the game's player stock. This is speculation on my part, but I would guess that as your ship is hit by bullets or enemies (or even scenery), your ship's energy would decrease. When that hits zero, you will end up losing a life.

The second energy meter is stated as being your weapon energy. In most of the shots, you can already tell the difference of the power of your energy levels in your weapon by looking at the weapon meter and then looking at the behavior of the selected weapon (multishot in most cases).

According to the power ups list under the Extras, you can collect Energy from destroyed enemies. I'm guessing that this means that the more you use a weapon the more power it loses until you collect another batch of energy. As I said before, this is speculation on my part, but it would make sense based on what we've seen from Soldner-X thus far.

Still no real explanation on the ship's scoring system (which the GUI touches on briefly), however I'm sure we'll see more information in regards to the exact mechanics soon.

For the music fans out there, the website also added a few short clips of some of the music for the game. The previews include the title song, World 2, and World 4 background music. The website lists the composer as Rafael Dyll, which some people may recognize from the music credits for the NEO GEO/Dreamcast shooter from NG:DEV.TEAM, Last Hope. I personally felt that the music was the best part of that game (the rest of the title was a bit rough around the edges), and that history of great music is showing through with the short clips we have here.

The last part of the update on the website today is probably the most important in my opinion. A poll was recently started that asks users which platform they would like to see Soldner-X released on. The options include Playstation 3 (disc), Playstation 3 (download), Xbox 360 (disc), Xbox 360 (download), or PC.

I recommend everyone who is slightly interested in seeing more shooters on next gen consoles (or PC's even) to go over to the Soldner-X website and voice your opinion. Personally I would love to see this game featured as a disc based release, since it is going to become a rarity to see a disc based shooter come out on one of the next generation consoles. Currently PS3 (disc-based) has an early lead, but I will be keeping on eye on the poll to see what sort of feedback players provide the team.


Head over to Soldner-X's home on the web for more information about the title. I'll be posting a ton of the new images just as soon as I get home.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Web Galleries of E3 Game Images

Just thought I would go ahead and post these finally. Here's some of the images released by Nintendo in regards to some upcoming Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii projects. I've put them into a Picasa Web Gallery for your convenience. I'll have more information on a few of these in a couple of weeks as I'm able to talk a bit more in depth with some of the developers and publishers. Until then, enjoy the shots.











Raiden IV Information

I stated about a month ago that I received word that my Raiden IV kit had shipped from my dealer. After nearly a 30 day journey (I wasn't expecting that) across the Pacific, I received a phone call that my kit is waiting for me at my local post office. I'm currently away from home busy with other obligations, but just as soon as I get back I'll hook up my Super Gun and take it for a spin. Expect all the impressions (and hopefully a video if my new set up works) that only a die hard Raiden fan can provide.

Pokemon BATTRIO Set for a Limited Release This Weekend

The disc-based Japanese Pokemon game, Pokemon BATTRIO, is set for a limited release in a small number of PokeCenters and Arcades this weekend across Japan. The game combines the collectible aspects of the Pokemon Trading Card Game and Pokemon Video Games with the touch based gameplay of Japanese Arcade RPGs.

Players will be able to purchase "booster" discs of Pokemon that they will be able to then use during their arcade battles against a friend or a computer opponent. This is set up similarly to the card battlers Mushi King and the upcoming Dragon Quest arcade game. Discs will also be rewarded for succeeding at specific tasks during the game.

The primary gameplay is going to be centered around the 3 vs. 3 Pokemon battles. During these battles both players (or 1 player and 1 computer) work to eliminate the HP of his opponent. 36 Pokemon will be available when it first hits the shelves (it includes the fan favorite Pikachu though - so every little kid can be Ash). More will be available as Nintendo and TOMY push them to market (presumably during set "waves" which will then rotate out the previous discs making them more collectible).

The game system is controlled via a "touch field" where you position your Pokemon against your opponent's. The grid based gameplay recognize where your discs are position and responds by showing your Pokemon in its respective formation in the actual game. Different positions correspond with different powers and may have different effects depending on which Pokemon may be adjacent to one another. The gameplay is simplified for the game's target demographic, so unless you are a hardcore Pokemon fanatic, the gameplay may be a bit too simple for some.

Here's what I like about the game.

The cell shaded graphics are a great touch as most gameplay videos I've seen (including the one on the official BATTRIO website) have been filled with all the special effects Pokemon fans have expected from the 3D entries in the series. The game is based on a specialized Triforce system, and it shows that everyone involved with development has tried to make a game that would be very hard to resist its appeal of if you've spent any time throwing Poke-balls at Wild Pokemon.

This is one of those games that would be extremely easy to market here in the states with very little effort, but I'm not convinced that we will be seeing it any time soon.

For more information about this weekends upcoming limited release, head over to the official Pokemon BATTRIO website here.

Special thanks to AM-Net for the report.


King of Fighter's Maximum Impact Regulation A Updates!

King of Fighter's Maximum Impact Regulation A's official website received what is probably going to be one of the last updates the website gets before the game hits arcades (and store shelves for the Playstation 2) later this month.

The final bit of the game's character roster has been rounded out with Hanzo, Lilly, Richard, Nightmare Geese(!), Kyo Classic, and Mr. Karate. Each of these characters (and any of the 30 previously revealed) have their basic profiles listed as well as a Command list posted that show the basic move-sets that each of the characters can perform.

I've heard a lot of mixed things from the location tests over the last month or so. It seems that if you are a fan of the Maximum Impact series, you will appreciate the new gameplay changes, including the 3 vs. 3 tradtional King of Fighters matches. But if you found the Maximum Impact series just a bit average, nothing in Regulation A will convince you otherwise.

I'll be importing this one for my Playstation 2 when it's released so I should be able to provide some good import impressions then.

Half-Life 2: Survivor ver. 2 Details And Location Test

Arcade Heroes posted a bit of information today about Half-Life 2 ver 2.0 which is currently making it through testing rounds in Japan. The current testing cycle for the game will last from July 13th - July 26th, with plans of an early fall release of the update.

I had a chance to play the original release of this game a few months ago, and it is a bit hard to describe really. The transition of Half-Life to an arcade game was a bit difficult to adjust to, despite Taito's best efforts to make it as accessible as possible. Over-all though the game was enjoyable, albeit a bit constrained by an attempt to try to do too much with a style of game that really had not been attempted in an arcade setting before.

But I digress.

This new version of Half-Life 2: Survivor is set to update the game in a couple of ways including more networked features, new maps, and more customizable options for players to use in both the Battle Modes and Cooperative Mission Modes. These new customizable options include skins and emblems that can be loaded to the arcade game via the network or your phone. Other new updates are tutorials for the game during load screens, and a new character class (Medic has joined the original 4 game classes - Ranger, Soldier, Sniper, and Engineer).

Ver. 2.0 will continue the game's support for the NESYS cards that allow for players to save their progress through the over-arching Story Mode from one game play to the next.

Last Blade and More Hit GameTap

GameTap has reached into their vaults and pulled out some real jewels with todays "New Game" releases. SNK Playmore fans have had a lot to be excited for over this summer with its service because not only does Gametap offer one of the best selections of NEO GEO arcade games able to be played on a PC, but the list of games continues to grow even larger with every week.

This week is particularly juicy for arcade fighting game fans - the reason? Last Blade.

I have a bit of a confession to make. The Last Blade is by far one of my favorite fighting games of all time. It features 1 on 1 weapon based combat, but has taken the concept and refined it to an art form. Even SNK Playmore's own Samurai Showdown series (which also has one of its sequels, Samurai Showdown IV, hitting GameTap today) takes a second tier to the Last Blade and its sequel, The Last Blade 2. This game holds up extremely well to this day and looks just as amazing as it did when it was first released in 1997.

Guilty Gear fans take note, the Last Blade was one of the first games worked on by Daisuke Ishiwatari, creator of the Guilty Gear series. His influence is all over the title, despite the fact that his role was a bit more limited with the Last Blade than it was on Guilty Gear.

I'm still not convinced that GameTap is necessarily as refined as it could be, but it is definitely getting better. If only they could work on their multiplayer netcode a bit, the service would be nearly perfect. It's worth a download to try out though, since they regularly offer a small selection of free games with ad-based support should you want to give it a whirl.

The other arcade games hitting the service today are King of Fighters 2001 and Metal Slug V.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

1UP.com Exclusive Soul Calibur IV Information

I considered posting this in my link list, but the information revealed by the 1up.com crew in both their show from E3 and their exclusive HD trailer was worthy enough to be posted on its own in my opinion. Though Namco Bandai is breaking the hearts of most arcade fans by not planning a release of the game to arcades at this time, the title is still the same great Soul Calibur we remember (so long as you can forget Soul Calibur III).

Check out the HD trailer below, and then be sure to watch their 1up.com special show about the game. It's well worth it, if only for the tidbits of new information gathered from the two sources and through the developer's interviews.

The game looks incredible. Just absolutely incredible.



Sega Summer Show Details

I apologize for the delay in posting this, but I've been a bit busy this past week with E3 stuff, but Sega held their Summer Private Show this past weekend showcasing several arcade titles scheduled for a release in the next couple of months.

Predictably, the new version of WCCF seemed to take the primary focus of the event, as Sega has been working hard to create one of the better football management sims on the market. I mentioned previously that this is one game that I wish I had the opportunity to play. The amount of depth that goes along with the basic card game is impressive to say the least. Everything from player fatique, stats, and growth is tracked via the game's card reader and network system, and it seems that for this latest update, Sega is trying to make sure they have all their basis covered.

Unfortunately, the game is still in its "work in progress" stages, so some of the features had not been finalized at the time of the event. The game should be hitting arcades sometime this Winter season.

The second game on display was Derby Owner's Club 2008 - Feel the Rush. According to Game Watch there were only a few images revealed, but there should be more information provided about the title at the JAMMA show in September. The game is currently on schedule for a 2008 release, however its unclear precisely when the release is planned for at this time. Derby Owner's Club 2008 will also be using the new Lindbergh arcade system similarly to the new WCCF.

The third game is an update to one that I've been interested in for a while. Quest of D: The Battle Kingdom is a hybrid-card game/RPG that features one of the most intuitive combat systems in a card-based arcade game that I've seen in a while. The game not only contains an ever expanding solo campaign, but it will now feature a VS Mode that will allow players to compete against one another as either an enemy or an ally during the course of a game. The enemy takes on a role similar to the Overlord in the Dungeon Keeper series, and attempts to throw out obstacles such as monsters against other players. As before, all records and information can be stored on Sega's D.Net for all of the game's networked capabilities.

The basic concept behind the game is pretty simple. Go into a dungeon/maze/area, kill monsters, loot corpses, and return stronger than before. Its a lot like old-school Gauntlet in a way with its superficial simplicity, but its the ability to draw you in and back for more is what makes it excel. The great touch screen controls also add a layer of connection to the game that is hard to recreate with any style of control other than its precise action.

Graphically speaking, the game is receiving a face lift based on both the screenshots and short videos I've seen so far. If there is one game that I would really want to see make it to the US from Sega's current line-up, this is it. However, since the original Quest of D didn't make it stateside, I'm not holding my breath to see its update. The costs of purchasing the full set up of Quest of D were quite prohibitive.

It's a shame too, because with the amount of choices and actions a player has in this series, it truly is a unique experience that could be a sleeper hit if it finishes as strong as the early reports have shown.

I still have my cards from the first Quest of D release from a trip to Japan in 2004 (or 2005), so I would love the opportunity to go at this game again. I sucked so many hours into the early builds of the original Quest of D release that I know I'd feel the same about Battle Kingdom should I get the opportunity to actually play it.

Also shown at the event were Galileo Factory, Medalink, and Bingo Galaxy.



All images come courtesy of Game Watch. And a special thanks to Arcade Heroes for their post on the show that reminded me that I had been neglecting mine.

E3 Gaming Lists for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS Reveal Some Gems.

The recently released list of upcoming Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS games have revealed some unlikely candidates on the way from both the first party and third party studios. Some of these games have already been announced previously, but others are only now getting a confirmation of a release here in the US. I've picked out all of the arcade styled games and listed them below for your convenience.

Remember, this is just a small list of the larger list of titles for the two Nintendo Platforms.

Nintendo DS

Boogie - EA (4th Quarter)
Contra 4 (working title) - Konami (Fall)
Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 - Midway (November)

Nintendo Wii

Guitar Hero III - Activision (Fall)
Guilty Gear Accent Core - Aksys (4th Quarter)
Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3 - Atari (4th Quarter)
Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles - Capcom (November)
Pinball Hall of Fame - The Williams Collection - Crave Entertainment (October)
PuzzleQuest: Challenge of the Warlords - D3 Publishing (Fall)
Boogie - EA (November)
Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party - Konami (TBA)
Crus'n - Midway (November)
Namco Museum Redux - Namco Bandai (TBA)
Soul Calibur Legends - Namco Bandai (TBA)
Crow - O-3 Entertainment (TBA)
Bleach - Sega (Fall)
Ghost Squad - Sega (Fall)
Victorious Boxers Revolution - XSEED Games (TBA)

Pretty interesting line-up if you ask me. There are few games of note that I would really like to point out here as being "new"-ish (to me at least).

After O3 Entertainment confirmed with Cubed3 that Milestone was working on a port of Karous for the Nintendo Wii, I was curious if we would be seeing the title at all for US audiences. It seems that despite the cancellation of Radio Allergy on the Nintendo Gamecube, O3 Entertainment is still eager to create games for a Nintendo console. The Karous port for the Wii looks like it will be brought to stateside with its "English" translated name Crow.

No word on a release date, but I'm going to try to get ahold of someone over at O3 to talk a bit about the title during the next week or so. Information will more than likely be significantly limited, but its worth a shot to see if we can get some more details about the project.

The second game that I'm extremely interested in is Victorious Boxers Revolution coming to us courtesy of XSEED Games. You may recognize this title better by its Japanese name Hajime No Ippo, which is roughly based on the Manga of the same name. The Japanese version of the game was released recently, and though it didn't receive the rave reviews that I thought it would, it was still considered a solid boxing outing with a great difficulty curve that was a bit much for some people to get over.

I'll have more on these games and more as I get the information.

E3 Sony Keynote Address

Sony overall had the best showing during their E3 keynote speech.

After the Microsoft and Nintendo disappointments it didn’t take much however, but for a company that has spent the better part of the last year on the receiving end of so much negativity, at least they received a bit of time in the positive spotlight. Complete vindication?

No… Not really.

I’m still not satisfied with the new E3. The leaner E3 seems to have cut itself in the wrong places and have created a situation where there just isn’t as much content as there used to be. Sure it’s a media event, but it is also the first opportunity for the three companies to convince game buyers that they are the company they should spend their money on this holiday season.

One big wasted opportunity if you ask me.

HOME is an interesting addition to the PS3. I know that a lot of people see it as a glorified Simple Life clone, but using its interface to act as a network hub is an ingenious plan on Sony’s part (especially if the rumored micro-transactions are a main part of the experience). I like the idea of in-HOME arcade games that can be used simply by walking up to a machine and pressing start. This sort of transition from in-game avatar to playing a downloadable title is completely seamless. Outside of the potential use of hording a ton of arcade games in my HOME location on the PSN though I’m not convinced I’ll really be getting too much out of it. Neat idea, but it’s just not for me.

There was some great footage of PSP games shown through a video montage. WipeOut Pulse looks amazing. But Patapon really stands out as my pick of the best game out of the video. The bizarre hybrid of Loco Roco, Katamari Damacy, and Alien Hominid steals quite a bit away from the other games simply due to its unique appearance. I’m chalking this one up as one I need to watch from now on.

Despite the DS being my primary handheld of choice, Sony has done a good job of hyping up the PSP’s software line-up. The video really stood out as showing that the PSP could be more than just a PS2-Lite, despite the fact that several of the games shown began their life on Sony’s premier console.

The PSP also had a redesigned featured that looked practically identical to the original PSP (where’s the rumored second analog?). It does come with a TV out now, so perhaps those people who have been investing in UMD’s won’t be feeling as slighted anymore since they can watch them on their television. Sony also displayed a packaged PSP that will come with one UMD (Family Guy), one game (Ratchet), and a 1GB memory stick for $200. The redesign will ship this September.

Echochrome looked extremely unique. I’m not quite sure what kind of gameplay it is going to show off, but it is basically one big Escher maze that you have to manipulate your way through. The game is scheduled to hit the PSP and the PSN this fall. WipeOut HD for the PS3/PSN was also shown. It seems that the game has lost a bit of its grittiness for a brighter, more vibrant look. I couldn’t help but think of F-ZERO GX when I saw it on the screen. It seems to share more in common with the graphical appearance of that game than it does previous Wipeout titles.

The last half hour to the show all featured the "mega-blockbusters". Metal Gear Solid, Killzone 2, Little Big Planet, etc. They all had their time in the spotlight for those looking for their kick with those titles. You can probably read up quite a bit more about those games over at 1up.com. I lost interest towards the end of the conference, despite the Metal Gear trailer being graphically impressive.

Sony’s console would be a natural home for the next generation of high definition arcade games if Sony would loosen up their policy on certain retail releases. Until that happens, what we see is going to be limited by the company as it was early in the PS2’s lifetime. There is however that $499 console entry point that is still turning gamers off. Sony may be looking to the future, but for now they are limited by their own over-reach.

E3 Nintendo Keynote Address

Okay... It wasn't just Microsoft.

It seems this E3 is going to be a bit lackluster overall. Maybe it's the new format and the refocused feel that the E3 is going for this year, but whatever the reason, it just seems to lack the pizazz of previous E3's. Predictably, Nintendo spent the first 10 minutes talking about their current "domination" of the console and handheld charts. Easy there Nintendo. I love that you are back on top, but fans are going to be demanding a lot from you in the way of software and third party support with your new found position. There's a lot of expectations now, and it will be oh so easy to screw them up...

Here's the high points of the show for me.

Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles is being designed around a special housing for the Wii Remote/Nunchuck that will be called the Wii Zapper. We saw this at last year's E3 only in a prototype form, so its great to finally be able to get a chance to get our hands on it.

Umbrella Chronicles is playable at the E3 expo, which I'm extremely excited about. The game appears to be the natural progression of a true arcade light gun shooting game onto a console for a much longer and hopefully deeper experience. The second piece of software set to take advantage of the new Nintendo developed peripheral is Ghost Squad Wii. Sega's shooter was only shown shortly, but it's good to see that it is also being built for the Wii Zapper.

As a side note here, I was a sucker as a kid for Hogan's Alley and Duck Hunt... Seeing the Wii Zapper as it is now is like coming home in a way and finding that your Mom has a new recipe for chocolate chip cookies that are better than her old kind. Sure it doesn't appear to be as cool as the GunCon3, but it just feels so right.

The Zapper will be available for $19.99.

Smash Brothers was shown. New footgae in parts, old footage in others. But we finally get a release date on what is sure to be one of the biggest Wii games this year. Currently, Smash Brothers Brawl is scheduled to hit store shelves on December 3rd. Do I expect it to meet that deadline? I'm not quite sure. This is one of those games that were promised in the launch window and we've already seen it slip six months past its initial time frame. No mention of online play yet, but I'm pretty sure that was confirmed a while back with the game's director.

Another big announcement was the confirmation that Mario Kart Wii would be shipping first quarter 08. The game promises online play and will also be featuring an additional peripheral packaged in with the software - the Wii Wheel.

I wish I was joking about this.

It's a great idea to throw in all of these extra shells in with the software, but I'm a bit at a loss of words as for the "why" of it all. As a note about Mario Kart Wii, visually speaking the game is a little underwhelming if the shots we saw were representative of the game's work in progress. After seeing Mario Kart Grand Prix 2 in action, Mario Kart Wii is a little bland. It seems that the game is visually taking more cues from the Mario Kart DD game on the Gamecube which is disappointing considering the excellent Mario Kart racer in the arcades already.

I had the same argument last time around too when Mario Kart Grand Prix hit arcades on the Triforce arcade hardware. The game is modelled roughly on the Gamecube, so why in the world would you not use it as the bases for your Mario Kart Gamecube game?

Getting over that tangent...

The last good 15 minutes of the show were bizarre to say the least. The only way I can really describe it is to say that it seems like Nintendo decided to deflate whatever hype the audience had for the titles with a weird showing of Reggie and Miyamoto showcasing Wii Fit and yet another peripheral for the Wii. This game and the Balance Board will more than likely be huge. A software title for the Wii that allows anyone, no matter their age or fitness level, to excercise and receive feedback on their technique has the potential to open up the Wii's audience even more. Plus some of the "activities" showcased in Wii Fit seem to fore-shadow even more uses for the Wii Balance Board in traditional games. Konami Mocap games anyone?

Here's what I'm left with really after viewing the show. Nintendo has some solid third party outings, a few interesting peripherals, and the promise of opening up gaming to an evergrowing audience. But the presentation of the speech was lacking, and despite the best efforts of Miyamoto, Reggie, and Iwata, nothing could salvage the fact that it seemed like the show was one big montage after another.

Sony's is the next keynote address so it will be interesting to see the response they receive, especially on the heels of their $100 North American price drop. So far it seems that the big console manufacturers are 0 for 2 in my mind.

I can't wait to get the Wii Zapper though... Ghost Squad is calling my name.

Silent Hill: The Arcade Game Impressions

Arcade Heroes has posted up their initial impressions of Silent Hill: The Arcade Game. It seems that Konami has decided to expand their testing grounds of the game a bit and open it up to the UK audience to see just how well the game is received by arcade goers. I'm a bit jealous personally. I'm a huge fan of the survival horror series, and though I've questioned how well it would translate into a traditional light-gun action game, it seems that it will at least be a satisfying romp for a short time.

You can check out their report here. They promise some gameplay videos as well, so I can't wait to see the game in action.

I know in some of the Japanese location tests fans were a bit let down by the Playstation 2 graphics and distinctly un-Silent Hill-esque feel. The game at least has Pyramid head in it (as evidenced by the description in the report of a scary fellow who has a big triangle head), so that's at least one benefit. And the cabinet while being slightly oppressive, does seem to have a certain niche flair to it... It almost reminds me of some of the classic light gun shooting games of the mid 90's in a way.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

E3 Microsoft Keynote Address

So, this was a disappointing affair. Sure, Microsoft brought out there holiday guns and have probably fed the Halo fanbase what they needed to feel satisfied with their purchase of a 360, but I was left underwhelmed over all. If you want information in regards to the Mass Effect's, Lost Odyssey's, and Halo War's of the world, I recommend heading over to 1up.com or Kotaku. I'm not going to touch on those titles at all because quite frankly they don't interest me.

What I am going to touch in is the limited selection of arcade style games that Microsoft went over during their speech. Here's an interesting note about this list however - we already knew about nearly every one of them. In Microsoft's desire to create an E3 atmosphere where they revealed only titles in the works for this holiday season, it seems that anything "new" was left by the wayside for footage of games that we have already seen. I guess you can't win them all, but it does leave me to question just what exactly is in the pipe-works for 2008...

In regards to full retail release games on the horizon that may interest an arcade fan for the Xbox 360 console, you have a selection of two rhythm games that were shown briefly as well as Virtual Fighter 5. Rock Band and Guitar Hero III seem poised to battle it out this fall for guitar playing, mock music making superiority, and though I don't personally have a preference one way or another between the titles yet, seeing Peter Moore make a fool of himself on stage with the Harmonix crew automatically adds two points to the favor of Rock Band in my opinion.

I shouldn't say too much in regards to this though since I am horrible at rhythm games. Black Sabbath and the Who were also confirmed as being a part of the track list in Rock Band as well (is that old news?), so any Ozzy Osborne or Pete Townsend fans should be overjoyed. No mention on which songs would be available however...

More information about both these titles will be coming soon. I'm not sure if they are playable at E3, but if they are, I'll be bringing you some hands on impressions.

Xbox Live Arcade is literally one of the last bastion of hope for arcade gamers on a home console it seems. Despite the pickings being rough early in the console's life, more and more titles are added every week now. Fortunately, this is also one of the higher points in the keynote speech in my opinion, as the list of arcade-styled games coming to the downloadable system shows some real gems.

Bomberman Live by Hudson should be coming soon. Unlike the horrible Bomberman outing previously on the Xbox system, Bomberman Live is a chaotic throwback to the high points of the series history. I wasn't able to catch the exact number of players multiplayer games will support, but even if it is only a small number (4 or so), the game itself is the same great Bomberman style we've been playing since the TurboGrafx-16 days. Cartoon graphics and all.

Every Extend Extra Extreme is going to be hitting Xbox Live Arcade this upcoming season as well. Unfortunately the video in action was extremely brief and only showcased a small bit of gameplay. This is one of my favorite games on the PSP right now, and is one I'm eagerly awaiting to see on Xbox Live Arcade. If it has half the capabilities that Geometry Wars has with online multiplayer and leaderboard support, the game will be a worthy addition to any Xbox owners library.

Space Giraffe was probably the game I was most eager to see. The Tempest-styled shooter looks like it has been thrown into a blender along with half the city zoo, and it still is drawing the same amount of intrigue that it has been since I first heard about the title.

Tube shooters are extremely rare now-a-days, so to see an original game like this created by one of the masterminds behind Tempest 2000 is always a plus. I'm not sure where it stands with the rest of the mainstream media, but this honestly is probably one of my top anticipated games with a "Coming Soon" release date. No new footage really (which was a disappointment), but if I recall correctly, recently reports have stated that the game is essentially done. I guess we are just waiting on that Microsoft stamp of approval.

Those are probably the three titles that I am currently most interested in from the line up revealed, but there were a handful of other short videos of a few other arcade-styled games on the console. Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Tetris Splash, and Puzzle Quest were shown as "new" titles on the console. Track & Field by Konami and Golden Axe (the arcade version - not the Genesis/Mega-Drive port) by Sega were shown as retro-releases. Track and Field looked like its graphics had been artificially enhanced similarly to other arcade titles on the system. Golden Axe however looked horribly dated and was definitely not given a wash over with a restyle at all.

I guess the keynote address just gets a big sigh from me...

I love some of the arcade titles, but I guess I was just hoping for something new.

E3 Link and Information List

As opposed to posting a single news article on anything being found elsewhere on the web during the E3 expo, I'm going to use this single post to update links throughout the week. Any exclusive news or features I'll post as normal, but anything linked directly to another site (such as Gamespot or 1up.com) will be posted here. Overall this should make things a lot cleaner (hopefully), and a bit more organized.

Everything should start being compiled starting tomorrow morning when I get the time.

UPDATED - First news out of the conference has been posted...

General News (Multiplatform News)

Dance Dance Revolution returns to both the Xbox 360 and Playstation 2. Konami's popular rhythm franchise will be coming to the Xbox 360 as Dance Dance Revolution Universe 2 and to the Playstation 2 with Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA 2.

Guitar Heroe III wireless guitars revealed by Activision.



Nintendo Wii/Nintendo DS

Arcade Reniassnace Nintendo Keynote Speech Afterthoughts

New Contra 4 (DS) videos posted at Gametrailers. Music is solid, graphics are good examples of high quality sprite work. I'm still not sold on the split screen divide, but we'll see how things go...

EA reveals its 38 track list for their singing, dancing, music and rhythm game Boogie. Notables include The Jackson 5, Culture Club, MC Hammer, and the Village People.

Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 goes online only on the Nintendo Wii. The game promises multiplayer duels via the Nintendo WiFi Connection.

The first Mario Kart Wii video was posted on IGN.

Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles with Zapper gameplay impressions. For the video of the original E3 revealing of the Wii Zapper, check it out here.

Ghost Squad hands on impressions. The game seems to be a worthy port of the arcade game, but is lacking some of the final polish that the arcade game was given. The Zapper supposedly brought the arcade feeling home though and provided a great initial experience for IGN.com. This seems to be contrary to Joystiq's reports that the Wii Zapper doesn't seem to add "$20 of value".



Playstation 3/Playstation Portable

Arcade Renaissance Sony Keynote Speech Afterthoughts



Xbox 360

Arcade Renaissance Microsoft Keynote Speech Afterthoughts

Sonic and Golden Axe were available for download immediately after Microsoft's keynote address. Sonic's port seems to be much improved after the poor Virtual Console outing. Golden Axe is based on the arcade game (more than likely the world version - though you can correct me if I'm wrong) and seems to be nearly arcade perfect. Xbox Live multiplayer capabilities are available for those wanting to defeat Death Adder with a few friends.

IGN has posted up their full list of every one of the new Xbox Live Arcade titles revealed during the keynote and planned for the system before the holiday season.

Virtua Fighter 5 (Xbox 360) first hand preview.

First Soul Calibur Legends Gameplay Video

Gamespot posted the first trailer for Soul Calibur Legends for the Nintendo Wii. The controls seem promising enough, but I still have some lingering doubts about the quality of the title. It does seem to be one of the first third party games designed to fully take advantage of the Wii. It's going to be interesting to see how this game shape's out in the end. This is going to start sounding like a broken record by the end of week, but we'll be getting some more hands on information about Legends at the E3.

The Nitty Gritty of Tekken 6

Over the past weekened, I've had one of my contacts in Japan scouring the Tekken 6 location tests noting as much as he could in regards to all of the changes, nuances, and noteable additions in Namco Bandai's latest arcade fighting game. It's been a rough weekend* of fighting huge crowds and jockeying for a place in line, but even so, he finally sent to me his list of his impressions so far.

One of the primary things that he stressed about this weekend's location tests were that at least in his location, Tekken 6 drew more crowds than nearly all of the other previous location tests that he had participated in. A sign of the strength of the arcade industry in Japan or a sign of the power of the Tekken brand?

Either way, it seems there is enough depth behind the game to satisfy any Tekken fan. Here's what he had to say:

Stop complaining about the game's visuals!
What a way to start, huh?

The YouTube! location test videos and even some of the test screens and trailers released by Namco have not done the game justice. The game is a technical feat that not only far exceeds the visuals displayed in Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection, but also could very well be one of the best looking fighting games ever made.

One thing that was noted here about the game's design is that the "plastic" look of Virtual Fighter 5 and Dead or Alive 4 isn't a factor in Tekken 6. Tekken 6's animation and models look and move naturally with a level of detail that can't be compared to any other game on the market. A good example of this is both in Zafina's silky smooth (and disturbingly realistic) movements and Lili's hair which is modelled in a way that would put even Square Enix's motion picture division to shame.

Furthermore, the stage and move lighting effects that the Tekken series is known for has been completely revamped with a new engine behind it. Each stage is lit differently, whether it be the undergrowth of a jungle with only the occasional stream of light that breaks through the canopy of trees overhead or a ruined highway during the middle of a warzone (literally) with dozens of planes flying overhead causing all sorts of chaos in the background.

As a side note here on the stages, the relatively hyped multi-tiered stages that were mentioned are hardly a factor in the game due to their difficult to break nature. There were two specific multi-tiered stages mentioned in the report, one of which was a temple that featured breakable walls that expanded the arena, and the other a fight on the rooftops of a building that allowed you to crash through and shatter a glass wall. Unfortunately(?), to get the walls to break, it required anywhere between 3-6 hits against the wall. It was stated that the number of times he saw the stages open up into their multiple tiers could be counted on one hand really. That was until the players began trying to force the stages to open...

The list of stages that were playable were a bit limited (but diverse enough to satisfy), and included a snow field stage, a temple on a beach shore, a jungle/forest with water, a highway with a raging battle in the background, and a night-time cityscape with all the neon advertising that you would expect. There were a few more, but the notes about the stages were not kept up very well over the course of the time that he was at the location test.

Gameplay wise, the changes in the Tekken system from Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection to Tekken 6 seems to be a bit of a step backwards (which can be a good or a bad thing depending on how you feel about Dark Resurrection and the pre-DR Tekken era).

Combos are still the butter of the game's fighting system, however wall combos and juggle combos have had their total damage potential lowered slightly. With the natural recoil on different strikes, even a simple quick jab juggle combo is a bit more difficult than in Tekken 5/Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection. Furthermore, timing is going to be incredibly strict on all moves (more similar to Virtual Fighter than recent Tekkens). The game will require clear inputs on most juggles, as simply bashing the buttons and hoping for the best will more than likely result in your character being punished... thoroughly.

Side stepping is huge it seems. Despite dashing being slowed to the point of being dangerous, side stepping more than makes up for it by being extremely quick and extremely effective. This is only a small change really, that has positively affected the gameplay in a great way. It seems that everything (due to the improved side stepping) has become quite a bit more dynamic during the course of the match. It's now possible to side step out of traditional mix ups upon wake up and launch your opponent into a juggle of your own. The risk vs. reward aspect of Tekken will need to be revisited before a competitive scene is really ironed out, but for now, the subtle improvements to the existing system pushes Tekken close to the level of Virtual Fighter competitiveness.

Unfortunately the report didn't go into too much in regards to specific character changes. A lot of people seemed to be playing around with old staples and favorites rather than trying out the new characters, but even those that did play with the new characters were struggling a bit with getting their hands around them. Leo is bad. Plain and simple according to the report. She is slow, underpowered, and contains one of the worst move-sets of the game. Zafina on the other hand has the most potential. Her stances are deadly, and the ease that she moves around the arena (unless she's caught in one of her backwards stances) is remiscent of a good Voldo player in Soul Calibur. Miguel also has some potential, but wasn't used enough for anyone to get a real good feel for his character yet.

Other than that, the overall impressions from everyone seem to be positive so far. There are some concerns about balancing older characters who would previously rely on "old" tricks to win matches, as most of their tricks no longer work in Tekken 6. Outside of that, it seems that the latest title in the series is putting Tekken 6 into a more demanding arena. The system is still intuitive and simple to adjust to, but it now requires much more patience and timing to master.

I'll have some pictures posted of the event (including a line for the machine that was literally a 90 minute wait at some points) a bit later.



* - So he says - he's traditionally a little bit of a complainer and I can't feel sorry for someone who had the opportunity to test out the game - sorry Jim.

Monday, July 9, 2007

Wii Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party Teaser Site

Konami has opened up the official teaser site for Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party for the Nintendo Wii. The game should be hitting shelves sometime this September, but until then you can check out the teaser here. We already know that the game is going to ship with a wireless dance pad and support for up to 4 players, so it does seem like this extension of the DDR series may very well be one of the more definitive home versions. Especially when you keep in mind the new Wii-exclusive controls.

We'll have more information probably revealed at the E3 expo (which starts tomorrow), since Konami is holding at least one key-note speech and has already stated that they will have a lot of software on hand for players to sample. It'll be interesting to see if Wii owners favor this series or EA's Wii-exclusive Boogie series more. Both games definitely ensure that Rhythm game fans on the system will always have something to play... And with Guitar Hero on the horizon as well, its a bona fide smorgasborg of possibilities.

Soldner-X Updates Coming Soon


I am a huge fan of horizontal shooters that have a good selection of planet-side missions. Though I do appreciate a good romp through R-Type every once in a while, the vastly unique locales of the Thunderforce series have always been much closer to my cup of tea. Because of this, I couldn't help but feel a little giddy when I opened up my e-mail and found a first look teaser image sent to us by SideQuest Studios and the rest of the Söldner-X team. Though it is only a one screen (click on the image above to download a much larger version), it really goes to show their attempts to open up their game by providing a good counterbalance to the space-based stages already revealed in their previous media update.

But horizontal shooter fans, rejoice. This seems to be just the first part of a larger update that should be hitting the Söldner-X website in the near future. Are there going to be any more exotic locales revealed? Hopefully... I'm crossing my fingers for an ice world. There are never enough ice worlds in shooters.

Until then, enjoy your first look at one of the latest screens of Söldner-X, and get your trigger finger ready. With all the action and chaos displayed in a single screen, I can't help but feel that things are going to get hairy in this game.

I'll have more news on the project as it comes.

More Tekken 6 Location Test Footage

Looking through some of the location test videos from this past weekend on YouTube!, this one stood out mostly due to the fact it was one of the first times that I've seen Leo in action. Leo is one of the new characters to the series, and though the person fighting as Leo seemed to be having some problems with Jack-6, it does show a lot of promise to the new character. Leo seems to be fighting quite a bit like Law - only quite a bit slower and more unrefined.

For those wondering about a home console port, it seems that the word is that Namco has reaffirmed the stance that Tekken 6 will remain a Playstation exclusive. If that sticks, it's hard to say, but for now the new Cell-based arcade hardware used by Namco in Tekken 6 seems to be doing favors for Sony's console.

Friday, July 6, 2007

Tekken 6 Location Test Videos

The first batch of videos from this weekend's location test of Tekken 6 has hit YouTube!. Most of the videos are roughly shot and suffer from the typical shaky cam syndrome, but there are a few that really highlight the game in action. I'm not quite sure if it's because this is the 6th Tekken game or if I'm feeling a bit underwhelmed by the videos so far, but everything seems like Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection with a shinier coat of paint.

I'll be posting a few more of these this weekend as I find some good ones with a fair amount of detail. Until then, enjoy your first look at Tekken 6, in real time, at the arcades in Japan.


Arcana Heart Website Online

AQ Interactive has pushed the official Arcana Heart website for the PS2 online following the announcement that the publisher would be bringing the arcade game to the Sony console. The website can be found here. Outside of the image of the box art of the game (found to your right), there really isn't anything too exciting about the website as of yet.

It has been confirmed however that Arcana Heart for the PS2 will be based on the reworked/rebalanced FULL edition of the arcade game. This comes as good news for a lot of fighting game fans, as even though the Full upgrade didn't feature any new characters, it did correct a lot of issues between game balance in the original arcade release. From the silhouette on the website, it doesn't appear that any new characters will be added for the PS2 port.

Akuchizoku Video Preview

From the twisted mind that brought you Clean Asia comes Akuchizoku... I'm really digging the scrolling backgrounds and Atari 2600 esque feel. This game reminds me of a bad dream, in a good a way.

The official website for the game can be found here.

Web Updates - Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and Soul Calibur Legends

There are three games that I'm eagerly anticipating on the Nintendo Wii set for release before the end of 2007. Guilty Gear Accent Core is one of them... The other two are Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles and Soul Calibur Legends. Though a lot of people have criticized these two games as being simple "spin-offs" to hold over Wii owners who aren't receiving the numbered series, I'm seeing them as an opportunity for Capcom and Namco to do something different with their franchises and hopefully silence some of the naysayers.

Of course, the games could also end up failing miserably and this grand experiment may blow up in their faces, but we'll leave that discussion until the games are in our hands and we are able to judge their quality for ourselves.

Until then, both of the games received a web update over the past weekend in regards to their Japanese websites. Though neither game has received a US website yet (that I'm aware of - be sure to correct me if I'm wrong), they are already beginning to update the Japanese sites with a ton of new information.



Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles for example provides a great story break down and several videos (in English mind you, since the Resident Evil games usually have an English voice track) detailing the rise and fall of Umbrella. Personally, after playing through the previous Resident Evils (as well as their spin offs), I feel that Umbrella Chronicles is beginning to look more and more like a natural extension of the series as opposed to some sort of red headed step child that we should fear.

The gameplay moves along at a methodic pacing, but gets frantic when you are confronted with shambling hordes of zombies. This may not be House of the Dead, but considering the amount of depth in what is essentially a light gun game, we may be seeing an extension of a genre here that has been badly needed for a while.

Can Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles really show itself to be a genre bending game where the previous Gun Survivor series and Code Veronica arcade series failed?

To start making up your own mind, head over to the official Umbrella Chronicles homepage here.



The second web update that I have today is for Soul Calibur Legends. Late yesterday, Namco Bandai opened up the official Soul Calibur Legends home on the web here. Unfortunately, there are no videos of the game in action and the selection of screenshots available are the same group that have been circling the Famitsu/1up.com routes. It does look promising however to see several of the shots in a bit clearer detail than previously seen.

The game's main character models do appear to be graphically speaking more detailed than their PS2 brethren in Soul Calibur III, but I'm a bit concerned by the apparent "clone" army that you seem to be fighting in each of the shots. I'm not expecting individuality in every enemy, but to me its a bit jarring to see so many identical foes. Of course this is early in the game's development, so this is definitely subject to change...

I believe personally that this game has a lot more riding on it than Umbrella Chronicles. After the Soul Calibur III fiasco, Namco Bandai has a lot to do to win back the trust of their Soul Calibur brand. Death by Degrees didn't do a lot to inspire the Tekken crowd, so if Namco Bandai suffers the same fate with Legends, it will be interesting to see what happens to the hype surrounding Soul Calibur IV. I'm not sure what the end product of a hybrid of God of War and Soul Calibur will end up playing like (especially with the Wii remote), but I'm definitely willing to try it out.

I only wonder if Namco Bandai really has their efforts with Legends when Soul Calibur IV is also just right around the corner...

Virtua Fighter 5 Confirmed with Online Play for the Xbox 360

According to gaming site Gamefront, Sega has confirmed with their reporters that Virtua Fighter 5 for the Xbox 360 will be shipping with a full online component featuring VS. play.

With everything from Street Fighter to Soul Calibur now focusing on online multiplayer with the current generation consoles, it seems to be a great time to be a fan of fighting games. Though Sega hasn't responded back to me yet for an independent confirmation, I wouldn't be surprised if we hear more about this new development at E3 this coming week.

Another bit of Virtua Fighter 5 news also came out of the Gamefront report, as it also seems that Virtua Fighter 5 for the Xbox 360 will be using the latest arcade revision (ver. C) that hit arcades earlier this year. This was heavily rumored for a while, but I believe this may be the first time that Sega confirmed that the game would not be using the same model as the PS3 version.

There are rumors however that Sega may be looking into a way to update the PS3 version of the game with a downloadable patch.

UPDATE - IGN has also confirmed the news that the Xbox 360 port of Virtual Fighter 5 will be featuring online play. They have posted a short interview with the director of the game here detailing some of things you can expect over Xbox Live with this version of the game.

Thursday, July 5, 2007

New Guilty Gear Accent Core (Wii) Trailer

Sega has just released their latest trailer for Guilty Gear Accent Core for the Nintendo Wii... Though we still haven't had the opportunity to see the "waggle" controls in action (their words, not mine), it does seem that Guilty Gear Accent Core for the Wii is practically identical in features to its PS2 brethren. No word on whether or not the bugs were addressed in the Japanese Wii version of Accent Core, but based on Aksys's statements regarding their localization project, I wouldn't be surprised if they were.

The game is scheduled for a Japanese release on July 26th for a retail price of around $45 dollars. No word yet on the official US release, but it should be sometime this fall according to the release by Aksys.



Capcom vs. SNK 2 Millionaire Fighting 2001 (PS2) re-release

As much as I hate the red striped greatest hits PS2 re-releases in America, I'm just completely estatic that we don't have to deal with these huge grey borders and disturbingly "bold" yellow stripes...

Sure we may get the raw end of the deal 99% of the time when it comes to box art, but at least our "Greatest Hits" line is aesthetically speaking, better than the Japanese "Best" line.

With that said, Capcom vs. SNK 2 Millionaire Fighting for the PS2 is about to be re-released under the Sony's re-release budget line in Japan. The game should be hitting stores in August for a greatly discounted price of around 2090 yen. This is your fifth opportunity to pick up this game for home consoles (counting its original release on the Xbox, Gamecube, Dreamcast, and Playstation 2), so if you are one of the handful of SNK or Capcom fans who haven't added this to your collection yet, you only have yourself to blame.

Personally, I find Capcom vs. SNK 2 better than the more popular Marvel vs. Capcom 2... But I'm not going to open up that can of worms any further than that.

Play-Asia Summer Promotion (20% Off)

Been holding off on picking up Ouendan 2 or Dodonpachi Daioujou? Here's your chance to do so and take a few dollars off the top. Play-Asia has started up its Summer Smoothie Promotion and is now offering 20% off all in stock items for orders placed via its online website Play-Asia.com. Of course there are a few disclaimers (listed below for your convenience), but I would definitely recommend checking out the website to see if there are a few things that you've been missing from your import collection...

Disclaimers:

Please be reminded that the final product pricing will be confirmed during checkout on your last checkout screen. It is possible that the product price changes during your checkout process -ie. the last available piece of an item has been picked by another customer before you-, we highly recommend you to verify your price before confirming your order on the last checkout confirmation screen.

Restrictions applied to this limited time offer:
*The offer is only valid for orders placed between now and Friday, July 12th 00:00am (Hong Kong Time). Please refer to the counter and submit your order before time has run out.

*Each item eligible for the offer is marked with a "smoothie icon" and the product page price already reflects the final pricing including discount.

*As the discount only applies to "in-stock" items, there's a chance that the product will be sold out and the price changed back during checkout process. Please make sure to verify your price prior to confirming your order during the checkout process.

*No further coupon codes may be applied to any order that includes at least one "in-stock" discounted item.

*The offer is restricted to products that were not released during the last 30 days.

*The offer is not valid for items sold at wholesale discount.

*The weekly special is excluded from this offer.

*Different quantity limitations may exist depending on the product.

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Arcana Heart Announced for PS2 Release

Arcana Heart, a 2D fighting game developed by Examu, has finally been announced for a PS2 release this October in Japan. The game features an all female cast and a rather unique elemental system that allows you to essentially choose a different set of special moves each character will have. Arcana Heart was released in arcades in late 2006 and was given a subsequent balancing update known as Arcana Heart Full this past April. AQ Interactive is handling the publishing rights for the PS2 version of the game. Unfortunately the game has only been announced for Japanese release... So importers, keep your eye on this one. This isn't quite one of those games that usually attract a US publisher.


Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Tekken 6 - Now 100% Web Friendlier


The official Japanese website for Tekken 6 has finally been pushed live. There wasn't any new information that I've seen in the way of updates, but the splash entrance page is pretty hot. You can find Tekken 6's official home on the web here.


Monday, July 2, 2007

Is Street Fighter IV Capcom's Mystery Project?

I know it probably shouldn't be, but the teaser site from Capcom really has me "digging" for any kind of clues as to what the untitled game may be. Earlier today, I reported that Insert Credit is running with the idea that the game may be a fighting game based on Sengoku Basara, but after viewing the official site for Sengoku Basara and the new teaser, I feel personally that this is pretty much discredited.

So, basically starting back from square one I've decided to really do a bit of research into what the game may be based on the visual elements from the website. Of course this is all rumors and speculation, but I think I've found some solid "facts" that seem to be pointing to the legitimacy that this game is somehow directly related to the Street Fighter series.

Take a look at the following page elements taken from the Capcom Street Fighter III Third Strike website (found here):



Look familiar?

Well it should if you have visited the teaser site lately. Take a look at this taken from the teaser site here.



Of course, this could be just a case of coincidence and Capcom using a similar theme on its teaser site that they used in Street Fighter III Third Strike. But after the aforementioned rumors from EGM that Capcom was on the verge of announcing Street Fighter 4, perhaps this visual clue is a lot more "telling" then a simple similarity. In my previous post I mentioned that the idea that Capcom was working on Street Fighter IV finally was too good to be true, but with Street Fighter's 20th anniversary and a movie on the horizon, and now this teaser site, perhaps all the pieces are finally coming together.

What do you think? Am I reading too much into a visual artifact on a website?



UPDATE - Seems I may be a bit over zealous with my anticipation... Capcom Co. of Japan no longer owns the rights to Street Fighter (they are owned now by Capcom of America), so the chances of this being Street Fighter IV are slim. Guess it's back to the drawing board again...

Arcadia Magazine's Top 10 for June

Arcadia Magazine has updated its top 10 reports for the month of June for the most popular arcade games played over the past month in Japan.

The following rankings are seperated between the top 10 generic cabinets and the top 10 dedicated cabinets. I've tried to update the rankings with the hardware that the game runs on where I could find it. For more information about Arcadia Magazine, please feel free to visit them on the web at arcadiamagazine.com.

Top 10 Games with Non-Dedicated Cabinets
1. Guilty Gear XX Accent Core (Arc System Works, NAOMI)
2. Mobile Suit Gundam: Seed Destiny Vs Z.A.F.T II (Banpresto/Capcom, System 246)
3. Melty Blood Act Cadenza Version B2 (School Software, NAOMI)
4. Virtua Fighter 5 Version B rev.1 (Sega, Lindbergh)
5. Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection (Namco, System 256)
6. Mushihime Sama Futari (Cave)
7. Street Fighter III Third Strike (Capcom, CPS-3)
8. Muchi-Muchi Pork (Cave)
9. Arcana Heart FULL! (Yuki)
10. Battle Fantasia (Arc System Works/Taito, Taito Type X2)

Top 10 Games with Dedicated Cabinets
1. Mah-jongg Fight Club 5 (Konami)
2. BeatMania IIDX 14 GOLD (Konami)
3. DrumMania V3 (Konami)
4. Pop'n Music 14 Adventure (Konami)
5. GuitarFreaks V3 (Konami)
6. Initial D Arcade Stage 4 (Sega)
7. Mah-Jongg MJ3 Evolution (Sega)
8. Quizz Magic Academy IV (Konami)
9. Sangokushi Taisen 2 - Young Jishi Beat (Sega)
10. Mobile Suit Gundam 0083 Card Builder (Banpresto)

New 2D Arcade Fighter on the Way from Capcom?

Insert Credit is reporting on a mysterious teaser page put up by Capcom over the past week. All that we can determine from the teaser so far is that Capcom is currently working on a new 2D fighting game that will be making its appearance "Coming Soon". Unfortunately with no word on what the game is going to be or what systems it will be available for, the rumor mill has been working over time on just what exactly this "secret" project could be. According to AM-Net (and brought up by Insert Credit in their write up on the game), initial claims seem to be that the game is going to be an arcade game and will be roughly based on the series Sengoku Basara*. The game is also rumored to be in development by Arc System Works.

Usually Am-Net is pretty reliable with their rumors, but the idea of a joint 2D fighting game project between Arc System Works and Capcom is like a 2D fighting fan's dream. Am-Net states we will get our first looks at the game in August, so we are crossing our fingers that the rumors don't disappoint...

You can find the teaser site to the game here.

For those interested, Sengoku Basara is known as the Devil Kings series in America. The game was originally released in Japan in 2005 for the Playstation 2 console and features a wide selection of playable characters to take through Capcom's "revisioning" of feudal Japan. The game has had two games currently released in the series (Sengoku Basara and Sengoku Basara 2) with a third game in development for the PS2 and Nintendo Wii which acts sort of like an expansion pack to the second game.

The action brawler is reminiscent of the Dynasty Warriors series, and though overall the series was well received in Japan, it was pretty much panned by the American audiences.


UPDATE - After a lot of internet scouring, I've decided that in my mind there is no way this game is going to be based on Sengoku Basara. Not only does it not seem "right", the site that the teaser is on seems to be in an entirely different style (with a more modern slant) than all other Capcom Sengoku Basara (feudal Japan) websites. Sure they may be trying to throw people off, but more often than not these teaser's at least are roughly based on the game that they are "teasing".

This doesn't mean that Arc System Works isn't working on the project or that Capcom isn't planning a Sengoku Basara fighting game... It just means that I'm convinced this game is not necessarily the game that is being referred to by Am-Net in its post up on Basara that you can find on its site. I believe this may be a case of mistaken identity on Insert Credit's behalf.

For those interested, compare the teaser link to this: Sengoku.

Whatever this game is seems to still be up in the air. I know that EGM was reporting on a new Street Fighter game going to be revealed soon, but I have a tough time hoping for that one based on Capcom's recent history. Maybe we are getting a new Rival Schools... That would be just about right, wouldn't it?