The Negative Edge News Report 08.09.06
Posted by Tommy Coloma on 08.09.2006
Symphony of the Night on Live, Street Fighter II sales, Spore revelations, Final Fantasy fever, Wii and developers, plus much more!
Yet another bad week for me. This time my car died. Lets see - I was issued a PayPal chargeback, my computer died, and then my car died. Three problems in four weeks. I think that I've met my quota of bad happenings for the month. I'm so close to freakin' out right now. Fortunately for you, I was still able to find enough time to complete this column without losing my mind.
Several web sites are reporting that Castlevania: Symphony of the Night will be released on Xbox Live Arcade early next year. 1up adds that the version that will be made available will not be the Saturn version that was released in Japan.
I'm a little disappointed that this will not be a port of the Saturn version. Using Maria in English would have been nice. However, just being able to download this game is more than I could have hoped for.
Street Fighter II = Dominance
According to a press release from Capcom, Street Fighter 2' Hyper Fighting has become the fastest selling Xbox Live Arcade title ever.
Capcom didn't really provide any concrete numbers to back up this claim. For all we know, they could just be pulling a Sony on us. It wouldn't surprise me if their claims were true though...
Awesome Reservoir Dogs commercials
I found out about these commercials at Kotaku. The original links no longer work so I did a search and found them on YouTube -
The creators of these commercials really know how to reel the their target audience in. Excellent!
How will you finish your PS1/PS2 RPGs on your PS3 system?
According to a Q&A section in the playstation.com web site, gamers will have to use a PS2/PSone memory card adapter in order to transfer their saves onto the PS3 hard drive. The cost of the adapter is still unknown.
It's nice to know that the option will be available from the beginning. I wonder how much said adapter will cost.
PS3 Games That You Will Not Be Playing
Technophilia has compiled a list of cancelled PS3 games. The list includes the following -
Killing Day
Theseis
Elveon
Endless Saga
Condemned:Criminal Origins
Smackdown 07
Oblivion
Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Alan Wake
Scarface: The World Is Yours
Fear & Respect
The Sopranoes
I'm tired of writing negative Sony news. Can anyone send me some good news?
KO the Street Fighter II timeout bug
Mookyjooky at CAG hit upon a solution to the timeout problem that many people are experiencing -
So click on quick match, and when it finds a person and starts the 5 sec timer, click the center button. Then hit the center button again when the character select screen pops up. Easy as pie, and I did it 10 times in a row without getting a timeout.
I can't verify whether or not this fix works. I just wanted to pass it along.
No console Spore for the time being
According to Spong, EA has denied that it will be releasing Spore on any consoles at this time. In a statement released by EA, the company made it clear that "we have only stated that at some point we will explore bringing the game to other platforms."
This makes sense. They don't want to cannibalize the sales of the PC version. Even if they were working on ports, it wouldn't be wise to disclose that fact until the demand for the PC version has subsided.
450,000 preorders and counting
Concerns on whether or not the Final Fantasy series is losing steam can now be put to rest. Pre-orders for Square Enix's remake of Final Fantasy III have reached 450,000 a month before the game is set to be released.
Earlier I asked for good PS3 news. Well, here it is - Everyone knows that Final Fantasy is a big name both here and in Japan. These numbers help to confirm it. How can there be any doubt that Final Fantasy XIII will move PS3s upon its release. Good news for Sony. Bad news for Final Fantasy fans.
Ubisoft's Wii offerings
In a recent press release, Ubisoft announced that seven of its titles will be available when the Wii launches. These games include Rayman Raving Rabbids, Red Steel, Monster 4X4 World Circuit, Sony Pictures Animation's Open Season, a game based on the popular Far Cry franchise, Blazing Angels Squadrons of WW II, and GT Pro Series.
I'd just like to point out that it's weird that they are going to be releasing Sony Pictures Animation's Open Season on the Wii. It would be cool on so many levels if they kept that name.
Blizzard is a big tease
Gamespot and IGN recently put out articles talking about a job posting for a "level designer."
The requirements are as follows -
- Absolute Passion for playing and making computer games.
- Experience creating levels in 3D RTS game toolset (Warcraft 3, Rise of Legends, etc)
- Great sense for what makes a game or level fun to play.
- Ability to make an artistically interesting environment using textures, height and doodads
- Must be able to do limited scripting or using triggers in game toolset.
- Ability to work well in a team environment
While most point to a new Warcraft or StarCraft, I'm willing to bet that they are just working a next-gen port of either or both of the series and they need a level designer that will be able to create maps specifically for those ports. I don't think that they would hire a complete nobody to create levels for sequels to their hottest properties.
The BIG yet disappointing announcement
The BIG announcement that Mark Rein hinted at last week turned out to be the release date of Gears of War for the Xbox 360. According to the announcement, Emergence Day 2006 is set for November 12, 2006.
As far as BIG announcements go, this was pretty disappointing. Everyone know that Gears of War was going to be released close (in this case, 5 days before) to the release of the PS3. I will remember this Mr. Rein.
"Wii prove our promise"
On August 23 Nintendo is set to give a press conference titled "Wii prove our promise" at Games Convention 2006 in Germany. Though not many details are available about the press conference, one of the rumors is that Nintendo will unveil 5 previously unannounced games.
I wonder if they will unveil anything as BIG as the Gears of War AWESOMELY HUGE announcement.
Guild Wars bonus pack will invade your wallet soon
ArenaNet and NCsoft announced that they will be releasing the "Guild Wars Nightfall Prerelease Bonus Pack" on September 15. According to their press release, the bonus pack will include the following -
Guild Wars "Play Now" key for a 10-hour/14-day trial of Guild Wars Prophecies and Guild Wars Factions.
Guild Wars Nightfall Bonus Key, providing one additional character slot for a Guild Wars Nightfall account, as well as two exclusive items for the new professions—a Firey Sunspear of Shelter for the Paragon and an Icy Soulbreaker of Enchanting for the Dervish.
Mini strategy guide, concept art, screenshots, in-game renders of characters and items, preview trailer, wallpapers, lore, quick reference card, music, and more!
If they release this for $10-15 I might be tempted to buy it. On a separate note, I spent a good part of my weekend taking part in the Guild Wars Elite Factions Weekend event. I wasted my life away trying to finish two three-hour missions. It didn't help that a lot of people kept dropping after the first hour or so. Still, it was actually more enjoyable that I thought it would be. I think that playing with 11 other people was what made the difference; playing with bigger groups of people is pretty fun.
Mortal Kombat is Koming to the Wii!
According to GameSpot, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon should be making its way to the Wii early next year. It is not known at this time how this version of Midway's brawler will take advantage of the Wii's controller.
It seems like the only thing people talk about is how the game will take advantage of the new controller. It's a fighter. I'm pretty sure that most people will just revert back to the classic controller for this game after the first few hours. I'd love to be proven wrong though...
No TGS for Nintendo
Despite being an opportune time to show off their new system, Nintendo has once again decided not to participate in the Tokyo Game Show.
With the downscaling of E3, TGS is set to become the largest video game expo in the world next year. (Credit: Wikipedia) Will Nintendo change its mind in 2007?
The Wii Is More Attractive To Developers
Spong has an interesting article on rising developer interest in the Wii. You can catch the highlights below -
It is becoming an open secret that publishers are shying away from the compounded risk associated with supporting two 'traditional' next-gen launch platforms within 12 months, namely that of the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. Microsoft remained quiet on its anticipated shipping figures, allowing analysts to make their own predictions, predictions that proved way off the mark.
And because of this lack of information, no doubt encouraged by a Microsoft third-party relations team which has come in for hefty criticism from every supporting publisher (albeit in guarded public words and in off the record mutterings) there was simply too much launch software for the Xbox 360. Publishers readied offerings for a non-existent audience. Those able to buy hardware, opted only for the safest game purchases and everything else was left on the shelf.
It is looking likely that third-parties are shying away from day-one PlayStation 3 support, preferring to back Nintendo's 'new-gen' Wii offering. See, for example, recent comments from Atari CEO Bruno Bonnell suggesting the embattled French company will risk nothing on PlayStation 3 shipping figures, stating in a recent interview, "...we're lacking information about the PS3 at this stage, because we have basically a rough release date and a high retail price point."
Although Nintendo fans may see this as only good news, come Wii launch they may well find themselves bitterly disappointed as publishers cram shelves with gimmicky rushed software claiming to make use of the Wii's unique interface, but in actually offering little more than filler gameplay within heartless software releases.
Let's not forget that early DS software from third-parties was almost universally appalling, with titles from Activision and Electronic Arts, flagged as works of genius by Nintendo of America at the time, representing little more than beefed up GBA code with pointless use of the touch-screen thrown in very much for its own sake.
I actually forgot about how dismal most of the early DS games were. Do you think that we are going to see a repeat of history here?
This Week's Desktop Wallpaper
I found this picture linked at Kotaku. This piece of fanart was made by someone named torokun at deviantart. Here is an excerpt from the "Artist's Comments" section which explains why he did not make it a body suit -
Like I said before, I didnt' want a body suit. So, i had to design exo-skeleton powered suit. But, in order to retain her crazy proportion (check out her latissimus dorsi on all her official art as well as 3d models), I had to make the suit much bigger than how it is depicted in the game.
The artist also says that the image is "rather crude" but it looks great to me. What do you think?
In my opinion, this is the worst Capcom fighter on the Xbox right now. Even though I dislike the game, I still think that if you are just a casual player and you like to mess around, this game is a good deal at $9.98. Plus the netcode used for online play is actually pretty good..
My first article for 411 was a preview for the Japan only release of Melty Blood: Act Cadenza for the PS2. Since the release date is this week, I figured that I should link it for all of you that missed it. Act Cadenza is a 2D fighting game so those of you who are only into the 3D stuff will probably want to skip it.
In case you were wondering, this game got a score of 31/40 (8, 8, 8, 7) from Famitsu which is pretty good for a 2D fighter.
I am a fairly optimistic person so I fully believe that at least one person will get this game based on my preview alone! If you are that one person, you might want to check out "Chacranajxy's Guide to Importing" at CAG. I personally use the slide card method since I have an older PS2 and I don't really like messing with modchips.
Evolution Videos
Evolution is one of the biggest fighting game tournaments in the world. The next tournament will take place between August 18 and August 20. Because the tournament takes place in a little over a week, I thought that now would be the perfect time to provide some links to Evo related videos -
Evo 2004 Moment #37
Moment #37 is the well known ending to a Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike match betweem Daigo Umehara and Justin Wong during the 2004 tournament. Daigo plays Ken while and Justing Wong plays Chun Li. Both versions of the video pick up different crowd reactions so I suggest that you watch both if you have the time. It is interesting to note that despite the fact that Daigo is from Japan the crowd actually favors him over his American competitor. One could probably write a nice research paper on the Psychological and Sociological reasons behinds this.
Full Match - The actual moment starts at about two minutes and thirty-five seconds in. You'll know it when you see it. You can skip the matches that occur right after. None of them come close to topping the moment.
Instant Gratification - If you can't wait and just want to see the money shot, this is all you need.
Evolution DVD Trailers
These are basically trailers/advertisements for the Evolution DVDs that shoryuken.com puts out every year. There are several others but these are the only ones that I actually liked -
Evolution 2k5 DVD Trailer - This is the trailer for the 2005 DVDs. I like everything except for the ending. The background song is from the second Moulin Rouge soundtrack. It is called Bolero.
Evolution 2k2 DVD Trailer - I think that I like this one more for the background music than anything else. The performer's name is Ayumi Hamasaki and the song is called Evolution.
Match Vids
There are a lot of places where one can download match videos. Here are two to get you started -
