B3yond the Report 07.29.08

Posted by Mark Salmela on 07.29.2008

Is Tekken 6 going multiplatform as well? Also, news on MK vs. DC, Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty, DC Universe, Pixel Junk Eden, Street Fighter IV, MAG, Little Big Planet, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, Resistance 2, Wipeout HD, and more in the latest edition of B3yond the Report!




Greetings and welcome back to another edition of B3yond the Report. My life has been nothing but chaos, and it's amazing I found the time to sit down and do the column. It's funny how I constantly bug Tommy Coloma for never putting up news columns but at this rate I'll soon be in the same boat as him. Any who, there wasn't a whole lot of news last week anyways *since I had already covered E3 before I left*, so hopefully you guys didn't miss me too much. Any who, I don't have the time to sit around and puts, let's get to what I do best…



Not a fighter in MK vs. DC, it's B3yond the News of the Week~!

Final E3 wrap-up



Well E3 has come and gone, and I must say I was a little disappointed. I'm sure if you've gone to any website within the past week you've read and seen plenty on E3, so I'll keep this on the short side, not to mention I don't have the time to babble on about E3.

As I expected I wasn't really "wowed" by any of the 3rd party developers. Games like 007 Quantum of Solace look cool, but for me the show was all about Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo.

Microsoft had a pretty good showing, although they had their share of mistakes. The game demos were cool *although very buggy*, and I appreciated seeing live demos of games like Gears 2, Fallout 3, and Resident Evil 5. The XBLA games like the new Galaga look awesome, and I can't wait to download them. The FF13 announcement was very big for Microsoft, and pretty much won the show for Microsoft. As I've said before I don't care about the Netflix deal, and I think the 360 dashboard make-over is nothing but a Home and Mii rip-off. It'll be ok, but it'll still be a big rip-off and wasn't the "dashboard fix" I was looking for.

Nintendo was pretty embarrassing outside of Wiimotion Plus and Animal Crossing.



I've already commented several times on Sony's E3 showing as well, but I must say I've really fallen in love with their PSN line-up. Fat Princess and Fl0wer sound amazing, and I can't wait to get my hands on them. The PSN may not have the quantity of titles that XBLA has, but they're quickly surpassing them in terms of quality games, especially with Pixel Junk Eden about to launch. While I can't wait for titles like Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, Killzone 2, Resistance 2, and Little Big Planet, at E3 it was the PSN games that stole the show for me.

And finally, MAG sounds awesome, but it needs a name change *rumor has it they may change it to a SOCOM name* and soon.


Looks awesome.


Probably my favorite new title at E3.

Credit: E3


Tekken 6 releasing in December, no longer an exclusive?



Well if this isn't an interesting turn of events. According to a recent interview with Namco, Sony doesn't actually have the exclusive rights to Tekken 6, which I think would be a big loss if it were to release on the Xbox 360. Tekken is really the only exclusive fighter Sony has left, and I think it would be a shame to see a franchise that has always been Sony exclusive head over to the 360. Maybe it's just me, but Tekken on the 360 just wouldn't feel right. At least we know that the game is coming to the PS3 *it's been years since we last heard about the game*, and that it'll apparently ship world-wide this December. Namco also commented that they are going to give the console port a make-over in the graphics department, which probably explains why we haven't seen it yet. From what I've seen Tekken 6 looks good in the arcades, and hopefully it'll look even better on the PS3. I'll have updates as they come in.

Credit: GamersReports


New Kombatants for MK vs. DC



Well we were given quite the update at Komic-Kon in regards to MK vs. DC, with 4 new characters announced at the show. The Joker, Green Lantern, Jax, and Kitana have been added to the MK vs. DC roster. You have no idea how happy I am with the announcement of The Joker being part of the roster. I was afraid that with Ledger's death and the announcement of Catwoman for the game that The Joker would be left out, and thankfully I was wrong. While he doesn't looks like Heath Ledger as The Joker *he's comic book Joker*, I will buy the game just so I can be The Joker *in addition to the awesome MK fighters*.

I've been hearing really good reports on MK vs. DC, with hands-on previews comparing the game to a faster version of MK2. I'm totally fine with this, as I personally didn't care for all of the different stances and lengthy combos some characters had. I'm well aware that MK isn't the most hardcore of fighters, and I'm glad Midway does too. All I want out of MK vs. DC is to be gory and violent, and play like the MK games of old. I also want Smoke and Noob Saibot in the game, but who knows if they pay any attention to me. Any who the list of kharacters is now: Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Shang Tsung, Sonya Blade, Jax, Kitana, Liu Kang, Superman, Batman, Catwoman, The Flash, Captain Marvel, The Joker, and Green Lantern. DC Comics' Jimmy Palmiotti will also be hidden away as a secret character *his character model looks like Johnny Cage*. The rest of the MK vs. DC roster will be unveiled in the upcoming months.

Credit: Kotaku


Sony PlayStation Store update for the week of July 24



Well color me impressed, the PlayStation Store has been booming with good games lately. I didn't get to comment on this much, but I've fallen in love with Elefunk lately *although that game has it's bullshit moments*. The simple concept of building bridges using a strict number of materials and environmental hazards makes for a great puzzler. It really takes me back to my days of building toothpick bridges in high school *except it's easy to construct*. Besides Elefunk this week saw 3 new awesome pieces of content go up.

The first of which is the Pixel Junk Eden demo. You and two other friends can tear through about what is considered 5 or 6 levels in the Pixel Junk Eden demo before the game comes out *which I think is this Thursday*. I say "considered levels" because the game is technically only ten levels *called gardens* but each level has 5 different "spectra" which you must collect, and you must obtains each by going on a different pathway than the others, which kind of makes for 50 levels. Either way the game is amazingly fun and brilliant, and I've already fallen in love with the game. The simple concept of "spidermaning" around these traverse and changing environments is awesome, and it's probably the best "relaxing" game I've ever played. I definitely recommend Pixel Junk Eden.

Besides Eden, 1942 and Siren: Blood Curse both went up on the PSN. 1942 will cost players $10, and is a top down shooter much like Raiden and Ikaruga. The only thing I don't like about 1942 is the charge shot, because this means that players have to repeatedly mash the fire button in order to rapid fire *which will wear out your thumbs quickly*. It's also a pretty short game, but it's definitely a load of fun *and easy too, I beat it on my first run through*. Siren is a survival horror title, and while I didn't download it, users can download Siren in episodic chunks costing $15 each, or download the full 4 chapters for $40.

So I highly recommend users try out demos of Elefunk and Pixel Junk Eden *since they're both awesome and free*, and pick up the full titles if they like it *Eden should be this week*. The Siren demo was alright, and something that will satisfy fans of the horror genre. 1942 is also a welcome addition to the PSN, since it's one of the few *maybe the only* top-down shooter on the PSN *I consider games like Super Star Dust twin-sticks not top-down*. There was also a bunch of wallpapers, videos, discounts on games like Pain and what-not, but I'll let you guys discover that stuff for yourselves.

Credit: Sony



B3yond the Tabloids!

Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty will be released as both a downloadable PSN title and a Blu-Ray disc title. The download will be $15, while I have no idea how much the Blu-Ray version will cost. I say this because both SOCOM and WarHawk are charging extra for the disc-versions , so I'd assume Ratchet would do the same. I'm also unsure on the release date. Some say Quest for Booty will be out in August, while I'd say it'll probably be a September release *we all know how Sony likes to delay their games*.

Capcom has confirmed that Street Fighter IV will not have console specific characters. Good. While I don't mind that Soul Calibur 4 did it for the sole reason that I don't want to play as Yoda anyways, I don't want anyone else trying it.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune will have an update on August 22nd, which will include Trophy support. I'd gladly play through Uncharted again for some sweet Trophies, here's to August 22nd!

Rumors are still swirling as to what the big Final Fantasy 7 news will be about at Square Enix's convention next month. The latest rumors report that the announcement won't be about a FF7 remake on the PS3, but rather a sequel or a spin-off of FF7 on the PS3. While I'd rather see a straight up remake of the original, I guess it's not my call. And rumors of FF7 coming to XBLA are false, since Sony apparently owns the rights to FF7.

Insomniac announced last week that the August edition of Qore will include a Beta key to Resistance 2. While some assumed that was the only way you would be able to get in, Insomniac has since confirmed that Insomniac will be holding a special pre-order package *probably like Konami did with MGS4* that will contain Beta keys for Resistance 2. By the way, where's my SOCOM Beta Sony?

The Penny Arcade RPG will be coming to the PSN soon. This is the same game that was released this spring on XBLA. It appears that from now on all the Penny Arcade titles will launch simultaneously on both PSN and XBLA.

Metal Gear Online has been having a lot of problems lately, which Konami is desperately trying to fix. One of these fixes is that the MGO shop no longer has IP restrictions, which should help people trying to access new map packs. I haven't gotten to play much of MGO yet *although I did like the Beta* and it sucks that it's been having so many problems, since it's probably one of the most played PS3 games online *now that people are finishing MGS4*.

A demo for Facebreaker will go up on XBL and PSN this week *the 31st*. While I have been down on this boxing game *I'm waiting for Fight Night Round 4*, I will be sure to try out the demo. Who knows, maybe it will be somewhat fun.

Sony has reconfirmed that all user-created content for Little Big Planet will be free. I don't know where the nasty rumor that Sony would potentially charge for LBP DLC came from, but thankfully it's not true.

Atari has confirmed that Broken in the Dark *Alone* will be shipping on the PS3 this November. I don't care now, and I won't care in November either.

Due to nasty naysayers, Zipper has released the first in-game screenshot of MAG *which may be renamed to SOCOM by the way*. Here's the picture of the 256 multiplayer warfare. Parachuting into the battle looks sick so far. Here's hoping that there's sea combat in addition to the ground and air combat.



The ESA has confirmed that there will be an E3 next year. As I've stated before I feel that we need a big gaming conference like E3, so I am very relieved that E3 will still be around. There are rumors that the show could move to June, which I think would be pretty cool *I think May is too early in the year but July is getting pretty late as well, which leaves June as a good compromise*.

Sony has finally commented as to why WipeOut HD was delayed. While some believe it has to do with beta testers receiving seizures during gameplay, Sony has finally commented that they are adding a bunch of new features such as split-screen multiplayer. Hopefully Sony is being honest with us, because if the game was giving people seizures then we'd have a pretty big problem on our hands.



B3yond the Cinema!



Here's some gameplay footage of Mercenaries 2: World in Flames. It looks pretty cool.



Here's the first ever gameplay footage of the PS3 and PC MMO DC Universe. It looks pretty cool.



Here's the latest trailer for Little Big Planet. It looks awesome.



Finally, here's some footage of Ghostbusters. It looks alright.



The One Man Water Cooler~!



Sorry, no time for the Water Cooler again. I'll talk more as to why at the end of the column.



B3yond the Mail!



To Realist999 (Guest): Honestly, it's 2008, the joke "the PS3 has no games" is dead and buried. Get with the times.

To Drew Robbins (Guest): I agree with you Drew *Derek*. RPG's were fine back in the NES days, because the NES didn't have the power to handle action combat outside of side-scrolling brawlers. But with the vast amount of options that other genre's present in today's society, I just don't see anything special about RPG's. RPG's can have good stories *sometimes* and great soundtracks but otherwise I don't care for them.

To David Redkey (Guest): You and I kind of fall in the same boat. I play so many games now days and have so little time to play them all that I have only been finishing the "really good games". For example I played through and beat MGS4, but for something like GRID, I just don't have the time to play all of the events anymore. Maybe that's why I've been so into arcade games like Super Star Dust HD, Elefunk, and Pixel Junk Eden lately, since they're games I can play and beat quickly *and for a cheaper price* and still get gratification and a sense of accomplishment.


As I said before I always read what you guys send me and I appreciate the comments, even if they're sometimes filled with hate. If you wanted a response to your comment and I didn't respond I apologize.



The 411mania Empire~!



The Full Circle by Joe Roche. Oh Joe, I can't say anything mean to you, you're in the same "too busy to write" boat as me and Tommy.
Nintendophiles by Theo Fraser.
The PC Centric Extravaganza by Chris Evans.
Coming Attractions by Drew Robbins. Sorry for forgetting to link you Drew.
B3yond the Report by Mike Minotti. Mike did a great job covering for me, be sure to check out his podcast "The Exploding Barrel" here.
The 10th Hour by Derek Robbins.



B3yond the Wallpaper!

Well I have a special treat for everyone, as I am here to present to you the official B3yond the Report wallpaper. I recently tricked all of my fellow 411games comrades into giving me a little description of themselves, and it has led to the next strike in my war against the other news writers. A huge thanks to B3yond the Super fan Eric for the submission, and without further adieu, here's the official B3yond the Report wallpaper.

Download the official B3yond the Wallpaper here. It's available in many awesome resolutions. Here's a downsized version of the wallpaper.



B3yond the Report for life!



Signing Off!



Well I'm going to be honest with you guys. I'm not sure if how much longer I'm going to be able to do a weekly column like this. I am a full time student and work a full time job now, which doesn't leave a whole lot of "me" time. I used to be able to find around 4 hours on a Sunday afternoon to turn out the column start to finish, but I don't really have the time now. I'm not resigning or anything, and I'll try to be back next week, but I may soon have to give up the column to someone with more time. I don't want to quit 411 *I'll still do reviews and what not* but I may soon have to write a bi-weekly column or something for the site due to my schedule. So I'll try to be back next week, but I can't really promise that anymore. I still love videogames and love to write about them, but it's just not in the cards right now. I'll cya in 7!