B3yond the Report 10.28.08

Posted by Derek Robbins on 10.28.2008

PS3 nets an exclusive special edition package, Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix possibly date, Little Big Planet info...all of that and your weekly PSN release updates.

Hello and welcome to B3yond the Report! I'm sure the majority of you are reading this in between bouts of Little Big Planet, so I'll try to deliver you the news as best I can. Even if the PS3 news this week is a little on the slow side…Oh well! Let's get this party started. Also, if you want to play LBP with me…PSN is Croix22.



B3yond the News of the Week

Sony Slashes Expected earnings

The economy is in a down swing right now, so it's to be expected that certain business are being affected by this…well…drought. Sony is one of those as they announced last week that their earnings forecast was down 57%. Now normally, such a steep decline would be cause for alarm, but let's pause for a second and look at the economy. While Sony is a Japanese country, a large portion of their sales come from the United States and given that the US dollar is relatively weak right now…business is bound to be slow. I expect this number to turn around whenever financial times are less tight.

At the Nikkei Global Management Forum in Tokyo, Chairman Howard Stringer had this to say:

I have to offset the losses that the yen created so that we can get the company back on target along the target of 2010 which I intend to keep.

So basically, everything is A-okay according to them. Here's what has me baffled though – Sony plans to raise its equity by 10%. This plan was announced last June and according to that statement they plan to keep by that. This may not seem like a lot, but it's almost double Sony's average over the past five years. NOW that seems like quite a boost. My guess is that they were expecting a surge of PS3 sales on the strength of the new Final Fantasy or something, I'm not sure...

The odds of them achieving this goal seems relatively low to me if I had to be quite honest. You're slicing your earnings forecast and yet you're telling me that there will totally be more in 2010 than there has been, well…over the past five years? That seems kind of ridiculous, but what else are you going to tell your investors: "Oh, yeah dude, time to panic now."

Here's what this says to me: Times are tough. There is no other explanation…Sony is being affected by the economy. Instead of just saying: "Fuck it" though, Sony is going to at least try to improve their market in a rough environment. As a PS3 owner, that makes me happy that the time to worry hasn't QUITE come yet. I'm confident once the global economy issue straightens out we'll see Sony surge back to strength.

So, uhm, Sony wants you not to worry, but be happy. Okay, I'll try!



Sony nets exclusive Collector's Edition

So this story is getting a share of the spotlight? Well, it really IS a slow news week. THQ announced that the collector's edition for the upcoming Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 will be exclusive for the Playstation 3. Given that this is ‘primarily' a wrestling site, I thought this might pique your interest a bit, so let's see what exactly is so special about these special edition copies, shall we?

The game includes the following:

• a copy of the game
• exclusive Blu-ray disc with additional content:
o behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of the game
o over two hours of WWE 2008 footage
• North America gets a steel cage package; Europe and Asia get a miniature ring included in the package


Now look, again, perhaps I am being rough on collector's editions as a whole, but this doesn't really seem like a whole lot to me. The packaging appears to be neat, after all…it's STEEL CAGE THEMED…so you can show that off, but outside of that, what is there really to gain here? First of all, most of that 2008 WWE footage can probably be seen for free on various places on the internet. I know, this is BLU RAY and probably very good looking…but this is 2008 WWE. What we'll probably get (off the top of my head) is something like:

-Cena v. Triple H v. Orton v. JBL from Backlash
-Edge v. Undertaker ladder match from One Night Stand
-CM Punk cashes in on Edge
-Jeff Hardy v. Chris Jericho for the intercontinental title
-An assortment of highlights, not full matches, interviews, and etc.

Look, those are all fine matches…and to be honest, if we even got that much we'd be lucky, but I wouldn't say that's worth the extra asking price. I mean, call me cheap but $79.99 is a LOT for a game and "Two hours of WWE content + behind the scenes making of features!" seems like a royal screw job. You're paying twenty extra dollars for mostly rubbish content, by the looks.

Here's a tip, instead of buying the collector's edition of this game, why don't you just purchase the Hell in a Cell DVD? It costs about twenty dollars (the amount extra you would have to pay for the collector's edition) and has much MORE content. Oh well, I guess if you're really serious about your WWE investment you can perhaps excuse the purchase of this game.

Also, what would the making of featurette consist of anyhow? A tape of some guys copying the engine of SVR 2007 onto a CD, creating wrestlers, and sifting through fan complaints to come up with new match types and junk? Again, maybe I am just cynical, but for this type of game I really could care less for how it went about being made…I would prefer to see a quality finished product.

In short, this seems like a bogus deal and I would only recommend super hardcore SVR fans pick it up. Don't get me wrong here, I will probably be buying SVR 2009 (the Madden of wrestling games, I guess)…but there is no chance in hell I'll be spending $20 for bonus content. I guess this is a win for Sony…enjoy your 100-200 special edition sales to amazingly hardcore marks with deep pockets.

- I'm not allowed to post Triple H in a weakened position, you know.

Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix out this year. Totally guys

We all know how hard it is to re-make a game that makes Al Davis looks young, don't we? I mean, Street Fighter II is pretty in depth but I mean…we've kind of advanced as a game making culture and judging from how long it's taking to remake SF II it appears it' fairly hard to go back in time. Look, SF II Turbo HD Remix is an absolutely beautiful title that I can't wait to play, but we've been hearing about it since early 2007. Are you going to tell me it takes about two years to update Street Fighter II? Seriously, it probably took Capcom like 5 months to make Megaman 9…what's the deal here?

Whatever the case, Capcom's Seth Killian claims that SF II Turbo HD Remix will be out before Christmas. Sometime. They may not make their November target but it WILL be out then. This is pretty important because if they miss releasing this title before Christmas they'll miss out on a load of sales. After all, early next year we have the game of the century (2000-2100) coming out in SF IV and it might be a bit difficult to convince someone to not only buy that game, but also one that's about two decades old.

I'm not the only person who feels this way. Killian had this to say about the game being released so close to SF IV's release:

"Yeah, we definitely intended to release it earlier, hopefully this won't be a missed opportunity because I think Street Fighter IV got people hyped up for Street Fighter in general. The fan anticipation was very high for this game, so hopefully those people who were excited about it will still be excited. The extra time it's taken has been put into making it a better product and, frankly, it really is better than it was."

Well, I hope it goes well for them. It appears to be lovingly remade at the very least.

According to Killian, the hardest thing about Turbo HD Remix was the graphics. If you've seen screenshots of the game, you know it looks phenomenal. The interesting thing is though, the art design had a shift part of the way through production. There was a photo of the game leaked a while back and it looked like garbage. Capcom says that they KNEW it looked like "shit" (for once, not my words!) and fired the guys before the thing leaked in the first place. Good job by them because all the screenshots of the game we're getting now just look flat-out beautiful.

There's also more exciting news on the Turbo HD Remix front. Have you played Street Fighter 2 on X-BOX LIVE? No, I'm not talking about on the 360, but on the original X-Box? Do you remember how laggy of an experience that is? I know I do. There's a Penny-Arcade comic that expresses this sentiment greatly. Gabriel fires a hadouken, goes to get a drink…and comes back to see whether the move landed or not. Apparently that whole messy situation is gone now. Killian explains:

"This game actually feels like Street Fighter. This game online is crackin'. They've sunk a lot of time and had a lot of specialists involved in that. I actually think it's the best fighting experience online. For anyone that likes Street Fighter and wants more competition, I think the game will sell itself."

That's pretty lofty praise and if it can approach the amount of quality SF II Turbo has on GGPO's online servers, perhaps Turbo HD will be able to last us hardcore Street Fighter fans until the release of SF IV early next year on current generation consoles. It'll be a fond trip down memory lane playing as the "new world warriors" one final time. Err. Maybe.

Credit: Kotaku



PSN Store Update

That's right boys and girls, it's time for the weekly PSN update. Joy!

Downloadable games

• Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One (US$ 14.99)
• Prince of Persia Classic (US$ 9.99)
Add-on Game Content

• BUZZ! Quiz TV Horror Pack (US$ 0.99)
• Play Yoda in Soul Calibur IV (US$ 4.99)
High Velocity Bowling
• All Hallow's Eve Ball Pack (US$ 0.99)
• Add Foxy Powers to your roster (US$ 0.99)
• Add Chastity Falls to your roster (US$ 0.99)
Megaman 9
• Hero Mode (US$ 0.99)
• Superhero Mode (US$ 0.99)
• Special Stage (US$ 0.99)
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution
• Scenario Pack: Survival (US$ 1.25)
• Single Player Map Pack 2: Surreal (free)
Guitar Hero World Tour
• "Hot Blooded" by Foreigner (US$ 1.99)
• "Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield (US$ 1.99)
• "Rock and Roll Band" by Boston (US$ 1.99)
• Classic Rock Track Pack (US$ 5.49)
• Duel Track Pack (free)
• Neversoft Track Pack (free)
Rock Band
• "Dr. Feelgood" - Mötley Crüe (US$1.99)
• "Kickstart My Heart" - Mötley Crüe (US$1.99)
• "Rattlesnake Shake" - Mötley Crüe (US$1.99)
• "On a Plain" - Nirvana (US$1.99)
• "Polly" - Nirvana (US$1.99)
• "Something in the Way" - Nirvana (US$1.99)
• "Stay Away" - Nirvana (US$1.99)
• "Territorial Pissings" - Nirvana (US$1.99)
• "Breed" - Nirvana (US$1.99)
• "Lounge Act" - Nirvana (US$1.99)
• Nirvana Pack 01 (US$10.99)
Game Demos (free)
• Valkyria Chronicles Demo
• LEGO Batman: The Videogame Demo
Game Videos
(free)
• PAIN: The Hoff Trailer
• PAIN: Movie Studio Trailer
• SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation Behind the SEALs - Part 1
• Dead Space Animated Comic Issue #6
• Disney Sing It Trailer
• Guitar Hero World Tour MC5 Vignette
• Guitar Hero World Tour Motorhead Vignette
• Legendary: The Box Behind the Scenes Episode 5
• NHL 09 David Littman Producer Video
• NHL 09 Be A Pro Video
• Tom Clancy's EndWar Theater of War Video Briefing
PS3 Themes
• Wipeout HD All Teams #3 Theme (free)
• Megaman 9 Premium Theme (There are 5, each comes at US$ 1.99)


For those of you who have been holding out on playing it, Penny-Arcade Adventures volume 1 is a pretty good game. It has an interesting story, great writing and wit, and a surprisingly fun JRPG-esque battling system. I may just be a totally biased fanboy of Gabe and Tycho but I'm telling you…this is worth your money. It's a good use of $15 at the very least.

It's apparently a strong week for downloadable PSN games as Prince of Persia also finds its way onto the Sony Store. This game is one I really do need to purchase as it serves as a graphical update to the absolutely prodigious original Prince of Persia. If you've only played the Sands of Time trilogy do yourself a favor and try out the originals. You'll like it a lot, maybe not as much as Sands…but it'll be worth your $9.99

Oh boy, Add-on game content. Can't really complain about the Buzz stuff. After all, who doesn't need more trivia questions? It's only a dollar anyhow, so I don't see why not. As for the other item right next to it? That $5 Yoda? Yeah, just skip that. It's a pretty sizable waste of money for something that I would assume is on the game disk. Let me put it this way, if it wasn't on the game disk it'd be pretty impossible to play Yoda on the internet. Not EVERYBODY has bought the little guy so if you can see him without buying him, he's on the disk. Simple as that.

I don't really know about the bowling game, but…moving on to Megaman, I find it hard to continually say nice things about Capcom. Here they are again, charging for more DLC that should have been in the game in the first place. Look, I kind of understand the boss add-on…I mean, who doesn't want to play through another stage? Paying money to make the game harder just smells like BS to me.

Civ 4 stuff is in, can't really comment on that because I don't have Civ 4 yet. Yes, I know, I'm a loser…I've just had so many games to play and so little money that it got lost in the shuffle. Some day though. Some day. (And most likely on the PC)

The Rock Band and Guitar Hero stuff is pretty much as you would figure it to be. Rock Band this week is Nirvana, which is nice…and Guitar Hero gives us some classic rock, which is also nice. I have to be honest though, I really don't like spending a dollar for every new song that comes out for either of these games. There are new songs every week and after a while it just starts hurting your wallet.

Really just going to gloss over the demos. Lego Batman is shit and the other game is one I shouldn't comment on because I know nothing about it.

Skipping the useless video section like always, what do we have in theme news this week? Hm…Wipeout HD theme? Cool man! Oh, what's this? A Megaman 9 theme!? Has a challenger finally come that can bump off Metal Gear Solid 4 as my primary theme? Wa-wait a minute…$1.99 FOR A THEME! GAAAAAAAAAAAAH. Yeah, fuck you again Capcom. I know you only charged $10 for MM 9 as a whole but the amount of nickel and diming that is taking place now is almost silly. Considering that you're charging 1.99 a pop for the five MM 9 themes, I can't help but feel gipped. Look, I love the game but seriously…if MGS 4 can run out a theme for free, I'm pretty sure a hacked version of MM II can do it too. Jeesh.

No seriously though Capcom, I love you. Even AFTER THIS. Any company that can release SF II Turbo HD, SF IV, AND Megaman 9 within the span of half-a-year has my heart.

It was an alright week, but some of the things in the store did nothing but piss me off. Oh well, what's new.




B3yond the Tabloids

So have you got back from the store with your fresh copy of the brand new, wayyyyyyyyy over-priced Guitar Hero and found yourself saying: "I haven't quite spent enough money yet, Activision, rape me further!" do I have some good news for you! Activision has announced that they are working on "DJ Hero". This seems pretty cool, do tell me more, Brian Bright! (GH Project Director)

Activision's doing a DJ Hero game, and I can't comment on what we're doing. But... we're working on the future and next gen. If I wasn't excited about it I wouldn't be there.

Oh joy! Oh requiem! DJ Hero! Next gen and future stuff though? Hm. Well, you've already got about 20 Guitar Hero titles slated for the next two years, why not throw in a few more!

According to Dr. Lawrence Kutner, video games are not the source of all the problems with today's youth. Isn't it refreshing to hear someone say videogames aren't the problem? Dr. Kutner thinks being over-wrought with games can be the source of the problem since apparently most gamers don't suffer from psychological damage (!!!!!!)

In essence, it's a way of self-medicating. Kids play for a variety of reasons: for the fun of it, for the challenge. Or they play for emotional regulation. They can get their anger out.

Kutner goes on to say that a lot of this problem stems from the fact that parents don't distill the differences between rights and privileges to their kids. Without that knowledge, kids will simply think videogames are a right and will be furious when you take them away.

So Little Big Planet is now officially out…and the servers for the game are now supposedly officially up. I'm not sure I totally believe this claim though because I'm watching my brother play Little Big Planet and it appears that the networking features are not…quite functioning properly. Then again, there are probably a TON of people hopping online at this very moment so naturally the first few days will be bogged the hell down. Still though, I was able to play a couple of levels online earlier and it was a blast. There was this one God of War themed level that was just sensational. As mentioned above, if you want to play LBP with me, simply add my PSN: Croix22.

So are you like me and think that Qore is fucking useless? Well, it may not be totally useless. Turns out if you get their next issue you can get into the closed beta for Home. I still probably won't get it, but if you're really hot to trot for HOME you may want to look into that.

So what have the reactions been like for Bioshock? After all, last year it was one of the most critically acclaimed games available on the X-Box. Well, if you must know, OPM in the UK gave it a 10/10. Ain't that something? Resistance 2, Mirror's Edge and Farcry 2 both netted pretty awesome scores of 9. I'm not usually one to put high stock into review scores, but I'm glad to see that these games are relatively liked.

Stupid fanboys are still stupid. Remember when on Metacritic X-Box fanboys heaped a fan rating of something like 6.3 on the highly hyped Little Big Planet? Well, Sony fanboys did something similar. The highly acclaimed Gears of War 2 sit in the low 2's as we speak. Not that it will dissuade anyone from buying the game, but apparently fanboys take this sort of thing pretty seriously. Find something better to do with your time, it shouldn't bother you that someone else enjoys games on a system that isn't your own.

So are you still holding off on a Playstation 3? Well I have some pretty great news for you. In case you were interested in an 80 gig model, you can get one RIGHT now – specifically the MGS 4 bundle with the special edition copy of MGS 4 – for $449. This is down from $599. This would be a pretty good idea if you wanted to have the optimal system with the, to this point, optimal PS3 game. That sounds like a good deal for me, I spent that much on my normal 40 gig PS3 and MGS 4 combined. Hrmph.

So are you like me and not totally over-whelmed with the offerings of a Kratos sackboy or a Nariko sackboy? Well if you live in Japan, have I got good news for you! Over there, you apparently get not only a Sackboy keychain, but also an in-game ape-escape sackboy costume for your perusal. Not fair, my keys desperately need holding!

For those who didn't know, a PSP spin off of Little Big Planet is being developed. Here's some new information though, apparently Media Molecule plans to take LBP beyond perhaps even the world of gaming. Media Molecule wants the franchise to go into Television shows, cartoons, and perhaps even action figures. Could this mean that we'll be seeing little plushie sackboys on store shelves at EB games soon? I mean…I saw Guitar Hero action figures at that shop earlier today, they can't be any worse than that, I would have to say.

The PSP is apparently making quite the charge in Japan. Get this, the PSP outsold ALL the consoles AND the Nintendo DS combined…TIMES TWO last week. This is all thanks to the brand new model-3000 PSP. I think that's pretty encouraging news for Sony as most would consider Playstation's Portable system to be a dud at this point in time. Even me! The guy who writes ABOUT Sony!



B3yond the Cinema



Your weekly Street Fighter IV video. This week we see Vega Bison take on Seth in what you can be assured is a match for the ages. It's needless to say that Street Fighter IV is shaping up to be one of my most highly hyped games, well, ever.



Here's a bit of Prince of Persia for you. There's no gameplay in this video, but there are some story bits that you may enjoy.



I may not be super hyped for Tomb Raider but I assume some of you, somewhere are. Poor souls.



Resistance 2 Co-op beta for you to feast on.



Here's how to make a song in the new Guitar Hero game. I might as well link you to where you can find out as you're probably exhausted from spending upwards 200 dollars for the game. Or at least an example of how to make Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

The One Man Water Cooler!


Like Matt Hardy, The One Man Water Cooler just won't die. Even though every week I claim change is coming it apparently never does. FEAR NOT THOUGH! Some day, the name will change and you will all…be amazed. Simply amazed. Now that the weekly disclaimer is out of the way, let's get onto the real subject.

Yesterday marked the release of Guitar Hero World Tour. Conveniently enough, almost three years ago Guitar Hero first found its way into households and became a bit of a surprise hit. Guitar Hero I, released in November of 2005, was a fun little title and soon enough the gaming world demanded a sequel. This is reasonable, when there is a good game, a lusting for a sequel is bound to exist. Little did we know that this would be the start of something quite troublesome. In the year 2008 it feels that we've already experienced roughly a thousand Guitar Hero titles. In just three years, the market has become over-flooded with the influence of this game.

Now you might be thinking that I am over-stating this…but it feels like when I click on a news source that over half of the news I am being fed is either from Guitar Hero or Rock Band. While those games are quite enjoyable – Rock Band just receiving a sequel – do we really need that much of a good thing? Should I be going to the store and seeing Guitar Hero action figures, Guitar Hero Aerosmith, or…hell…a billion different styles of the same dang guitar?

The popularity of this title befuddles me. It has such amazing appeal…is it because people secretly wish they could play guitar as well as major rock star personalities? Is it because it's easy to grasp? I honestly couldn't tell you. It's gotten so crazy that people you wouldn't normally associate with the term ‘gamer' play Guitar Hero on an every day basis and refer to themselves as such. I am not of the belief that people who play games should be called gamers, I mean…it's assuming we all have the same ideals and what not. It's kind of weird. To have someone who goes: "Yeah man, I play Guitar Hero, I guess you could call me a hardcore gamer" kind of stops me in my tracks.

In no way should these games go away. Now I know I've been speaking of the over-saturation, but the fact is these games SELL. We can't forget what the number one priority of game makers is. It's not to please the fans. We like to tell ourselves that game companies want to go out and please us no matter what. We see Nintendo and go: "They have my best interest in mind!" Look, here's the deal: they don't. Game companies exist to make money and no matter what I think, no matter what the shut in we all know at college who only exists to play video games thinks…Guitar Hero (and Rock Back, obviously) MAKES money. Taking them out of the market would be a bad idea.

So if we can't take them out, what can we do with the franchise to help fix it? Obviously it's not a good idea to release eight versions of the game in one year. EVENTUALLY people are going to grow weary after playing "Guitar Hero: Hanson Brothers" . What I would recommend is that Activision releases one more Guitar Hero game. One that has a very solid set of features, one that can rest well on its own merits. I'm talking a game that has a good song editor, a good default soundtrack, and a hell of a lot of interesting game modes. Phoning it in will not be acceptable, it will be the last GH game for modern day consoles.

What to do next is put your focus into online gaming. They release new tracks online for Guitar Hero (and Rock Band) every week. These tracks usually cost a dollar or two. Basically what you could do is just release new songs via DLC on a frequent basis. Is it available to everyone? No, probably not…but most people who have the money for a next generation console probably have the capacity to get online with said console. Is it unfair to those who can't? Sure. You could take an approach similar to what Rock Band is doing with the wii though. Just release track pack expansions. There, problem solved. Is it a new game? Nope! Same game, just new songs and at a convenient price.

Now you might be wondering how in the world they can survive only releasing songs via DLC, and I think the answer is quite simple. They just have to release more songs. Weekly I think, unless an album is released, we see about three or four songs. This is an alright amount, especially considering the fact that we pay x-amount for a tangible CD every four-or-so month. You just release MORE songs a week. I'm thinking something like seven-to-ten a week plus whatever album deal they sign.

Speaking of the pure number of songs, another way to help there be more would be to have a song creator that is actually competent. Now look, I haven't played the new game…I am simply going off reviews. These reviews have the game's customized sound as "simplistic, worse than midi sounding." In a game where we want to rock out, this is not acceptable. If they went with a long-term plan they would need something more tangible. Perhaps include the ability to add lyrics.

They could also take this more mature song making system and make a deal with people who submit their songs online. Like they can offer up especially good create-a-songs once a week for free DLC. It gets people into the Guitar Hero online store and it also allows people to flex their creative muscles. If someone thinks they have a good chance of being exposed, they are far more likely to do something. In my opinion at least.

Of course, I shouldn't just pick on Guitar Hero. Rock Band is much the same way. For goodness sakes, Rock Band 2 has something like 500 songs available for you to play if you own all the DLC. FIVE HUNDRED songs. Rock Band is released only once a year so it's not as big of a deal for them…but perhaps they should consider something similar. One more game – with create a song features – and life through DLC. I don't know about you guys, but 500 songs available on one freaking game is more than enough for me.

Both Guitar Hero and Rock Band are constant sources of annoyance to people who follow gaming news. We tire of seeing every headline dominated by those two games. There is a way to salvage this over-saturation but it'll require an entire paradigm shift. Of course, I could be mistaken and this could be a horrible idea…but I think both companies would still make a killing.

As long as they remain profitable, they'll be around for years to come. Simple as that.



B3yond the Mail



Steve 307 is in first:

No discussion of the situation with Little Big Planet? Shame.

On the subject of fighting games, wouldn't you agree that we need some NEW franchises to be developed? Tekken, Soul Calibur, Virtua Fighter, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, etc., are all games that originiated in the early to mid-90's. Several of those series have barely moved the meter in anything other than graphics. (I'm looking at you, Tekken) I''m not saying that the games that release are bad, but it's more of the same each year. Is it any coincedence that 2 of the most anticipated fighters coming out in the near future are SF2 Turbo, and Marvel Vs. Capcom 2?

There is a pretty notable reason as to why I didn't talk about that. I am writing this column on Monday night, it's 8:44. My brother and David R are playing Little Big Planet in some Mexican-themed level. I think it's safe to say that the whole delay was not a big deal and now that the game is out we can all move on.

I totally agree with you by the way about needing some new fighting franchises. I am as guilty as anyone for over indulging in the same damn franchises every year. I mean, I am all over SF IV and SC IV and we've SEEN these games before. We could use a new comer to really spice up the genre, give us something we haven't seen before…

It's sad that I am so excited for SF II Turbo HD Remix, but that's how barren the fighting landscape is as far as new intelligent properties are concerned. I have nothing new to play so I have to fall back on what is old. It's kind of a shame, but that's just how it is.

kevnb "OH SNAPS" Sony

Bungie is free, but microsoft still gets first dibs on all their games. Most likely no ps3 games, unless the idea is so bad microsoft wont publish it.

So can we expect Halo Wars on PS3 any time soon?

Daniel is welcoming my traitorous ways.

Welcome to the king of iron fist tournament! We will gladly accept you into our ranks =)

I feel so dirty that I am joining the Tekken side. Why am I casting aside my Dead or Alive forefathers and thrusting myself in the general direction of Asuka and company? Oh God…what have I done? I can't help it, I think Tekken 6 looks damn impressive. If I say something is damn impressive, since I hate everything popular (though not as much as my brother), you know it's impressive. Damn!

Eric is biased

Quote: "One day, one day perhaps far away this logo will change and you will all look at me and say: "You told me so, but I did not believe." On that day, it is my belief that you will see clearly…that my promises will come to life. Until then though, I'm full of shit."

See, you just can't deny the everlasting power of the MGS Special Edition PS3 water cooler.

And yeah, I am just a >tad< biased

Its power is gripping. I seriously try to photoshop something else each week and something grabs my hand, turns the mouse sideways, and shoves it up someone's candy ass. Whose? I'm not sure, but it just feels wrong.

Anthler wraps things up this week

ARc system works has been making new fighting game ips every now and then in japan, like the one based on fist of the north star or battle fantasia... all kinda based off the guilty gear fighting system though. just that most of their titles will never be localized for an american audience due to both licensing issues and high likelihood no one will know about it.
unfortunately i would say SF4 is a little overrated... i played it a couple times, but i really didn't like the look of the game... so i went back to capcom v. snk 2. MvC2 if it has online matchmaking will be awesome.. add in a few new characters like viewtiful joe, Dante from dmc, and its automatically worth the 15-20 bucks capcom will surly milk out of us again.

That's the problem…those crazy anime licenses are hard to bring over. A lot of those shows are unknown to an American audience. No matter how good the game is, people will ignore it because of the license. One of my favorite fighters of all time is Jojo's Bizarre Adventure for the Playstation and Arcade…but good luck finding anyone here who has heard of it. I think in order for the next big fighter to come around, it'll have to succeed on its own merits. As cool as Fate/Unlimited works looks, it would not sell in America.

Also, I so love CvSNK 2. It's my favorite fighter of all time. I am glad that you agree. I will be paying that 15-20 for MVC 2 again no matter what. I sold my copy stupidly and need to play the game again. Dante and Joe in the game would just be sweet icing on the cake.

I appreciate all the comments that you give me and I truly believe that everything you tell me, positive or negative, is helping to shape me into a better writer. Thank you everyone!

The 411 Mania Empire



Vincent Chiucchi writes The Select and Start News Report

Joe Roche writes The Full Circle News Report

Theo Fraser writes the Nintendophiles

Chris Vicari writes the PC Spotlight

Chris Evans writes the PC-Centric Extravaganza

I write the 10th Hour

Drew writes Coming Attractions

AJ and Mike Minotti are the voices behind the Exploding Barrel Podcast

Well that's it for this week. Back to LBP. Remember! Croix22 is my PSN! I say someone should make a B3yond the Report level in LBP. Just saying.

'til the crossroads