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Dragon's Dogma: The Kotaku Review While Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials and Tribulations may be available right now, in English no less, in Japan and already in the hands of importers, the North American release gets a special bonus. No, I’m not referring to the sweet nectar of corrected typos from the Japanese release, but the pictured plush Phoenix that Capcom is giving away to those who pre-order the Nintendo DS game. It’s perfect for squeezing, looking at, placing near you when you solve cases and general bragging rights.
Just think of the dust this thing will collect and the females it will frighten as it sits upon the shelves of those too old to own and publicly display these sorts of things. As Capcom staffers write, it will be available with pre-purchases made via Gamestop and the official Capcom online store.
New Ace Attorney Pre-Order Plush Exclusive! [Capcom Unity]
Thank baby Jesus and the Buddha and Miyamoto himself that I didn’t stay up until the wee hours F5ing the official Super Smash Bros. Brawl web site because it was a total snoozer. No new character reveals, not a single picture of Zero Suit Samus, with only WarioWare nods to keep us interested. Get your double cappuccinos handy, prop up your eyelids with matches and try to remain conscious during this week’s Dojo Dump.
Yes, the Xbox 360 version has “gone gold” and should meet its previously scheduled release date, but it appears the Curse of John Woo has once again forced Midway to push back Stranglehold for the PLAYSTATION 3 and the PC one (hopefully) final time. According to the latest schedule from the Stranglehold publisher, the Xbox 360 version is hitting on September 5th, with the PC version shipping a couple of weeks later, and the PS3 picking up the rear on the 25th. Good thing nothing else of importance is shipping that day.
Wait, I’m double checking my calendar. Oh. Oh my. That’s not good.
No big deal. We PS3 gamers are certainly used to waiting for the Xbox 360′s hand-me-downs. I suppose the promise of the Blu-ray version of Hard Boiled will make the wait much easier.
With Tokyo Game Show just around the corner, publishers have begun to show off their upcoming wares at private events and with the launching of official web sites. Capcom’s own dedicated TGS online presence went live today, revealing a good portion of what it plans to show at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba. The current line up looks like this:
Devil May Cry 4 (Xbox 360, PS3)We Love Golf! (Wii)Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure (Wii)Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles (Wii)Sengoku Basara 2 HEROES (PS2)Mega Man Star Force 2 (DS)Wantame Music Channel Doko Demo Style (DS)As we reported back in June, NetDevil’s vehicular combat MMO Auto Assault is closing its virtual garage doors forever. In just a few hours from now, the MMO will be nothing more than a memory for its fans. The NCsoft team promises a “wild, crazy event tonight” and hints at some nice bonuses for those who log on for one last hurrah. Some lucky Auto Assault players will even receive a “parting gift” that will include a chance to play other NCsoft titles such as Tabula Rasa and City of Heroes. Not a bad way to see off a friend.
Festivities kick off at 9 PM Central Time, ending at midnight, and are scheduled to include “all sorts of nutty things.” Have fun, guys. Rest in peace, Auto Assault.
Auto Assault News [Official Site]
There is much disagreement about whether Haze is just another shooter with a neat story line or a truly unique experience with asymmetric fighting, that disagreement holds true for those at Kotaku Towers as well. Personally, I think that the game is unique on many levels, least of which is that it uses game play mechanics to reinforce the message in the storyline, which I think is pretty amazing. Mark, he falls in the other camp. Check out this video to help develop your own crazy opinions.
You just can’t stop the Musou train from charging into the number one spot in this week’s (late, sorry) Japanese software sales charts from Media Create. The hack and slash expansion from Koei just narrowly beat out the next Final Fantasy original title for the Nintendo DS. I’m sure we can all chalk it up to the Crystal Chronicles curse.
The four-title rush of brand new games kicked out the PLAYSTATION 3′s former top ten citizen, Hot Shots Golf 5. I wonder if Musou series developer Omega Force will be able to get its own top ten showing with the next-gen hack ‘n slash Bladestorm: The Hundred Years’ War for next week’s chart. Any bets?
01. Sengoku Musou 2 Moushouden (PS2) – 182,484 / NEW 02. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates (DS) – 177,845 / NEW 03. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 3 – Best Price! (DS) – 56,787 / NEW 04. Mario Party 8 (Wii) – 48,803 / 665,000 05. My Housekeeping Diary (DS) – 23,678 / 146,000 06. Dragoneer’s Aria (PSP) – 23,617 / NEW 07. SD Gundam G Generation Cross Drive (DS) – 19,844 / 206,000 08. J.League Winning Eleven 2007 Club Championship (PS2) – 19,344 / 246,000 09. Donkey Kong: Jungle Climber (DS) – 18,583 / 112,000 10. Wii Sports (Wii) – 18,223 / 2,053,000
IGN is reporting that the Playstation 3 version of LocoRoco won’t be a game as much as a screensaver. I’m not sure why they’re saying that, because their description of the game sounds just like the PSP version of the game.
LocoRoco Cocoreccho! will include more than 200 of the singing critters on screen at once. To play the interactive screensaver gamers will use the tilt function of their SIXAXIS controller to gather up all of the blobs and shoot them through the level, just like in the PSP game, but with motion control.
The game will also include three mini-games, online ranking boards and a time attack ranking. The game is set for a Sept. 21 release in Japan.
Interactive screensaver with more than 200 Loco Rocos to play with [IGN]
Having just returned from Germany last night, freshly ill from too little sleep, I’m most likely going to be playing a Circadian rhythm game with my mind and body. Presumably, I’ll get back in the groove just in time to go to Tokyo and muck it all up again. In the digital world, I’ll be playing some Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and possibly even a little Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix online. I’ll be getting my ass kicked, of course, as I’ve never been that good at the game.
That’s it for this week’s purchases, but my LA pals have our weekly Geek Night next Thursday, giving me a chance to finally check out the final version of Lair. I expect much bitching about the SIXAXIS. I’m off to cough my guts out, but before I depart, I have to ask; what are you playing this weekend?
Larry Hyrb points out that Microsoft is slashing prices on four Xbox Live titles starting Sunday and ending Monday night. The Live fire sale cuts Small Arms, Zuma Deluxe, Gauntlet and Dig Dug prices in half starting 12:00 a.m. GMT on Sunday, September 2 and continuing until 11: 59 p.m. GMT on Monday, September 3.
Hit the jump for the list of games, description and prices.
