Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Dark Void Gameplay Impressions

11:40PM Michael McWhertor | Dark Void is basically Crimson Skies with on-foot combat. That may be overgeneralising things, but Ed Fries co-founder at Airtight Games and former Microsoft Game Studios guy essentially pitched the game as such at Capcom’s Captivate 08 event as the type of game that the team wanted to make. With a mechanic the studio is referring to as “vertical cover combat,” Dark Void looks to distinguish itself from the 3D action game crowd by way of Crimson Skies know-how and a sci-fi mythology that pits man against alien invader, selectively borrowing from classic science fiction properties in intelligent places.

Street Fighter IV Trailer Features New, Classic Characters, Grating Voice Over

11:20PM Michael McWhertor | Part cinematic sand-painted pre-rendered action, part straight to the point gameplay, this new Street Fighter IV trailer may be your first look at newcomers Abel, Rufus, Crimson Viper and El Fuerte. It may also be your introduction to Annoying Street Fighter IV Announcer Guy, a chatty Cathy who runs at the mouth with an unusual brand of hype. Also prominently featured are the bosses of Street Fighter II, with a respectable dose of arcade gameplay from veterans Balrog, Vega, Sagat and M. Bison. It’s perfectly acceptable to mute this one, folks! Enjoy! More »

Bionic Commando Hands-On Impressions

11:00PM Michael McWhertor | Capcom’s big-budget revitalisation of its Bionic Commando intellectual property has the potential be outshone by its classic remake, Bionic Commando Rearmed, as far as hardcore fans are concerned, but the new-gen update, the one starring Nathan Spencer, shouldn’t be overlooked. Both are graphically gorgeous in their own ways, with Rearmed presenting a tight, clean and colourful 2.5D re-skin, with the all-new Bionic Commando appearing to be an impressive visual achievement, stuffed with attention to detail and smart level design.

Capcom Announces Spyborgs For Wii

10:40PM Michael McWhertor |

New Details On Street Fighter IV’s Home Versions

10:20PM Michael McWhertor | Capcom made it official last week that Street Fighter IV was coming home, confirming that the arcade version would be ported to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows-based PCs. Speaking to Street Fighter IV producer Yoshinori Ono at Captivate 08, we learned a bit more about Capcom’s plans for the home versions. As Ono and crew already specified, the Street Fighter IV home conversion with feature characters not seen in the arcade version as well as online internet play. Ono stressed that the two characters not in the final arcade version who showed up in preliminary art form, Dan Hibiki and Fei Long, are not yet confirmed to appear in the console version. He told us that the team simply hasn’t decided yet who will be added to the roster and that SFIV artist Daigo Ikeno “is still working on many designs.”

First Resident Evil 5 Gameplay Impressions

10:00PM Michael McWhertor | Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi presented the newest trailer for his upcoming survival horror adventure, a game partially set in the shanty towns of an unnamed African locale, at Capcom’s recent Captivate 08 media event. Following the trailer, one that reveals protagonist Chris Redfield’s newest partner, a mysterious woman who we’re going to refer to as Sheva, just for kicks, Takeuchi fired up our first look at a playable Resident Evil 5. Set in the village showcased in the game’s original trailer, Capcom’s Masachika Kawata—producer of Resident Evil 4 Wii and Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles—guided us through a quick gameplay demonstration.

Yes, I Can See Everyone Is Wearing Straw Hats

9:50PM Brian Ashcraft | To: Crecente From: Ashcraft Crazy busy night, oodles of news broke. Plus, wife started to relapse today and was pretty ill. Tomorrow hopefully she’ll be feeling better as there’s an open house at the kid’s school. Very embarrassing thing recently! Yesterday was the first school day in June, and Mini Bash’s school switched from its spring uniforms to its summer uniforms (complete with a straw hat!). Totally forgot he was supposed to wear the summer outfit, took him to school in his spring one, and all the other kids were in their straw hats and whatnot. Only Mini Bash was still in long sleeves. Not only did the principal come over to my car to explain that summer uniforms started in June (which at that point I could fully gather by myself thankyou), but his teacher even called later that day. What you missed last night Itagaki leaving Tecmo, suing Tecmo Sony’s introducing pay for demo program Street Fighter IV moves list Red PS2 for Japan Japan getting blue PSP Meeting Kojima More »

Home Will Be Out In ‘08, But As An “Open, Working Beta”

9:30PM Luke Plunkett | Speaking with Wired, Sony’s Susan Panico has said that Home, the company’s ambitious online world/community hub/European furniture design fetishists club, is still on-track for a release in 2008. But there’s a catch: she says the “rollout will be similar to Gmail”. And when it is launched, it’ll launch as an “open, working beta”. Now, I don’t know if you’ve used Gmail before. But I have. I started in 2006. It was in beta then. It’s still in beta now. Home ‘Open Working Beta’ Still On Track for 2008 [Wired] More »

Sony Introducing Pay For Demo, “Exclusive Content” Gaming Program

9:10PM Brian Ashcraft | Sony just announced monthly interactive gaming program “Qore: Presented by the PLAYSTATION Network.” HD PS3 gaming program Qore (pronounced “Core”) will feature exclusive news, interviews and previews as well as behind-the-scenes look at PS titles — not to mention game demos and betas, “game add-ons” and other downloadable content. The show kicks off Thursday, June 5th, and the first episode features SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Secret Agent Clank, Soul Calibur 4 and Afro Samurai, plus new Blu-ray trailers, an exclusive SOCOM: Confrontation theme with an invitation to the SOCOM: Confrontation beta. From Sony’s PlayStation.Blog: To get Qore, simply log onto PSN and go to the PLAYSTATION Store, as you would purchase any other form of downloadable content. Once the single Episode or annual subscription is purchased, that month’s episode will be downloaded under the “Game” heading on the Cross Media Bar (XMB). Users who purchase the “Qore Annual Subscription” will notice only that month’s episode is available to download. The following month, the new episode will automatically appear in your download list. The introductory price for Qore is $US 2.99 for a single episode and $US 24.99 for an annual subscription of 13 episodes, using your PLAYSTATION Network wallet. Yep! All that exclusive content (from the platform holder nonetheless!) will set you back $US 2.99 each or $US 24.99 for the year. Hit the jump for a trailer with the show’s host Veronica Belmont. More »

Japan Gets New PLAYSTATION Eye Bundle, Software

9:00PM Brian Ashcraft | This summer, Japan is getting a PLAYSTATION Eye bundle that includes the peripheral along with PS3 software called Memotion which features six different PLAYSTATION Eye mini-games. Those are “Tsukuru”, “Miru”, “Toku”, “Asobu”, “Mau” and “Ugoku”. In “Miru”, players can feed tropical fish. “Toku” and “Asobu” are puzzle games. “Mau” lets players interact with birds within the aesthetic style of Japanese paintings. “Ugoku” lets players use their body and voice to create visual effects. “Tsukuru” is video and image editing software. The bundle goes on sale July 24th for ¥5000 ($US 48). PLAYSTATION Eye [Famitsu] More »