Wednesday, July 9, 2008

1942 Coming in Two Weeks

11:20PM Brian Crecente | Capcom’s classic arcade shooter 1942: Joint Strike hits the Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade in just two weeks, the company announced today. PS3 owners get the game on July 24, while Xbox 360 owners get it on July 23. The new 1942: Joint Strike will include 2-player online cooperative play, updated graphics and music by Backbone Entertainment and a new score by Norihiko Hibino, a composer best known for his work on the Metal Gear Series. 1942: Joint Strike takes inspiration and influence from the ’80s 194X series of World War II-themed vertical arcade shooters. The art, sound and gameplay of the new game take cues from the original 194X games, but will stand out as its own unique entry. Gameplay will resemble the classic 2D style that gamers expect, but the game utilises a fully 3D engine. Set in a World War II-themed locale, stages, vehicles and weapons have the look and feel of WWII with some stylistic differences.

Rock Band 2 Features Drum Trainer, Wireless Instruments, Full Backwards Compatibility

11:00PM Brian Crecente | In less than a week Electronic Arts will be showing off Rock Band 2 to the world’s gaming press at this year’s E3. To get your motor running a bit early, Harmonix dropped this fat fact sheet and these images on us. First things first: If you already own Rock Band and you buy Rock Band 2 all of your songs will transfer over automatically and free o’ charge. Rock Band 2, which hits the Xbox 360 this September and the PS2, PS3 and Wii later this year, includes a number of new tweaks both to the software and hardware. Some highlights: The new and improved drums and guitar peripherals will be compatible with the original Rock Band and original instruments will work with Rock Band 2. The new guitar will have a sturdier strum bar, quieter buttons and be wireless. The new drum kit will include a metal reinforced pedal, quieter pads, velocity sensors and… be wireless. New Mini-Campaigns Custom Set Lists Online World Tour Drum Trainer That’s right, Rock Band 2 will literally teach you how to play drums. We weren’t allowed to play with the new instruments when the game was showed off to press last month, but I did manage to grope the drum kit for a few seconds when no one was looking. The pedal looked like it would stand up to more abuse and the drums themselves had a thicker rubber like feel to them. I’m certain they would be much quieter. The guitar, well the guitar looks just kick ass. Hit the jump for tons of details and a pic of the fancy new instrument. More »

Patapon 2 Announced, Let’s Look At It

10:00PM Brian Ashcraft | People liked Patapon so much that Sony Computer Entertainment Japan went and decided to put out another. That’s right, this summer Japan will see Patapon 2. While the previous title was single player, the sequel will feature four player multi-player mode as well as new characters. PON-PON-PATA-PON! Hit the jump for another look at Patapon 2. More »

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Trailer

9:30PM Luke Plunkett | Upcoming fighter Tatsunoko vs. Capcom looks pretty nuts. It also looks like it’ll rarely be seen outside of Japan. So this is probably as close as most of you are going to get to seeing the game in action. Make sure you enjoy it, then! More »

Sony Combines Zombies And… Google Earth

9:00PM Brian Ashcraft | If it was up to me (and it’s not), and I could combine Google Earth with one thing, I would combine it with zombies. Well, that’s EXACTLY what upcoming Sony Computer Entertainment title The Last Guy does — it’s like they read my brain! Details are scant, but the top-down PS3 game has players use Google Earth to rescue large numbers of people by having them follow you to safe escape zones and avoiding grey matter eating zombies. Sounds like it’ll be a PSN game and sounds like it will be totally awesome. The Last Guy [Official Site] More »

No More Heroes Mobile Is Less Bloody, More Adorable

8:30PM Luke Plunkett | Suda’s No More Heroes is violent. It’s also really, really stylish. Those are the two things the game’s probably most renowned for, so when a Japanese mobile version of the game turns up looking neither stylish nor violent, should you care? Yes! Because there’s not just one mobile game, there’s three of them, they take Travis and co. and turn them into fat-headed children, and because each game only costs ¥100 ($US 0.95). NO MORE HEROES FLASH ゲーム [Game Watch] More »