Today Namco Bandai decided to release the opening video for their upcoming 3DS crossover SRPG Project X Zone which can be seen below. If you can’t tell from the video, Project X Zone features characters from many Namco, Capcom and Sega franchises.
While this may not have been too interesting for some of us less than twenty four hours ago, the fact that Tekken’s producer, Katsuhiro Harada, has revealed that he has been pushing for the game to be localized. This means that you should probably check out the video below and start letting Namco Bandai know that just like Harada, you want to see this game in the West!
This year at the EB Games Expo will be a chance for select players to compete in the Alienware Fifa 13 tournament featuring the Sydney FC. How this will work is that the tournament will be a team knockout affair where players will compete right up until the finals where they will face off against the Sydney FC players.
On the tournament, one of Sydney FC players had this to say –
“I’m ultra-competitive in any environment, whether it’s on the football field or playing a game on the PC,” said Sydney FC midfielder Rhyan Grant. “A lot of the players are also gamers so you can be guaranteed whoever plays will be in it to win it.”
Winners of the tournament will be eligible to win a whole bunch of goodies. These include games, merchandise and tickets to see the Sydney FC play. It seems like this is the ideal prize for a soccer fanatic. Anybody looking to enter should sign up for the tournament at the convention at the Alienware Airstream mobile gaming hub near the exhibition hall.
The Alienware FIFA 13 Tournament coincides with the kick off of the A-League 2012/13 season. Sydney FC’s first home game will be held at Allianz Stadium on Saturday 13 October. Kick off is 5.30pm.
Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy and writer/director/star of the box office smash Ted, has made plans to develop a brand new live-action comedy for FOX. The show is set to follow a pair of thirty year old successful friends who end up having their crazy fathers move in with them.
McFarlane is set to be joined by Ted co-writers Alec Sulkin and Wellesley Wild to executive produce and write for the show. This sounds like a recipe for success! Furthermore, word has it that MacFarlane is also considering making a sequel to Ted, which should be exciting.
While our editors on the floor at Tokyo Game Show couldn’t find a single Toki to Towa unit playable on the floor, there were plenty of advertisements promoting a certain Japanese music artist who has a new song set to be released soon, May J.
The reason for all this promotion you ask? Because the song “Rewind” has been set to nearly four full minutes of gameplay and video footage of Toki to Towa. There is footage of battles, the slightly stiff exploration and plenty of cutscenes. While it is unknown whether the song will be in the game itself in any way, it is certainly pleasing to listen to and can be seen below.
Last week, Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix was announced for the PS3, and will bundle together Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories, and Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days. Of course a lot of fans are pumped about the news, but now everyone can gawk at a new trailer that Square Enix have graced us with.
Yes, these games do look better, as the models have been smoothed out and the environments look much cleaner. What is more interesting though is that 358/2 Days will also boast all of the same HD treatment, which is a major upgrade from the DS’ low resolution. As of now, this compilation is slated for 2013 for Japan, with no word on a western localization. While you wait with hope, check out the clip down below.
Studio: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo SPD Group No. 1 Platform:Wii Release Date: September 13, 2012 Price: $49.99
Overview
Keeping in with the natural rhythm of things, Nintendo has released yet another quirky, off-beat, mini-game filled casual title just in time for the Wii. Why all these poorly constructed music-based references you ask? Well firstly because Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise is all about maintaining your rhythm throughout 50 mini-games, and secondly because the only thing worse than my rhythm is my sense of humor. That being said, Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise is a fun, creative and interesting title worth checking out. Think WarioWare meets a more casual Guitar Hero. That’s the best way I can describe Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise and that still doesn’t come close.
Gameplay
Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise takes players through over fifty bizarre mini-games that require the player to maintain rhythm using the A and B buttons. No control sticks, motion swipes, just simply two buttons. Think that’s easy? Guess again. These levels are filled with challenges from testing see-saws with superhuman jumps, playing tambourine with a monkey, interviewing wrestlers to playing badminton mid-flight….all by pressing buttons in sync to a song. Once you’ve mastered four of these levels your then expected overcome a remix of those four songs by taking on all four scenarios to generate one track. Your actions generate the sound effects that contribute to completing the song, so timing is essential. Thankfully, visual cues are there to help you, but these are also often obstructed by objects so maintaing rhythm. It should be noted that unlike most music-based games, Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise doesn’t want you to look for visual clues, but instead to feel the rhythm and react exactly on the beat. This is sure to make the game extra challenging for those familiar with the concept.
Yes this title is filled with difficult challenges, but there is plenty of help for those who lack rhythm. Before each game a tutorial is presented, and if that’s not enough a demo of how to 100% complete the level is displayed as well. Furthermore, a cafe is present that gives tips to players as well as the ability to skip levels that are too hard. For a game that can be really challenging for those with no rhythm at all, the game is also very forgiving without being too easy. Nothing ever seems impossible with all these options at hand, which provides a great balance in both the difficulty and the learning curb.
Of coarse medals are present and other neat stuff to reward and unlock extra goodies throughout, some of which is the multiplayer which brings us to the game’s ultimate flaw. As a game that is essentially nothing but simple mini-games you’d expect to share the experience with your family and friends but on the most part Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise is a single-player experience. When multiplayer is available, it must be unlocked and is only accable for select titles and is only for two players. It is true that these games would be ruined by making them for 4 players, but by restricting it to only 2 the game feels like it’s missing something. Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise may be fun but it’s still a lonely experience. Furthermore, this experience can also be a short and while the presentation of each mini-game is generally creative and refreshing your still doing the same thing and that can get repetitive.
Graphics & Audio
One aspect that Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise that truly excels at is presentation. From the in-game graphics to the menus, everything is bright and bursting with colour. The art design couldn’t get any cuter even if they tried and the animation is equally as beautiful. The audio is equally as impressive, filled with catchy tunes with both Japanese and English soundtracks available for play straight from the get go. The sound effects intwine with the music as well, so what you do actually helps make the song. A perfect example of this is the game ‘Double Date’ where a ball is kicked which actually becomes the song’s snare. It’s a very creative element for a music-based video game and must be commended.
Overall
Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise is probably one of, if not the most unique music-based video game you’ll ever play. Filled with creativity, adorable graphics, pick-up-and-play controls and a catchy soundtrack, these rhythm based mini-games can be a pretty entertaining and rewarding experience. This interesting approach to accuracy and feeling should be appreciated by fans of the music genre. Unfortunately the life span is a bit short and the multiplayer leaves much to be desired. Regardless, Beat the Beat: Rhythm Paradise is still a solid title and is definitely worth picking up if your a fan of music titles.
The Medal of Honor: Warfighter Open Beta begins early October exclusively for Xbox 360 users. What’s interesting about this beta is that if three million users download the game before certain date, they will unlock early access to the new Linkin Park video clip. Whether or not this is something that people will be concerned about will vary.
The beta also adds a new mode called Hotspot where players have to attack and defend random points on a multiplayer map set in Bosnia. As of writing we have no idea if there will be additional maps to feature this gametype at release.
Players that pre-order the game before it launches on the 25th of October will recieve an additional map pack, if you’re in the US: called the Zero Dark Thirty (whomever came up with that name needs to be shot) map pack, while the rest of the world will recieve the The Hunt map pack.
Be sure to check out the official site for more info.
While the Tokyo Game Show wrapped up earlier today, there still are a few pieces of news that have yet to be fully revealed. Or shall we say, at least revealed in English. Japanese website Gamer happened to be in attendance during a stage event held by Sega on the last day of TGS.
What happened during this stage show you ask? The announcement of Hatsune Miku Project Diva F on the PlayStation 3 sometime next year. This announcement came from a pre-selected Twitter question that was then answered amidst a number of other questions posed by Twitter users.
Many of you know that Hatsune Miku Project Diva F was originally a PlayStation Vita exclusive and was released in Japan a few weeks ago. It is currently unknown what type of improvements will be made to the PS3 version of the game, though given the fact that DLC for the Vita version is already planned, it could contain everything in one package.
Unfortunately there was no mention of an international release for the title, nor the PS Vita version of the game during the show, but given that both the PS3 and PS Vita are region free, gamers can still freely import the titles at an additional fee.
Well, we know what will be the big ticket of the holidays. In under two weeks, the Wii U has sold out of day one pre-orders at retailers such as GameStop and Target, with the premium bundle now being sold out at nearly every retailer under the sun.
GameStop have taken it upon themselves to create a waiting list for its PowerUp Rewards customers, who will be able to put no money down and be added to a list that will save them a spare console when the next shipment rolls in. Hoarders are for sure a bit responsible for the quick sell-outs, which could very likely end up causing huge mark-ups on third party auction sites before the holidays. I am now glad I opted to pre-order within the first week, as it’s going to be a madhouse come black Friday.
In the lead up to the launch of Football Manager 2013, developer of the franchise Sport Interactive’s Studio Director Miles Jacobson has been seen narrating a number of video blogs highlighting some of the titles newest improved additions, tweaks and features. In the newest episode, Miles answers many users wishes for a less complicated comparison system, which with the introduction of bright bars to indicate players statistics gives an immediate visual cue as to performance and abilities. Much more detail has also been given to the players individual role within the team with statistic now reflecting that players performance within that role as well as being able to compare 2 players abilities in a particular position. All of this combined with easy to read visuals has been done to give players more confidence and ease of use within the signing and buying decisions.
As well as being able to make more detailed and informed decisions about their playing squad, users can now for the first time ever in the franchise also easily compare staff to vastly improve team performance. Take a look at the trailer and get excited for a new season of Football Manager.
