There are more Resident Evil remakes on the way, and this time we have an HD version of two of the Wii rail shooter games. Capcom announced today that they will be releasing Resident Evil: Chronicles HD Collection this June only on the PlayStation 3 and it will indeed support both co-op play and PlayStation Move support.
Resident Evil: Chronicles HD Collection contains an HD version of The Umbrella Chronicles and The Darkside Chronicles. Besides this update in visuals, players will be able to unlock a number of unspecified trophies as well. Upon release the two games will be sold together in a collection, though it has been stated that they will be available for individual download later on.
There are only five hours left for potential donators to donate to the “Double Fine Adventure” Kickstarter fund at the time of this writing. However those who can’t make it in time to give their hard earned money to Double Fine’s new title don’t need to worry too much, they not only cleared their goal of $400,000, they decimated it.
As of the time of this writing, the fund has raised $3,128,860 which far surpasses their estimates. To try and get a few more people to donate however, a new bonus has been added during this last day, and that is the above T-shirts which will be given to those who want to donate $100 or more. Those who have been following the Kickstarter fund closely will also probably want to watch Tim Schafer’s broadcast on Ustream as he closes out the final two hours live. The broadcast begins at 6pm PDT/8pm EST.
Taking another creatures life is always something that should be taken as a major decision, however these aren’t animals that Ryu Hayabusa has been killing all these years, no they are living breathing people. While we’ve previously only seen Ryu’s emotions stay as hard as the steel he wields, this time around things may be a bit different.
Ninja Gaiden 3 is set to be released next week and in this launch trailer we see Ryu mercilessly kill a man begging for his life, and also learn a bit more about the curse which is plaguing his arm. If anything can be said about Ninja Gaiden 3 so far, it certainly presents an intriguing concept that all those people Ryu has killed are finally weighing on his mind.
Over the past few weeks we’ve seen the slow downfall of a major video game retailer. GAME has recently had their stock drop extremely low and has had to cancel numerous pre-orders and now even companies are stating that GAME and Gamestation will not be stocking even the hottest upcoming releases.
Today another nail was placed in GAME’s coffin as it was revealed by Tecmo Koei Europe today that all GAME stores located in UK and Ireland will not be selling any copies of their game. Those looking to pre-order the game can still do so as “Ninja Gaiden 3 is available through HMV, ASDA, BLOCKBUSTER and leading independent retailers as well as online outlets Play.com, Zavvi.co.uk, Amazon.co.uk, ShopTo.net, the Hut and others.” When a company has to officially state that some of their hottest games aren’t going on sale at your store, things are grim.
New features coming to the Lord of the Rings Online universe in the sixth update have been detailed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. An overview of the update adding the great river region of Rohan to Lord of the Rings Online has been released, along with a trailer giving a sneak peek at the content:
The Great River Region
Travel along the shores of the mighty Anduin in the expansive new region coming in Update 6! The signs of war are all around you as Isengard and Barad-dûr put their dark plans into motion. Push back the Easterlings, dangerous brigands and an ancient enemy of Rohan, as they gather for an attack on Rohan and Lórien. Explore seven new areas along the upper Anduin including the green plains of Parth Celebrant where treacherous shades roam, unable to rest.
The Great River region is free to VIPs!
Epic Story
The latest chapter in LOTRO’s free Epic Story awaits! Travel to Lothlórien to seek Galadriel’s wisdom after experiencing troubling dreams. Investigate the grim tidings along the Great River but be prepared as the evidence may point to a foe more terrible than your darkest nightmares.
Soldier on Landscape
Get the helping hand you need with LOTRO’s new Soldier on Landscape! This new feature allows you to summon your faithful skirmish companion in the field. Customise your skirmish solider to help you tackle even the toughest challenges!
Instance Finder Update
You spoke, we listened, and now we’re making Instance Finder better than ever! Instance Finder will soon allow you to queue for the specific instances and skirmishes that you want to do. You can also choose to change loot rules and remove players with a fellowship vote. The rewards are being enhanced, too, granting additional XP for skirmish completion and scaling currency bonuses for when you queue for a larger range of instances.
EA Sports have announced that they will link up with the Leo Messi Foundation to refurbish a popular street football pitch in Barcelona, as a way of not only promoting the release of FIFA Street but also to boost the Spanish city’s already huge footballing culture.
The Bon Pastor pitch will receive a complete upgrade following years of being in disarray, including a new state-of-the-art surface, side boards, goals and more. This will ensure a high-quality environment for the youth footballers in Barcelona.
FIFA Street will be out on the 15th, be sure to check back here in a few days for our review!
SSX Publisher: EA Developer: EA Canada Platforms:Xbox 360 (reviewed), PlayStation 3 Release Date: 1/03/2012 Price: $56.28 (BUY NOW!)
Overview
The king of snowboarding is back with an ice-cold vengeance! Making it’s HD debut after a five year absence, the return of SSX is a strong reminder of what the extreme sports games are all about. From the adrenaline-charged gameplay, to the exaggerated stylistic tricks, to the rocking soundtrack, EA Canada have not only flawlessly recaptured the magic of the legendary franchise, but have also improved it in every aspect possible by modernising SSX for this generation. This one’s a no-brainer: if you’re an extreme sports nut, SSX is a must have.
Story
If your playing SSX it’s most likely for the gameplay and not for the storyline. However it should be noted that the set up for this game is quite interesting. Introducing some new characters along side some familiar faces, the story within the World Tour mode shows the origins of SSX and their plan to conquer the world’s nine deadliest descents by snowboarding down them. Beats sitting at home doing nothing, right? But when SSX member Griff Simmons decides to abandon the team, SSX looses funding and are forced to broadcast their drops to raise enough money to fulfil their goal. Thus the race to beat that jerk Griff to conquer the nine mountains first begins! This also marks the first SSX title to feature real world locations, and fact: SSX no longer stands for Snowboarding Supercross anymore, it now stands for Snowboarding, Surfing & Motocross. The story is executed through various cut scenes and graphic novels, and while not hugely entertaining story-wise, it pieces the world of SSX together quite nicely.
Gameplay
At heart SSX stays true it’s roots, where players snowboard down mountains at insanely high speeds and preform gravity-deifying tricks, but how they do so is a little different this time around. While old school players do have the option of using classic SSX controls, buttons have been remapped by default to preform tricks via the analogue stick. Regardless of which control scheme the player selects, the end result is the same with smooth controls that always have the player feeling in complete control. Preforming gnarly tricks builds up your Tricky meter, which allows for boosts and ‘Super Tricky’ mode that lets you preform even crazier moves, all accompanied by a remixed version of Run DMC’s classic rap song, ‘It’s Tricky‘. Various new features also come into play such as the wingsuit which gives a fresh new flavour to the experience and exciting avalanche escape events. Another standout feature includes the ability to rewind and retry a trick at the cost of some points, however strategically speaking there are more cons than pros in using this feature so it’s seldom needed. Regardless, it’s a nice addition to the game and can be used as a rather effective tool to help improve newer players.
Calling SSX a huge game is an understatement. For starters SSX contains three modes of play: World Tour, Explore & Global Events. World Tour provides a basic story with cut scenes in between challenges as you travel over the world conquering the nine descents, each one ending with a survival challenge that works much like a boss battle. While fun, this is ultimately a gigantic tutorial pumping you up for the main mode, Explore which has you taking home bronze, silver & gold medals while setting high scores and records in over 150 drops each with three types of gameplay. There’s Race It, your typical ‘get to the bottom first’ race, Trick It, where players compete for the high score and the challenging Survive It mode that will test your abilities to survive the deadly descents. If this isn’t enough Global Events also take place regularly with updated calendar setting various challenges for players. The goal for both of these modes isn’t just to create an epic high score, but to record your ghost for your friends to take on. As everything is updated in real time, you can easily set an impressive personal best only to find out your friend has already beaten you five minutes ago. While this may disappoint some players as there is no classic head-to-head option available, this provides a unique an innovative experience that is fully flexible and equally intense. Every drop you do is recorded here-there are no excuses for loosing, and is as hardcore as you can possibly get, truly defining which player’s better 24/7.
Visuals/Audio
SSX marks the first time the series has seen a HD polish and the game has never looked better. Textures are detailed and elemental effects are particularly impressive, and while some close ups of character models can appear a little rough at times, it makes up for it with very fluent and smooth animations that make preforming tricks even more delightful. It should also be noted that this marks the first time the SSX series uses real world locations, and that each mountain has been designed based off geotagging data borrowed from NASA themselves. Fancy! One of the brightest highlights of SSX though is the soundtrack that 100% captures the mood of the game. Featuring a very modern soundtrack consisting of chill hip hop tracks, dirty dubstep drops and engaging drum & bass songs, the atmosphere is captured perfectly though the soundtrack. Notable highlights include Foster The People’s Houdini, Fluz Pavilion’s I Can’t Stop, Noisia’s Could This Be and of coarse the fan favourite Pretty Lights remix of Run DMC’s Its Tricky.
Overall
While the last generation of console games were flooded with generic extreme sports titles, this current generation has seen next to none. However all is at peace now as the latest instalment of the SSX franchise is easily one of the greatest of the genre to date. While the lack of a classic head-to-head multiplayer mode may disappoint some fans, the intensity of Explore and Global Events easily makes up for it, putting a stronger emphasis on capturing high scores and aiming to be the best. At heart however, not much has changed from it’s predecessors, as gameplay does feel almost identical to many other past titles. This isn’t a bad thing though-as EA has managed to capture the same excitement the original SSX did on the PS2. Prepare for a flashflood of memories and arcade-styled fun as SSX hits our generation with full force. Without a doubt, SSX is the hottest (and the coolest) extreme sports title available for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 to date, and most likely will not be beat anytime soon!
With the release of the PlayStation Portable version of Persona 2: Eternal Punishment happening in just a matter of months, Atlus has just shared the very first trailer for the title. There are quite a few screens for the game already released, but it’s nice to now see some footage of the game.
This first trailer does not show any gameplay, but it does show off bits and pieces of the animated motion sequences that will be in the game. The trailer also highlights the main characters, and shares bits of the story, ending with a brief advertisement for the official soundtrack that will be released along with the game.
Upcoming off-road racing game, Jeremy McGarth’s Offroad will be getting a release on digital platforms during the second quarter of 2012. The game is being developed by 2XL Games and will be available for purchase on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network.
As the name of this off-road racing game suggests, the game will feature seven-time AMA Supercross world champion, Jeremy Mcgarth. Players will take control of four-wheeled off-road racing vehicles which will include rally cars, pro buggies, and pro lite trucks. Threre will be several tracks, vehicles, and both single and multiplayer modes of play.
The online multiplayer will allow eight players to race against each other and the full fledged career mode where players step into the shoes of Jeremy Mcgarth himself and work towards winning the championship.
“Teaming up with Jeremy to create our frenetic racer is a dream come true for me and the rest of the 2XL Games team,” said Robb Rinard, director at 2XL Games. “We can wait to deliver our brand of smooth arcade-style gameplay to racing fans everywhere.”
“I am super excited about this game…the graphics look awesome and my Monster Energy Pro 2 looks exactly like what I am racing right now in the Lucas Oil Offroad Series,” said Jeremy McGrath. “It’s great to see something that started as an idea turn into a killer video game thanks to the guys at 2XL Games! I am sure my fans from both moto and offroad are going to love it.”
Remember that Blue Exorcist PSP game we talked about last year? Probably not, but interestingly enough a trailer for the game as well as it’s full title have been revealed. The game is set to be titled Blue Exorcist: The Phantom Labyrinth of Time, because what we all needed was another anime game with an incredibly long title (Wasn’t Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan Demon Capital – War of a Hundred Gathering Demons enough?).
You can check out the trailer for the upcoming Blue Exorcist PSP adventure RPG game below. The trailer shows off some of the games battle system and you know generally shows things from the game. It’s likely it will never see the light of day in the West but Blue Exorcist fans would likely get a kick out of it.
