Interested in seeing what the Japanese will be getting when they pick up Resident Evil: Revelations? Well then we have good news for you, Capcom released a Japanese trailer for the bonus DVD seen below, though it is entirely in Japanese minus the names of the categories. It seems unlikely that this DVD will be released in North America, but there is always a chance right?
Anyways, the four segments on the bonus DVD are Jessica’s Report, which is a movie that introduces Jessica, Chris’ new female partner, Official Trailers for the title, Creators Interview with the development team and a Special Movie named “Edge Artists Meet Resident Evil Revelations” which is just two celebreties from Japan talking about the title.
While a ninja is always supposed to try and remain anonymous and stealthy, I would think that wearing all of that black ninja gear would be not only detrimental in the desert, but probably deadly for the wearer as well. But it seems that Ryu Hayabusa is just too tough to let a little dehydration and hundred degree weather keep him down because he looks just fine in these latest screenshots.
Team Ninja and Tecmo Koei released this new batch of screenshots you can see below which show that Ryu will be spraying blood all over the walls of Dubai. Oh and there will be tons of blood as you can see, but we will see gallons more when Ninja Gaiden 3 is released early next year on both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Codemasters announced that F1 2011 is set to be a launch title for PlayStation Vita on 22nd February 2012. To mark the news, Codemasters has launched a new video showing how iconic circuits including Monaco, Melbourne and Silverstone will be brought to the portable. Players will be invited to compete on the go with this handheld Formula 1 game, which from the look of the trailer, will sit somewhere between the 3DS and home console versions. The PlayStation Vita edition of F1 2011 is a co-development between Sumo Digital and Codemasters Birmingham.
Check out the trailer below, which shows the game playing some work in progress gameplay on the PlayStation Vita console:
While D3 Publisher hasn’t made any actual announcement about bringing their currently in development zombie killing game with girls in risque clothing, Onechanbara Z: Kagura, to the Western world, the latest trailer certainly seems like they will. Now for those who don’t know, Onechanbara Z: Kagura will introduce two new characters, Kagura and Saaya who are half-vampires from Romania.
Aya and Saki, the protagonists of past Onechanbara games are now enemies who actually caused the zombie plague. Now while Onechanbara Z: Kagura is currently an Xbox 360 exclusive in Japan set for release on January 19th, this full English trailer seems to hint that we will see it in North America at the very least. As you can see below, this trailer not only has English text but English voice overs with Japanese subtitles. Seems pretty cut and dry to me.
Bethesda has revealed how many units of their biggest title to date, Skyrim they shipped out to stores worldwide across the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The company states that they have shipped 7 million units and that the company has said that “more than 50% of launch units were sold in the first 48 hours” which is a huge number in North America, Europe, and Australia.
Robert Altman, the Chairman and CEO of ZeniMax Media had this to say with the huge reception Skyrim has received from the gaming community “We are grateful for the fans’ response to Skyrim. Todd Howard and his team at Bethesda Game Studios have crafted a very special game. Anticipation for Skyrim has surpassed any game in our company’s history, and we are pleased that sales and reviews have reflected the quality and hours of amazing gameplay it provides.”
Since half of 7 million is 3.5 million, it stands to reason that the company sold that many copies in a short time. With the large number of units shipped so far, the company is expecting to see around $450 million back from the global sales of the title.
Kinectimals: Now with Bears Developer: Frontier Publisher: Microsoft Platform: Xbox 360 Kinect Release Date: 11th October Price: $49.99 Available Here / 1200 MSP Download Here
Overview:
Kinectimals was first released as a launch title for the Kinect sensor with the aim of giving players – mainly kids – a virtual pet to interact with on their new system. After Nintendogs on the DS showed that a lot of people were keen to have a pet on their new hardware, and even the success of the handheld tamagotchi toys before that, Microsoft gave Xbox gamers a taste of virtual animal-human friendship by offering a choice of cubs from the cat family to select as a companion. More or less a year on and Kinectimals is back, this time with bears. It isn’t a completely new game, more of an expansion pack, as owners of the previous game can download the content for 1200 Microsoft Points from the Xbox Live Marketplace. But for those who missed out first time around, it’s an opportunity to play the original cat adventure, as well as an all-new, albeit very similar, adventure a bear.
Story:
Helped along by an English-speaking, lemur-fairy guide, you learn that it has been a while since the animals have had someone to play with, after the explorer who first found them has left on another adventure. You simply get to know your cub, be it bear or cat (or both, as the two separate save files can co-exist perfectly fine), learning about new parts of the island as you form a stronger bond with your animal companion.
Gameplay:
As it was originally a launch title, the gameplay is very much geared towards showing you what the Kinect can do. Just as much as Kinect Adventures, which comes bundled with Kinect, lets you get to grips with the new technology, although this wasn’t packaged with the system it still teaches you new ways that the Kinect works. Going back to it with Kinectimals: Now with Bears, you realise that Kinectimals had somes ideas and ways of using Kinect that have barely been used since.
For example, stepping around in an arc changes the angle at which you view your animal, which often comes into play in activities where you need to aim, or can just change the area where you are petting your creature. Although Kinect’s focus is on movement, using the entire space in front of the camera is surprisingly underused by most Kinect games. Many have you standing on the spot the whole time. Another use of Kinect that features in the original and Kinectimals: Now with Bears which isn’t made use of in other games is object scanning. Not only can you scan in promotional items to unlock extras (something which won’t apply for most unless you buy the cuddly toys of have pre-order bonuses), but you can scan in items and poses for the Kinectimals to recognise in future.
There are a choice of 5 bears initially – black bear, grizzly bear, cinnamon bear, panda bear or polar bear – and much like with the cats, more are unlocked as you progress. Gameplay is broken down into a number of interactions and activities to do with your newly selected infant bear: you can feed a water your Kinectimal; you can get out toys to play with, such as a ball to play fetch with (who knew Panda bears like to play fetch); and you can pet them and teach them new tricks. Each interaction earns a certain number of coins, which act as the currency, as a shop allows you buy new food and items to give to your cub, in addition to furniture to kit out your home space.
Tricks are performed by your pet mimicking the actions you do, such as jumping -or rolling around on the floor as you will have seen on the advert – although not all are gestures. Some can be controlled with voice commands, even the aforementioned ‘playing dead’ one, which is a welcome option as it saves you from picking up unwanted carpet fluff on your clothes. Menus and choice screens can also sometimes be navigated using the Kinect’s in-built microphone. Caring for your creature isn’t mandatory, although both the bears and cats are quite sweet, so youngsters will enjoy stroking them, cleaning them or feeding them. The addition of bears is a good one; don’t get me wrong, the cats are cute, but they seem elegant and ever so slightly more aloof than the cuddly bears.
Contests and challenges are activated either by getting out a certain item – such as a ball triggering a set of targets to hit or items to smash – or by moving to a specific area where the activity takes place. An easy difficulty ensures theses challenges aren’t a problem, but there are set scores you have to achieve in order to win gold, silver and bronze medals. The type of challenges, however, don’t differ much for bears when compared to the ones for cats. In fact, the whole adventure is very similar, albeit modified for the new species with a few new aspects thrown in. Most of the appeal of bears will be visual and down to preference rather than any gameplay differences.
Visuals & Audio:
The tiger and lion cubs were always cute, but the bears manage to be even cuter. The visuals make their fur look sleek and soft, even though, as your hands are hovering in the air and making no physical connection when bonding with your Kinectimal, you can feel a bit distanced from them and a lack of interaction. Still, their faces and movements are warm and welcoming, and your island surroundings are pretty stunning. It’s an island paradise to frolic with your Kinectimal friends.
The subtle sounds and music combine with the relaxing surroundings to create a great feeling of safety. Everything is clearly explained by your guide (for some, it will come as too many interruptions) and the slow-paced, laid-back style of play suits it really well. The game never truly rushes you on; for the most part, it is content to let you interact with your Kinectimal and move through the game at your own pace.
Overall:
Given that Kinectimals: Now with Bears got a retail release, the average consumer would be forgiven for mistaking it for a completely new game. Instead, it’s like a large expansion pack that effectively doubles the size of the game with the addition of bear cubs to the existing tiger/lion cubs. It’s also available as DLC for those who own the original, but with regard to whether this group should pick it up or if those who had Kinectimals but have since traded it in should pick up the retail package, it comes down to personal preference.
The game itself isn’t all that different, with a similar structure and many of the same activities with bears as with cats, but if you (or, more likely, the younger people who will be playing it) have a soft spot for bear cubs it’s irrelevant, as bonding with the virtual bear cubs will still seem fulfilling. Plus, although the wow factor of the game has since worn off since the launch of Kinect and the original game, it’s still a worthy new experience for younger gamers who missed out first time around.
The Sly Collection is part of Sony’s Classics HD line of revamped Playstation 2 (and Portable) games, released last November. Now it seems it will follow the likes of the first God of War Collection and go digital, if the Pan European Game Information board is anything to go by.
The Pan European Game Information board have listed the three Playstation 2 games separately and as Playstation 3 games. It means that Sly could be on the Playstation Network in the near future. Given that some might only like one of the games, this is good. Choice is always good for the consumer. Of course, some would have already bought the Sly Collection since release.
This isn’t the first time that a collection has gone retail only for games to be released separately on digilat platforms. Outside of Sony, Ubisoft (Prince of Persia HD Collection) and Konami (Metal Gear Solid HD Collection) have gone down the same route. Will this be the future of HD collections?
If you are excited to try out Lord of Apocalypse, then you are in luck. Square Enix have announced that the PSP version will have a demo released during this month, most likely on the Japanese Playstation Network. This follows its predecessor, Lord of Arcana, as that game had received a demo prior to its Japan release. It was revealed in the latest Famitsu issue. However, no other details have been revealed, such as the length and amount of content.
The Playstation Portable isn’t the only platform that will be receiving the title. Sony’s newest handheld, the Playstation Vita, will receive the game as a launch title on December 17. That date is also the same date of the PSP release. Both versions will have a boxed and digital copy, with the digital copy going slightly cheaper than the boxed version. Both games, however, will feature the same content and will unable to cross multiplay with each other.
Gravity Rush has to be one of the most anticipated Playstation Vita games after its launch. Being developed by Japan Studio, it stars a girl by the name of Kat. She is quite unique in that she has the ability to manipulate gravity in her world when she is around a black cat. The story is told in a form of a interactive comic with voice acting, using the front touchscreen to flip the pages.
Sony Computer Entertainment Japan has release some more screenshots of the game. Some of them include a sly looking male. He goes by the name of Alias. It seems that he may be the main antagonist of the game as he wants to cause Kat trouble. Gravity Rush will be released in both Japan and the West. While the Japanese release has been locked into February 2012, the West hasn’t seen a release date yet. Hopefully, as the game edges closer to release, we shall know that release date.
The guys over at Jolly Blast Production have announced that they are in partnership with NFL player Tony Gonzalez to create a series of sport adventure apps and ebooks that will be released for the Apple iPhone and iPad. Tony Gonzalez is five-time NFL All-Pro tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons.
The sports adventures will feature an animated Gonzalez as “Coach Tony”, which will be the title of this series of apps. His job will be encouraging children to get active and spark a lifelong love for games and movement. Here is what Gonzalez had to say about this partnership:
“The benefits for kids who are educated and inspired to be active go far beyond the courts and playing fields. Whether it’s an organized sport, a school playground activity or a made-up backyard game, kids who learn to develop discipline, teamwork and self-confidence, as well as physical health and fitness, are enriched for a lifetime. A body in motion is always going to be healthier and happier – and that’s the message JOLLY BLAST is excited to share.”
Jeffery Eagle, Chairman and CEO of Jolly Blast Productions, also expressed his opinions on the partnership:
“Having Tony as an active part of our creative design team, as well as integrated directly into our stories, brings authenticity and star power to our series. Tony has long been a proud supporter of youth sports, health nutrition and anti-childhood obesity initiatives, and together we are pursuing the dual mission of entertaining children while opening their lives to the countless benefits that come from being active.”
Jolly Blast Productions have also announced that PadWorx Digital Media will help develop the apps and ebooks for parents, coaches and children. The apps and ebooks do not have a release date as of yet.
