The creators of the amazing Steins;Gate and Chaos;Head visual novels, 5pb Games had some big things on show at Tokyo Game Show 2011. The biggest of which was their trailer for their upcoming title, Robotics;Notes!
5pb are known for creating visual novels that focus on science-fiction with a dash of romance thrown on the side. This time with Robotics;Note, as you can imagine, they are focusing in on robotics. You can check out the trailer below to get a look at what to expect from the title.
Robotics;Notes is set to be released on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 in Spring 2012. It is unknown whether it will make it out of Japan, but with the massive growth in popularity of Steins;Gate and Chaos;Head, it wouldn’t be too far a stretch to guess that 5pb may be looking to branch out.
It seems that a few things will be adjusted if Yakuza: Of the End actually sees a localization for Western release. Daisuke Sato, the director of Yakuza 3 and Binary Domain spoke with Joystiq during Tokyo Game Show and there he responded to a question as to how Binary Domain would compare to Yakuza: Of the End.
He said that “For the western version of Yakuza: Of the End — if that’s going to happen, then we will tweak the controls, to be closer to other western shooting franchises.” Of course the thing to pull out of this statement is that he said “if” not when. So while nearly every Yakuza game has made it to Western shores through some form of localization, Yakuza: Of the End isn’t exactly guaranteed.
Calling all Xbox360 owners, don’t miss your chance to give something back to those who haven’t had the same opportunities or healthy lives as yourself by simply doing what you love, playing games. Get involved and enjoy a free weekend of Xbox Live Gold with Microsoft as they host the Gaming and Giving for Good (G3), Xbox Live charity event on October 1st to aid those less fortunate.
The proceeds of the event are going to the Children’s Miracle Network which raises funds for more than 170 children’s hospitals across the US and Canada; truly a good a cause as any. Microsoft will be providing any participating player with free Gold memberships for the weekend, with participants obtaining donations based on every hour of gameplay they complete.
“We are inspired by the support from the gaming community and how it has rallied around our Extra Life programs to support Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals,” said John Lauck, CEO of the Children’s Miracle Network.
“We’re honored and thrilled that Xbox is helping the Extra Life fundraising effort with its G3 event on Xbox LIVE.”
Other main sponsors of the event include Gamespot, Hulu and 2K games as well as Capcom, Square Enix and EA (so thumbs up to these guys for additional support). It’s really easy to take part so visit this site for more information and all the participating details will be there for you.
Kojima Productions and Konami revealed at Tokyo Game Show that the Metal Gear Solid HD Edition is going to be released on November 23rd in Japan. Both the PlayStation 3 version of the game and the Xbox 360 version of the game will be priced at ¥5,480 ($72 US) which is relatively cheap for a Japanese game release.
Players will be able to choose how they want to view cutscenes and events in the game as well. They can view it either in the old format of 4×3 or in upgrade wide screen. This is useful for people with old televisions or strange viewing habits. The Japanese version of the game on the PlayStation 3 will include a code to download the Game Archives version of Meal Gear Solid, but the Xbox 360 version will not.
Asura’s Wrath is going to be a bit of a strange game. Not only does it involve a guy who will have both of his arms literally ripped from his body only to grow back six new ones, giants bigger than a planet, swords that can reach from the moon to the Earth but now it also has some science fiction looking stuff thrown in as well.
As you can see in the trailer which Capcom released for Tokyo Game Show today, we learn a litttle bit about the plot of Asura’s Wrath and even more strange looking things including Asura’s brother in law Yasha who may be a playable character in the final game. Let us know what you think about this crazy over the top action title?
Bodycount Developer: Codemasters Publisher:Codemasters Platform: Xbox 360, PS3 (reviewed) Release Date: September 2, 2011 Price: $26.47 (buy here)
Overview:
This article is coloured by the fact that only two days after I received my review copy of Bodycount the division of Codemasters that developed the game was shut down, leaving 66 people jobless. Whilst Codemasters emphasised a ‘restructuring’ to focus more on their racing titles, it’s obvious that Bodycount’s lack of commercial or critical success played a part in the closure.
The game has failed before I’ve even begun, but that’s no reason to ignore it.
Story:
The world is a horrible, corrupt place, where dictators and criminals who commit murder and genocide are punished by pathetic trade sanctions and political cold shoulders. Governments and political bodies are useless when it comes to dealing with the problems of the world, so that’s where the Network steps in. Playing as one of the Network’s operatives, it is your duty to solve these highly complex, multifaceted issues with LOTS OF GUNS.
(I hope it’s satirical, I really do )
Initially dropped into an African nation in the midst of a civil war, it is quickly discovered that one big bad organisation is behind all the evil goings on – the Target. Also named from the ‘enemy’ page in a thesaurus is the big boss of said organisation – the Nemesis. The rest you can fill in for yourself, fight through the lower ranks, eventually take down the organisation. Boom.
A set up like this is ripe for some humour, but Bodycount never really capitalises on it. The tongue in cheek side of it should have been amplified, but the disembodied female voice that gives you all of the plot details is strictly for explanation, not entertainment. Learn from Portal – narrators can be more than that! It would have been a great selling point for Bodycount if the whole thing had been turned into a full on parody of the FPS genre.
As it is, the plot is standard stuff that never really registers. It’s clear enough to know what you’re supposed to be doing, but don’t expect to care about anything more than the next gunfight. It is a refreshing change not to be bogged down with overly serious end of the world exposition though, so points to Bodycount for trying to keep up a lighter feel than some of its competitors.
Gameplay:
The control system definitely sends out warning signals from the off. In the PS3 version the trigger is mapped to the R2 shoulder button and grenades to R1 – the first enemy I ran into promptly had a grenade thrown into his face point blank as I wandered why the heck my gun wasn’t firing. The cover system is hampered by a drunken wobble that seems to strike whenever peeking out from behind objects that aren’t perfectly flat, and works in the clunky fashion of move to object, press crouch to hide behind object, etc. Bodycount is the first game in a while where I felt I actually had to learn the controls, to get used to them before they made sense. Sure the issues are all fairly minor and not exactly game breaking, but a little bit of counter-intuitive control goes a long way when players expect to roll smoothly into the action.
As well as the usual duck and cover, shoot it all gameplay, there are four power ups on offer. These are all linked in to the gathering of ‘intel’, the curiously named blue orbs that enemies drop when you kill them. Fill up the intel gauge and you can unleash an airstrike, an EMP, explosive rounds, or even become bulletproof. Aside from mission objectives and big health bar enemy fights (AKA boss battles) the only one I found useful was the timed invincibility.
The gunplay in Bodycount can be great fun, and is at its best when you just blast through it and let yourself react first, think later. The chaos can ratchet up as you’re caught between two sides, and I often found myself jumping into a building to recover from one onslaught only to find half a dozen of the other side’s soldiers right behind me. That’s when the special powers come in handy, triggering a brief bout of bulletproof can’t-touch-this-ness and obliterating the whole lot. Ammo and grenades are in copious supply, so you’ll never run short of ways to liven things up.If you do get caught unawares the respawning is super fast, although the enemies that got you in the first place will still be there – so try not to die in close quarters surrounded by six guys – they’ll be there when you get back!
Strangely the game’s scoring system encourages a more measured approach to combat, with better end of level grades coming from a series of skillshot kills that boost your bodycount multiplier. Skillshots are basically anything deadly that isn’t a straight bodyshot, so grenades, headshots, shots through cover and explosions are the way to go for the high scores. Headshots are generously given, but racking up the best multipliers is dependent on slowing down and neatly picking off enemies, which I found a bit at odds with the general ‘shoot everything to hell’ attitude of the game.
The enemy AI is at times kamikaze, at others blind. Enemies will charge at you head on through huge open areas, which makes sense for the explosive carrying mercenaries early on but not the sci-fi super soldiers. Some seem to have a hobby of squatting down in the open to reload their weapons whilst you stand there filling them with shotgun shells. It’s an odd mixture! Some levels find you up against two armies, and whilst they do fight each other, there’s a bit too much of a tendency for them to all focus on the lone guy crouching behind the crate in the corner.
Given that Bodycount’s big selling point is destruction, that crate won’t last long. Although some things are mysteriously indestructible the effects are really well done, with concrete flaking off pillars to reveal the supporting steel inside. Most of the objects I gravitated towards for cover would be quickly shredded, so you have to stay on your toes. It can get a bit frustrating when nothing seems to be able to protect you though, and the game has a habit of throwing enemies at you from every side and from every doorway.
The Africa and Asia set levels are well constructed, giving players a lot of room to manoeuvre. It’s a shame that there are no collectibles or pick ups to be found though, the space is just there to be run through. The stages set in the sci fi base force a different style of play, pinning players into smaller rooms and narrow corridors that require a bit more consideration. The destruction system comes into play here too, smashing glass panels to break into some hidden cover.
There’s little variation in the missions, and most could be described by two words, ‘shoot everything’. There are attempts to break this up, calling in airstrikes to destroy comm links, ‘hacking ‘ into computer terminals (push square and wait!), but really it’s a case of going from A to B with your finger on the trigger.
As far as the multiplayer goes I can report that running around a huge map with one other player is incredibly pointless, but that was all I could find – Bodycount’s online mode is dead in the water.
Audio & Visual:
Graphically the game is fine, though it lacks the sharpness of some other titles. The Africa and Asia settings go in for a realistic style which has been seen hundreds of times before, although it does at least have more colour than it’s brown obsessed cousins. The Target base levels look like something out of Tron, all white and black and glass with neon lining. It’s completely at odds with the style of the Africa and Asia levels, and it really jars when you find a huge glowing white and red vault door in the middle of a rundown building made of splintered wood and corrugated iron. How on earth is that base supposed to be secret? It is all a bit bland after a while, and repeating the same handful of settings doesn’t help. The enemies suffer from the same problem of repetition, and in later levels can be a bit difficult to spot.
The sound is a strong point, and is just as it should be for the genre – loud. When the bullets are flying and the obligatory barrels are exploding it sounds great, and the music kicks in with some adrenaline pumping electro to let you know that what you’re doing is AWESOME. I was a bit unnerved by the constant chatter in the African levels despite the fact that nobody was around but other than that Bodycount does well for itself on the audio front.
Overall:
Bodycount is by no means an awful game; the fire fights are a good dose of frantic, high energy fun, and the story is still an interesting one even if it isn’t used to its full potential. Yes it has problems, and the campaign is far too short to warrant a full price purchase,( especially with the lack of online community) but the main issue for Bodycount is the competition. What chance could it possibly stand against FPS juggernauts like Call of Duty, Gears of War, Halo, and Resistance? Some of these franchises have been running for nearly a decade, and have had all those years and numerous sequels to iron out the kinks and polish the product to perfection. Players have their own favourite franchise that they know and love, and it takes something great to pull them away – Bodycount just doesn’t have anything unique about it to do that. It’s a real shame that a genre can get to this point, but if you’re developing a new FPS there’s just no room for ‘OK’.
Love or hate Dante’s new look, you have to admit that DmC is looking fantastic as far as actual gameplay goes. Capcom have now released a new trailer for the game, and it looks like Ninja Theory have gave this reboot some serious attention when it comes to the combat within.
In the clip, we see Dante utilizing a full arsenal of weaponry to take down everyone that stands in his way. Boss battles are also shown in the clip and will be quite a spectacle too, with these fight sequences spanning the entire environment around you. Even though the protagonist looks different, I can easily say that things still resemble the Devil May Cry franchise and DmC is sure to be a top contender when it is eventually released in 2012.
Art imitates life for Nicolas Cage, as he tells of his own weird and wonderful experience with home invasion, amidst the hype surrounding his new film, also starring Nicole Kidman and directed by Joel Schumacher. “Trespass” tells the story of a husband and wife held for ransom by 4 aggressive perpetrators. As time goes on, the story twists and turns to reveal secrets about each other and a vast web of betrayal and deception.
While many will grimace at the idea of another home invasion/revenge plot where the good guy eventually prevails, this is Nicholas Cage we are talking about, Nicholas Cage people, the Lord of War and many other onscreen personas from sorcerers to protectors of National Secrets. At the recent Toronto film festival he gave the crowd his detailed account of the night he was invaded saying
“It was two in the morning. I was living in Orange County at the time and was asleep with my wife. My two-year old at the time was in another room. I opened my eyes and there was a naked man wearing my leather jacket eating a Fudgesicle in front of my bed. I know it sounds funny … but it was horrifying.”
With a lot of the things I’m sure this guy has seen amongst the Hollywood circles I can’t imagine the incident scarred him too much but nonetheless I can imagine it would be a little unsettling. Good Old Nick decided not to press charges against the man due to mental illness reasons but says he was unable to continue living in the Orange County home.
Fudgesicle = Iceblock or IceCream, Paddlepop etc for all you Australians or non-Americans where strange sugar based treats have even stranger names.
Trespass premiered at the Toronto film festival and can be seen in US cinemas soon. With that looks to be a limited release, the DVD looks to be released early 2012 to many other countries.
Remember the unique Nintendo DS RPG title, The World Ends With You? Well Square Enix sure does and with their upcoming Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance for yes you guessed it the Nintendo 3DS, all your favourite characters from The World Ends With You will make an appearance in the game.
However, it is not at all known which characters or in what capacity they will be featured in, or even why. It is interesting to note that this makes a landmark in the Kingdom Hearts series as this is the first set of characters not to be either Final Fantasy, Disney or original Kingdom Hearts characters. What do you think of this announcement? Let us know in the comment section below.
Seems like Sony is doing most of their minor appearance reveals for the PlayStation Vita by just sticking stuff in glass cases. The Japanese website My Game News Flash snagged a picture of what the PlayStation Vita’s game packaging is going to look like when it hits store shelves. I’m assuming that the box art shown there is the Japanese box art for Uncharted.
Also shown next to it is the tiny little game cartridge right to the right of the game case. The game’s look even smaller than the Nintendo DS cartridges which doesn’t bode well for those who lose things easily. Then again all PS Vita games are going to be available digitally, supposedly the same time as retail release so those who lose things may prefer taking that route instead.
