Namco Bandai has had everyone going for quite awhile. Despite the number of days growing fewer and fewer until the June 30th release of the title in Japan, Namco Bandai has not said a word concering Tales of the Abyss 3D’s status for being released internationally. Well that can all be put to bed now because Nintendo Power has confirmed that Tales of the Abyss 3D will indeed be released in North America.
This information comes from the May 2011 issue of the magazine but unfortunately the only thing that was shown for the title was that it will be released in the US at some point, meaning no release date. There was, however, a new trailer for the title released in Japan, so you can catch some gameplay footage of the title as well as how the anime cutscenes will look on the 3DS. Catch the trailer below, and I know all the fans of the Tales series will be happy to see that not much has been altered from the PS2 title.
EA Sports decided to do something a bit different this time around and allowed fans to vote for which athlete they believe should grace the cover of Madden NFL 12. The voting ended yesterday after going since March 21st and Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis will have the honor of being the next cover athlete for Madden. He beat out Michael Vick who was his closest runner with a total of 12.7 million votes between the two.
Now all Cleveland Browns fans can do is hope that the Madden Curse doesn’t strike Peyton Hillis this upcoming season if in fact there is a season this year. Either way though, Madden NFL 12 will be released on August 30th and football fans can get their Madden fix for the year.
Destroying environments and aliens on Mars won’t be happening like you thought it may have been on May 31st and June 3rd for the US and internationally respectively. Instead THQ has announced that the game has been pushed back a week due to an unforeseen delay. Though no exact reason was given for the delay it means that fans of Volition’s Red Faction series will have to wait until June 7th and the 10th to get their hands on the newest title of the franchise.
Still despite the delay you can still gain access to the demo of the game for free when the demo launches on the Xbox 360 and possibly on the PlayStation 3 on May 3rd. Then again if the PSN is still down on May 3rd then you can’t expect this demo to be released on there on time.
Microsoft has announced today that Hulu Plus will be launched tomorrow on the Xbox 360. The service will feature full Kinect support and will be momentarily free to all Xbox 360 users for the first week of service. This free week comes with a partnership to with Jack Link’s Beef Jerky so expect to see a lot of commercials involving beef jerky most likely.
If you still feel like using Hulu Plus on the Xbox 360 after the first week of free time then you will have to pay $7.99 a month extra to use the service. For those who do not know what Hulu is, it offers a variety of television shows usually the same day that they air only a few hours delayed. This service is good for those who may miss their favorite shows, or want to always have their favorite TV series at the wave of a hand.
Yesterday Telltale Games announced that they had managed to reach an agreement with Microsoft that will allow them to publish their games on the Xbox 360. And it seems that they were definitely eager to get some publishing done because Telltale announced today that they will be releasing their upcoming game, Jurassic Park: The Game will be released as a retail copy with all episodes of the series on one disc.
This is a new step for Telltale which has usually always released their titles through digital means and through episodes. They have also stated that they will be releasing the 360 edition of the game and the PS3 edition of the game at the same time, though they did not go into further detail on how this will be done. Either way we can expect Jurassic Park: The Game to show up on home consoles sometime this Fall. Perhaps this is a sign of things to come from Telltale. Could we be seeing a Back to the Future: The Game retail release somewhere down the line as well?
If you have an account with Sony Online Entertainment then they want you to know that they have been doing everything in their power to keep your information safe. Despite the breach of all user information on the PlayStation Network and Qriocity SOE has stated that they “have been conducting a thorough investigation and, to the best of our knowledge, no customer personal information got out to any unauthorized person or persons.”
SOE’s games such as DC Universe Online and Free Realms were taken offline for a short period on April 21st and were placed back online shortly after. Apparently, “SOE’s systems and databases are separate from PSN’s” which means that your information is safe at the moment as long as you didn’t have that same information stored on the PSN. Also if you happened to want to play Free Realms or DC Universe Online on the PSN, then you are still out of luck as the system is still down.
The original Hydrophobia flopped when you consider the high expectations surrounding the game before its release on XBLA. Thankfully, Dark Energy Digital saved face with an impressively large update to the game known as Hydrophobia Pure which ironed out menu issues picked up with the starting version. With their lessons learnt, hopefully their reinvention of the game for PSN and Steam can deliver.
This reinvention of Hydrophobia includes upgraded graphics, brand new gameplay mechanics, exclusive new levels, a reworked back story, a dramatic new ending, recast voice acting and more. It launches on Steam on May 9th (with a PSN date coming soon if everything goes to plan) and to celebrate, Dark Energy Digital has revealed the first in-game footage via a launch trailer for the game. Take a look below:
Child of Eden is the “multi-sensory shooter” that will send players diving into a kaleidoscopic matrix of synchronized music and mind-blowing visuals that will usher forth yet another landmark game experience from the mind of renowned game designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi, its creator.
Child of Eden thrusts you in the center of a battle to save Project Lumi, a mission to reproduce a human personality inside Eden, the archive of all human memories. As the project nears completion, the archive is invaded by an unknown virus. The Player’s mission is to save Eden from the virus to restore hope and peace.
Its Key Features
MULTI-SENSORY EFFECT – A visionary entertainment experience that synchronizes stunning graphics and innovative sound design to electrify the senses. By bringing physics in synergy with spectacular visual and audio, Child of Eden is creating the next-generation sensory experience
THE WORLD OF EDEN –Coming straight from Mizuguchi-san’s mind: unique, surprising, rich and beautiful.
CONTROLS –Simple & natural. Designed for standard controllers and Xbox 360’s Kinect. The Kinect adds an extra dimension to the experience as you truly merge into the game, with no physical barriers between the game world and you. Use your body to move the aimer, and both hands to lock-on and shoot for a completely new and multi-sensory shooting game experience.
The Man Behind It All – Tetsuya Mizuguchi
Tetsuya MIZUGUCHI - Q? Entertainment Inc. - (Creative Director)
Inspired by Kandinsky and fueled by electronic music, Q Entertainment Chief Creative Officer Tetsuya Mizuguchi (better known as ‘Miz’) has been pushing the video game industry forward since 1990.
Boasting a unique and much-heralded career as a video game innovator with a singular vision – to fuse sight and sound for the masses – Miz has long since secured his place in the video game Hall of Fame. Pioneering music games before there was even a music genre, his resume reads like a gaming highlight reel, with titles like Sega Rally Championship, Space Channel 5, Lumines, Ninety-Nine Nights, and the groundbreaking Rez to his credit.
But as stellar as his game CV might be, it’s his extra-curricular work as the leader of multimedia music act, Genki Rockets, and his participation in global multimedia events like Live Earth (in which he collaborated with former U.S. Vice President, Al Gore) that truly defines him.
Now, he’s bringing his talent, vision, and focus back to the world of synesthesia with Ubisoft’s ”Child of Eden”, the “multi-sensory shooter” that will send players diving back into a kaleidoscopic matrix of synchronized music and mind-blowing visuals that will usher forth yet another landmark game experience from the mind of Miz.
Child Of Eden Gameplay
Hope and Happiness !!!
Basically, game-play involves using our right hand to aim and lock-on to targets that represented the virus in the Matrix Archive system. Up to eight targets could be targeted at once, with the game letting us know we’ve reached the lock-on limit by changing the opacity of the targeting cross-hair. Once targets were lock-on to, a quick forwards thrust of the hand sends blue bolts of energy flying out to purify the targeted bits and bytes. At the point where targets have been acquired. In addition to the lock-on targeting system, a quick swap to your left hand will change your armament to the tracer beam. This weapon would primarily be used defensively to shred apart any corruption purple viruses that enemies may fling at you. Just as with any shooter style game, yes, you do have a health bar. Finally, you are also able to utilise the power of power-ups that you can find in the field. The most significant of which are the “happy bomb” called Euphoria which will purify and destroy all virus on the screen. All the while, playing through this, the player is treated to a wild, and yet calming experience, made all the more satisfying through movement control.
Child Of Eden will be available for Xbox Kinect and Playsation Move for PS3. Additionally, it should be noted that Child of Eden CAN be played without motion sensors, and is completely playable with the use of a controller. However, from the best experience with it, every gamer should take the opportunity to experience the movement flow for themselves. Described as a multi-sensory shooter game for the Kinect, regardless of what sort of gamer you are, I can only say that you will be missing on a something truly amazing if you don’t give this a try.
Child Of Eden Video Gameplay Tutorial
Check out the video gameplay tutorial on how the game works below.
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together Publisher & Developer: Square Enix Platform: PlayStation Portable (Reviewed) Release date: February 15th 2011 US Price: $39.99 US, £34.99 UK
Overview:
Square Enix has brought a variety of older games to new generations of gamers through the PSP and through the PsOne classic section of the PSN but one thing is certain. When they pick a title that they are going to go all out on and remake, they certainly know how to pick them. Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together may not have been the most memorable title for some back when it was originally released back in 1995.
Now rather than simply take the title and release it without any changes or upgrades, Square Enix has added a number of different things to the title. Now have these changes made Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together as memorable as it was over a decade and a half ago and does it add even more to the tactical RPG experience?
Story:
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together involves the land of Valeria as it falls into war and political strife. The three nations of Bacrumese, Gargastan and Walstanian have been at war for some time and lately the Gargastan nation has grown to be a powerful force. Denam Powell may have just been some boy from a port town but his actions will shake the foundations of Valeria to its very core.
Tactics Ogre was always a game that told its story through powerful character interaction. While the story may be constantly moving forward the characters themselves always act for what they think is right. But what about the choices that person makes? One man’s word may cause the deaths of hundreds of soldiers or thousands of innocents and that is what Tactics Ogre will lay at your feet.
Today’s gaming world is full of games that have a choice system. Saying one thing will make you good, saying another will make you evil, or saying this will make that person like you more. In Tactics Ogre there is something entirely different at hand. There are no easy choices to be made. Every choice can be broken down into three different categories: Lawful, Neutral and Chaotic. But exactly what each one signifies is entirely different.
Performing a lawful act may end up dooming an entire village of innocents to be wiped off the face of the map while a neutral path could have involved warning that village of an impending attack to help them escape danger. Or you could choose the chaotic option and fight to help the village instead. Nothing is spelled out clear for the player and their actions, even the smaller ones can have a large outcome on the story ahead. Certain decisions can turn your allies against you and make them your enemies. One choice may have an enemy become your new ally but the other choice would have been the end of his life and the end of his storyline. Instead though, because he died a new option for a story has been brought to light.
The multitude of branching story paths was something unforeseen back when the title released in 1995 and is still a hallmark of storytelling today. Few games can truly say that they can weave such a masterful telling without breaking away from player choice. Entire storylines can be passed over without the player even knowing it due to their choices which creates an amazing level of replayability for a title of easily over forty hours of length.
This is only furthered by the fact that once the player happens to beat the game the first time it unlocks WORLD mode. WORLD mode allows players to go back to specific moments of the story that they made game altering decisions and make another choice. This allows players to see what things could have been like if they chose a different option. Players can then continue on from where they selected and make different choices along the way and see all of the different outcomes of their choices and the different storyline that is being developed that they may have not ever seen in the first play through.
Graphics:
The thing about Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together is that it is a port with upgrades from a title that is over fifteen years old. A lot has been done to advance the world of gaming visually in those years, but sometimes even an old sword will shine brightly when polished.
Now players of Tactics Ogre will spend most of their time on the battlefield where players will control their characters on an isometric 3D board that will allow them to navigate freely. Each battlefield has a unique personality to it that is helped by the varying levels of terrain and inclusion of breakable environmental objects. Even rocks are breakable if you so wish to destroy them.
On the other hand though the game does still show its age when you look at the character sprites themselves. While the portrait of each character outside of battle is great to look at and impressively well drawn the sprites themselves are very disappointing to see and can often ruin the mood of what you are playing due to the fact that the characters are just so visually unimpressive.
Also there are no real cutscenes to the game. Instead the story is told through text bubbles with the character portraits next to the word bubbles. Again these character portraits are great to see but it is disappointing that no effort was made to include cutscenes for storytelling fifteen years later.
Audio:
Now earlier I mentioned that there were no cutscenes, and instead the story was told via text bubbles by the characters on screen interacting with one another. Because of this unfortunately there is no voice acting to be had for the title which means you will spend much of your time reading the bubbles, although this is not a major drawback for a remake of a title as old and as grand of scale as this.
On the other hand however the music that you will be doing battle to is perfectly handled. Originally worked on by Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata each song has received an orchestral upgrade as well as a few new tracks being placed inside of the title. The large amount of songs that are in Tactics Ogre makes it so that you will find yourself hard pressed to listen to the same song over again without returning to the same battlefield a second time. The music itself is easily one of the highlights of Tactics Ogre as it blends the sorrow of a battlefield together with the action occurring on screen and doesn’t falter in the slightest.
Gameplay:
Players will take the field in your standard tactical RPG type battlefield with up to 15 different characters able to move a certain amount of spaces on the battlefield, and then are able to attack with any sort of weapon they have at their disposal if an enemy is within range of that weapon. Now, although the standard battlefield practice is the same as one would expect from a tactical RPG, there are quite a few differences to be had in Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together.
First of which is the fact that instead of every character gaining individual experience and leveling up on their own like a standard RPG, Tactics Ogre handles things a bit differently. Instead of character’s leveling up, the character’s class levels up. Meaning that if a character is a warrior class or a cleric class then that class will gain experience and level up. This means that any class you have had in battle will also share a pool of experience points. With the way that this system works it cuts out much of the time that players would have to spend grinding away at levels for new characters that join their army later in the game.
Although character classes level up whether or not they take part in a battle or not, the characters that do take part still gain skill points for surviving a battle. These skill points can then be placed into unlockable skills that can then be equipped to that specific fighter. Each of the numerous amount of classes within the game has unique skills only for that class which will leave you having to think as to how exactly you build your army for the fights to come because not only are you limited to ten skill slots, but those skills could easily change the tide of a fight if placed correctly.
Of course the characters that you bring into battle can always run the risk of dying but even that has been lessened than the original game. Rather than dying permanently the first time they are killed, allied characters will fall in battle and can be revived within three full turns of when they were dropped in the battle. If you happen to revive them in this time period then there is no repercussions. If not that character will not gain any of the skill point or if it was the only fighter of its class on the field, class experience. Also one life is taken away from that character. Each character has three lives that are able to be used but after they have dyed a third time they will remain gone from the game. Though considering players can transfer that deceased character’s skills into another fighter later in the game this is more of a small problem than a game changing character loss.
However if you do happen to lose a character in battle or think that you did something so incorrect that you will not be able to win the battle then you shouldn’t lose hope because of the new gameplay mechanic called the Chariot System. The Chariot System allows players to turn back time up to fifty combat turns and fix a mistake that they may have made that caused a character to die or a fight to be heading for a loss. This mechanic is certainly a great inclusion to a game that is actually quite difficult at times. Mastering the game’s classes is essential and even then some fights may appear too hard at first until the player takes a step back and looks at the whole picture.
Now not everything is great about Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, though most is. Battle objective are never complicated, slay an enemy leader, or all enemies and you will win. Sometimes a battle may ask you to keep a guest NPC alive but unfortunately this is a hard task due to the fact that the friendly AI is anything but friendly because these NPCs will cause you much grief as they have little survival instinct. Of course as I mentioned during the story section of this review, every dead character can cause a major impact to the story so anyone signified by a side objective is usually important enough to protect.
Overall:
Now Tactics Ogre can be seen as a title that helped shape the tactical RPG genre to what it is today. Square Enix has taken this old gem and polished it to a fine shine with upgraded music, new gameplay features, even more story content to a game that was already impressively long and accessibility that may have been lost on those who never played a tactical RPG before. Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together has stood the test of time and this remake of the title has only shown that sometimes a classic game is the best thing you can turn to for an amazing genre defining experience.
Gameloft have done it again! Order and Chaos Online is the first true real-time, completely three-dimensional, MMOPRG for iOS. Gameloft are pushing the boundaries of iOS gaming, allowing players to interact with a wider community. Players have the chance to make friends or enemies, trade, challenge, communicate and even join a party or guild. There are four races to choose from, Elves and Humans fight to preserve order, or Orcs and the Undead who fight to cause chaos. Players can create up to four different characters to use, each with numerous points of customisation. As well as choosing gender, appearance, class and talents, players also have the ability to discover over 1,000 skills and 2,000 pieces of equipment. Judging from the released trailer and screen shots Order and Chaos Online looks like a really promising iOS based game.
If Order and Chaos Online looks like it might be your thing check it out here
