After many commercials, screenshots, and even a demo, THQ has finally released WWE All Stars in the states. The game as you should know by now takes everything we know about a wrestling game and flips it high in the air with some over-the-top arcade style action. For those who have not been keeping track, WWE All Stars is to have a jam packed roster full of legends such as Hogan, Savage, and Ultimate Warrior as they square off against eachother and the Superstars from today.
THQ released this statement on the release of All Stars:
“WWE All Stars delivers what many core WWE SmackDown vs. Raw fans, casual followers and the WWE Universe have been demanding in a new and original take on WWE videogames,” said Danny Bilson, Executive Vice President, Core Games, THQ. “From smart, highly accessible gameplay to the greatest roster we have ever featured in a WWE videogame, WWE All Stars is a must-have product for anyone looking to have a fun, interactive WWE experience.”
I would consider myself a hardcore follower of the WWE (not as much as I used to be, but compared to most I guess I would fit somewhere in there), and I have been begging for an alternative to the Smackdown series for a few years now and hopefully All Stars will take the cake. I remember WWE Crush Hour, Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game, WWF In Your House, and tons of other light spin-offs of more core titles that to this day go back and play as sometimes it is just fun to not be so serious about a sport that isn’t honestly that serious to start with. WWE is now all about entertainment, and that is what I want to experience when I play any WWE title these days. I could care less how many button taps it takes to break out of a sleeper, or doing a mini-game just to throw someone out of the ring, just MAKE IT FUN!
Luckily, this game does look to fit that bill perfectly, so if you want a fresh wrestling experience, you can pick up WWE All Stars for the PSP, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii now, BROTHER!!!!
Katamari seemed to come out of nowhere when it first hit the PS2 back in 2004 and became an instant cult classic. The series then went on to create quite a name for itself with later entries on the PSP, PS3 and even the Xbox 360 and now it is looking like Namco have yet another title in the works for the franchise. For all of you who enjoy rolling up the galaxy for the King of All Cosmos, your in luck as this one could be a whopper, quite literally in this case.
Siliconera recently revealed that Namco have filed trademarks for the names “Katamari amore” and “Katamari amore Rolling Whopper”. My first thought after hearing this news was for a 3DS release as the bright visuals would and quirky style would fit in well with Nintendo’s handheld and the game would look fantastic in 3D, but now that the NGP is confirmed to have two analogs, it could very well be one of the first NGP titles. Right now though nothing is confirmed and this is all just speculation, but either way the world better brace itself as Katamari is gearing up for a return as we speak and hopefully soon Namco will shed some light on Katamari amore.
The Nintendo Wii is an easy console to pick on for having some unfavorable covers. This is mainly due to the high number of publishers that made quick cash-in titles that many label “shovelware” and honestly even looking in a retailer’s Wii section can produce feelings of anger and sadness at the same time.
I could have a list of about 100 titles just with the topic of “bad box art”, but after excluding quite a few, I have narrowed it down to the five worse Wii Boxarts and whether it be typos, or simply just pure laziness on the publisher’s part, these all fit well into the worst boxart category. Get ready, because here is the top 5 worst arts for the Nintendo Wii.
Imagine Party Babyz
I promised myself I wouldn’t pick on the Imagine series, but this title just represents everything that has turned many gamers away from the Wii to start with. Babies (yes Ubisoft, with no Z!) all put in one image together, playing with photo-shopped toys and maracas. I have seen this title many times out in the wild before and a “sigh” is usually the next thing that follows.
Okami
There is nothing at all wrong with the actual art of Okami’s Wii boxart, but what is wrong is the source this image was gotten from.
You would think that the creators of a game would have access to their own image library as well as a team full of editors to catch a big IGN logo faded into this art, but instead this port was known more for it’s box error rather than the actual game itself. I am sure this is one title that will make Capcom always look twice in the future before shipping anything to stores.
Mario Kart Wii
Nintendo have always been known for creating some awesome covers for their first party franchises. I am sure many of you have some prime examples right now that sit proudly on your shelves. For some odd reason though, Nintendo decided to go for “plain” with Mario Kart Wii, which just featured Mario & Luigi on the cover driving invisible vehicles with a blank white backdrop. This would just be a boring cover if it wasn’t for one thing though. Look down. See the shadow of the karts? If they went through all the work of doing that shading, you would think that they would have added a track, some mushrooms, or simply color to make it more appealing. Mario Kart Wii still sold a ton and was quite successful, plain, boring art aside, but that shadow is forever a tease of what could have been if a little more of the classic Nintendo imagination was added to this otherwise dull cover.
Purr Pals
Awww…it’s Purr Pals. They just look adorable and don’t you just want to pick them up and give them a hug? With over 40 B….Wait….Breads!!! What kind of sick game is this!
Spelling errors happen. This is commonly known. When the error is on the front of a game that turns playing with kittens into making sandwiches out of them, then we might have a problem. I’ll take mine with Rye by the way…
My Ballet Studio
Young Jenny wanted to be a ballet dancer despite only having 4 fingers on her fake, disfigured arm. After a quick head transplant, she did just that and graced the cover of My Ballet Studio.
Dreams do come true!
Next week we will be taking you back to the Sega Genesis/Megadrive. Until then, leave a comment letting us know your opinion for the worst cover on the Wii.
Genre: Martial Arts Produced by: National Arts Films Production Director: Herman Yau Starring: Dennis To, Fan Siu-Wong, Crystal Huang, Rose Chan, Yuan Biao Tag Line: “The story of Bruce Lee’s Mentor” Running Time: 96 minutes Language: Cantonese with English subtitles Available for purchase at: Madman Online Store ($29.95), Amazon US ($26.99), Amazon UK (£3.49)
Overview
As a Chinese person, martial arts films have been a part of my life since before I can remember. Over my time, I’ve come across the good and the bad: films with terrible storylines, films with beautiful characters, and films which just make you laugh. The common denominator in all of these films is that they are epic to some degree, and – much like dance films – they generally make whoever is watching them want to learn martial arts afterwards.
The Legend is Born: Ip Man is like the common denominator of martial arts movies. It has a little bit to whet everyone’s appetite, but not enough to feed them completely. On a dish, it’s a little bit of East vs. West, a little bit of cinematographic genius, a lot of love and a lot of fighting, sprinkled with some elements which seem to have been taken from an Asian drama circa 2003.
Plot
The film is semi-biographical and is based loosely on the events of Yip Man, Bruce Lee’s martial arts teacher. In fact, this is actually a prequel to the films Ip Man, and Ip Man 2, and largely concentrates on his youthful years – don’t start connecting the plotline dots though, because this prequel was made by a different director and production team.
The storyline follows Ip Man (Dennis To) and his adopted brother Ip Tin Chi (Fan Siu-Wong) from their childhood where they learnt martial arts from Wing Chun from teacher Chan Wah-shun. Chan passes away early on in the film, and the martial arts academy is handed down to Ng Chung-sok (Yuan Biao). Man and Tin Chi continue to study with Ng Chung-sok before Man leaves to Hong Kong to study. It is there he meets Leung Bik (Ip Chun), the son of Chan Wah-shun’s teacher. Leung Bik has controversial tactics when it comes to martial arts and Man studies with him for a while before returning to his hometown of Foshan, China. It is back there that he falls in love with the daughter of the vice mayor, Cheung Wing-shing (Crystal Huang), and Tin Chi finds his own love in childhood friend Li Mei-Wai (Rose Chan).
Sounds just a little bit confusing? You haven’t even gotten to the unexpected plot twists yet. The plot was interesting with its fusion of the Eastern and Western worlds, which still isn’t too popular in Asian martial arts films, but overall had me scratching my head as the plot twists got more and more confusing. In the beginning, there was potential for a great lyrical masterpiece which challenged pre-existing martial arts films. As it went on and the film strayed from Yip Man’s actual life story (the biographical aspect seems to really end after he returns to China, although some elements remain), I could tell that the scriptwriters just went a little bit wild trying to create a film which surprises the audience with plot twists, a la Inception.
The love stories in the film were slightly corny, but definitely necessary for the film not to be one hundred percent fighting. At times it did feel a little bit overdone like the rest of the storyline, but overall it was nice to have a break from the samurai swords (doesn’t the mention of swords make it even more confusing?) and the punching.
Characters
The film mainly centres around Ip Man and Ip Tin Chi, although other characters of prominence include Ng Chung-sok, Ip Man’s senior, Li Mei-wai, Tin Chi’s love interest, and Cheung Wing-shing, Man’s love interest. The characters are very stereotypical of Asian cinema, with Ip Man being the loyal and honourable martial artist while Tin Chi is the career driven businessman. Mei-wai acts like she’s got PMS for the majority of the film – again, very stereotypical for Asian women in cinema – and Man’s love interest Cheung Wing is the real lady of the film.
I’d have to say that for the most part, the characters were fairly likeable. Ip Man was a consistent character who was solid in his convictions and his attitude, and it’s not too much of a stretch to say the actor, Yu-hang To, played him very convincingly. Throughout the film, I gained a lot of respect for him as he really is a very honourable man – which is to be expected, though, as these types of films have a tendency to show the main character as unwavering and heroic. Tin Chi was equally as likeable for the first half of the film – in the latter, I’ll let you find out what happens.
As for the women, Mei-wai is very flat as a character and overdone. I found her to be really annoying and melodramatic – kind of like the evil girl in an Asian drama which tries to sabotage everything. Towards the end of the film she redeems herself slightly, but overall I’m not a big fan of hers. For Cheung Wing, it was the other way around: I really liked how fiesty she was in the beginning of the film but as it progressed, she just turned into a rather pathetic girl moping after Ip Man.
Visual and Audio
Stylistically, Ip Man: The Legend is Born is very beautifully done. The visual elements of this film are largely what redeemed it in my eyes, and I suppose it’s what gave me such a good impression of the beginning of the film. Director Herman Yau clearly catered this film’s visuals towards a more Westernised audience, but that doesn’t bother me because martial arts films often lack the cinematography I find so aesthetically pleasing. Yau utilised sepia tones, black and white shots, cuts, fades, and all of that fancy jazz to really create a film that looks beautiful. The settings are also to be envied; there is a scene where Ip Man and Cheung Wing are standing on a bridge and I was taken aback by just how beautiful their surroundings were. Yau’s ability to play with shots really enhanced otherwise dull scenes, and injected the film with a little bit more life…although I did find for a few moments I was concentrating more on the shots than the actual storyline.
The soundtrack is also on par with the visual style of this film. While Yau features a fairly stereotypical Chinese martial arts film soundtrack (think beating drums for fight scenes and piano/violin for pretty much anything else), when combined with the film’s cinematography it really was something to be admired. The highlight of this soundtrack would probably be the use of Greensleeves as Cheung Wing and Ip Man’s song – she purchases the record on the day she meets him and buys a gramophone to play it. There was even a Cantonese cover of Greensleeves featured to tie in with everything else. SFX were very well synced, but there was nothing that stood out; just a whole lot of punching and falling sounds as well as a few swords.
DVD Extras
The DVD comes loaded with a “Making of Ip Man: The Legend is Born”, as well as the standard trailer for the film and a few other Madman trailers. The Making Of is worth watching for anyone interested in the tidbits behind the martial arts, but it’s probably not a good idea to watch it right after you finish the film because you’re be sorely disappointed with the camera quality. It’s not the worst, but coming from such a visually dynamic film to a standard, handycam style documentary is just not my cup of tea. You do get to see a little bit of the actor’s personalities though, which is a pleasant change from just listening to the director talk non-stop.
The trailer for the film is a standard martial arts trailer, and in all honesty I don’t think it’s worth watching as it doesn’t give the right image of the film at all. Unless you’re curious for some reason, give it a miss.
Final Comments
I suppose as a Chinese person who has watched countless martial arts films, I may judge them a bit too harshly. However, to me this is a film which could have been great – and was, until it all went downhill in trying to be too great. While the film’s visual and audio elements redeemed some of its qualities, in the end I feel the storyline and characters were mostly far too overcooked. Ip Man: The Legend is Born is a good film to watch if you haven’t seen many martial arts films before, if you like a visual spectacle, or if you want to know a little bit about Yip Man’s own background (but by any means, don’t take the film as gospel). For the rest of us, though, it’s probably a better idea to re-watch Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Kung Fu Panda 2 is coming on the 24th of May, 2011. The game is likely to launch in Australia around June to coincide with the launch of the film locally.
The game takes place immediately after the events of the first movie; with Po battling Master Shen. Players are tasked with saving Gongman City from the various sinister groups plaguing the area, as well as saving Kung Fu. Players must defeat groups and enemies such as: Looting Wolves, Powerful Gorillas, Clans of Barbaric Komodo Dragons as well their leader; Xiao Dan.
Publisher THQ promises to deliver a unique experience to each platform that the game appears on by utilising the unique characteristics of each system. The game is set to be released on the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii and the various DS systems.
The game is an adaptation of the movie for the video game consoles.
James Rolfe, better known online as the Angry Video Game Nerd (or by his filmmaker handle “Cinemassacre), has been releasing his AVGN series online for almost 5 years now. Just last month his 100th episode was released, during which he showcased an epic battle with ROB the Robot of NES fame. While most fans probably thought that this would be the biggest AVGN news for a while, James recently posted on his Cinemassacre website that production will begin soon on the feature length Angry Video Game Nerd film, for which the script has been written for years.
Rolfe also wrote that episode 101 of AVGN will be released this April as scheduled, but after that the series will go on hiatus. While it’s always unfortunate when a beloved series takes a break, it should be noted that James has been releasing AVGN videos every month for the last four and a half years without missing a beat. It is also important to clarify that the series is not ending, but simply being put on hold temporarily while James begins production on the film and continues his other web series such as Board James and You Know What’s Bullshit.
As always, new AVGN videos can be seen on GameTrailers.com and older episodes can be found on Cinemassacre.com, and fans can expect the newest episode early next month. While you’re there you can also check out his other projects, especially his fantastic Monster Madness series highlighting classic horror films.
With the impeding release of the highly anticipated Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 out in November, came years of rumours, proposed plots and trailers.
At the start of the year, Activision announced that the site FindMakarov.com, which was gaining world wide exposure, to be a hoax and promptly discouraged fans to visit it.
Upon recently the internet has been running rife with rumours claiming the plot of the third instalment. Many have been debunked,however one rumour has not been discredited as yet.
Activison is yet to comment on the matter, but many fans believe the game will released as a prequel, featuring the much loved and doomed Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley. The British soldier became a hit with fans worldwide for his loyalty, child like persona and of course, his infamous skull mask.
It is unknown and only subject to rumours if his commanding officers, Captain Price and Captain Mactavish will make a well deserved apeparance. With only eight months away from its release, Modern Warfare 3 is surely to make more headlines this year.
Yes, I do show favoritism towards the Xbox 360; it isn’t because I dislike any of the other systems, I just like the controllers the best. Get me a Wii or PS3 controller shaped just like an Xbox 360 controller and I would probably play my PS3 and Wii a bit more! I like the XBox 360 controller so much, that I have an adapter for my PC that lets me sync an Xbox 360 wireless gamepad to my computer and then use it to play computer games. The Xbox 360 controller is just that sexy! The only thing that it has against it is the D-Pad that isn’t the best for fighting games, but fighting games suck anyway, so what do I care?
As for XBLA releases, we have 3 new games and 4 new deals. Check them out below!
New games incoming, all for just $10
March 30: Islands of Wakfu (Microsoft Game Studios) – 800 Microsoft Points
March 30: Seisou Kouki Strania (G.Rev Ltd.) – 800 Microsoft Points
March 30: Rush ‘N’ Attack Ex-Patriot (KONAMI) – 800 Microsoft Points
On the deals side of the spectrum, the ‘Arcade Four-Play’ promotion is this week, offering three four-player (get it?) games at half price, and the Worms 2: Battle Pack DLC to go along with Worms 2: Armageddon. Check out this week’s deals belows:
March 29-April 3: A World of Keflings – 400 Microsoft Points (50% off)
March 29-April 3: Worms 2: Armageddon – 400 Microsoft Points (50% off)
March 29-April 3: Worms 2: Battle Pack – 200 Microsoft Points (50% off)
March 29-April 3: Raskulls – 400 Microsoft Points (50% off)
Anybody buy games on demand? There are two new games coming out on demand.
Split/Second
Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. 2
This week in retail we have a bunch of new games, some you might enjoy while others you might enjoy a little less:
For anyone not familiar with Card Sagas Wars, it’s essentially a fighting game made in the MUGEN engine. The characters in the game all come from various video game series in a crossup similar to Nintendo’s Super Smash series, although with greater variety. Characters making appearances will include Simon Belmont of Castlevania fame, Dead Rising’s famous photographer Frank West, Eggman (ahem, Dr. Robotnik), and even Master Chief from Halo. While there is no set date yet for the beta, it has been announced that it will include four fighters: X (Mega Man X), KOS-MOS (Xenosaga), Cloud (Final Fantasy VII), and Link (Legend of Zelda). The latest character premier trailer has just been uploaded and it shows off a battle between Master Chief and Samus Aran, and includes some awesome assist characters. My personal favorite is the Duke Nukem cameo right towards the end.
Mortal Kombat has always been a franchise that has loved their fighters. Many of the fighters may usually just appear to be palette swaps but that doesn’t matter because fans still loved them. Of course we knew some favorite characters would be returning for sure in Mortal Kombat (the 9th game of the series). But we didn’t exactly know who would else would be available.
But it appears that now we do because a leaked screenshot which has shown up on Mortal Kombat Unlimited contains the whole roster from the character select list of the game. Exactly whether or not this screenshot is really authentic is still under debate but it looks very legitimate.
The characters that are shown off on the screenshot are Scorpion, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Sub-Zero, Sindel, Ermac, Reptile, Kitana, Johnny Cage, Jade, Mileena, Nightwolf, Cyrax, Noob Saibot, Smoke, Sektor, Sonya, Jax, Kano, Stryker, Shang Tsung, Baraka, Kabal, Raiden, Sheeva and Quan Chi. Also we see what appears to be a robotic Sub-Zero and another robotic character on the bottom of the list.
