Nobody said that violence couldn’t be classical at the same time right? Well if they have then Activision is looking to make an exception to that rule. In the latest trailer for Prototype 2 we catch another glimpse of Sgt. James Heller as he tosses an enemy through the air and boy does Heller have a powerful throw. There are a few shots of the environment as we see the enemy flying over them and casting a shadow down on the buildings.
That is of course before he slams into the ground and things go just a bit crazy. Unfortunately that is all we see so far but it is certainly good to see that not a whole lot has changed fundamentally between the first and second game.
With The 3rd Birthday coming out in a couple of weeks it seems that Square Enix has decided to treat fans of the series by making the first game available on the PlayStation Network tomorrow. It was already expected to be released thanks to various information leaks by the ESRB but it is coming sooner than some may have expected.
For those who don’t know, Parasite Eve is a sequel to a novel that was written by Hideaki Sena and was made into video game form. It tells the story of Aya Brea, who manages to gain special powers after a horrific event occurs around her. There hasn’t been a price set yet but one can assume that it will have a price set similar to that of other PsOne classics.
I think it’s fair to say that From Software’s dark fantasy RPG Demon’s Souls was a surprise hit for the PS3, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who is eagerly anticipating the sequel. There still isn’t very much known about Dark Souls, other than the fact that it will maintain some of the major mechanics of Demons Souls, including its unique, persistent online mode. In the April issue of Edge magazine, however, Dark Souls producer Hidetaka Miyazaki (Miyazaki Hidetaka for you Japanese readers) reveals a few more interesting nuggets about the game.
Perhaps the most interesting however is that he doesn’t want players to beat his game. While Miyazaki-san has already said that he is hoping Dark Souls is even harder than his previous title, that’s not what his statement was in reference to. Dark Souls will apparently feature several ways to bring about the end of the game, just like its predecessor, but the creators are attempting to create a world in which players can exist forever.
These details sound reminiscent of an MMORPG, where players aren’t necessarily looking to “beat” the game, but instead experience it for extended periods of time. This seems to fit well with the persistent online gameplay of Demons Souls which will be carried over into the sequel. It was also recently announced that the online portion of Dark Souls (read: most of it) will not be region locked between players, and that there will still be no voice chat to encourage players to communicate in other ways.
There is still no release date for Dark Souls although it is expected to be released later this year on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.
Capcom in Japan has announced that they will be holding off on the release of Shuma-Gorath and Jill Valentine character DLC for Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. This DLC was originally set for release on March 15th, tomorrow, but has been pushed back to an unknown release schedule for the time being. The reason for the delay was not stated but it can be placed upon the disaster that occurred in Japan last week.
Now these characters were set for international release on the same day but it is currently unknown if this delay will spread beyond Japan and cause the characters to be released later everywhere, or if it they will be available tomorrow for everywhere outside of Japan. The two characters were to be bought individually for either 400 MSP or $5 depending on your console of choice.
Both Sega and Sony have announced delays to their major game releases of Yakuza: Of the End and Motorstorm: Apocalypse. These two titles have had their release dates set to “To be Announced” after the company has said that various circumstances have caused a delay to the game release. Both of these titles were meant to be released in Japan on March 17th but, although neither company said it aloud, after the recent events in Japan the publishers may have thought it best to delay these two titles.
Motorstorm: Apocalypse features players racing through a wasteland after earthquakes had devastated the land and Yakuza: Of the End features a zombie outbreak in a fictional city in Japan but is based on Tokyo which can be credited to their delay. Most noticeable however is the fact that Irem has canceled Disaster Report 4 entirely. Though they apologized to their fans the game will not be seeing a release, or at least not for quite some time due to the main disaster that happens at the beginning of the game which is a Japanese city being torn apart by an earthquake as the main character arrives there.
In other news Andriasang also reports that Sony is closing down their PlayStation repair and info center due to the fact that it is located in the Miyagi Prefecture and is one of the hardest hit areas of the earthquake and tsunami. Though Yakuza: Of the End and Disaster Report 4 were only recently given set release days in Japan they had not been planned for a international release at the point of the delays/cancellations but MotorStorm: Apocalypse which has been set for international release may also be delayed overseas because of this.
So Dragon Age 2 is finally out and is being met with mixed reviews. The most common argument around is that it isn’t as good as Origins but it isn’t terrible. Fair enough. Worse things could certainly be said, so you would imagine that Bioware could take the criticism with dignity. Unfortunately, Bioware has proven itself unable to act like a professional company.
Bioware has been caught red handed writing a misleading review for Dragon Age 2 on Metacritic. The review has since been pulled once they were found out, though the introduction blerb was saved in the cache. How did they get found out exactly? Read on.
A user on Reddit (popular global forum), GatoFiasco, was reading the top user review and noticed something about it that didn’t quite fit. It sounded almost patronizing, calling the game flawless and stating that any negative reaction to the game is merely a conflict of personal preference. So GatoFiasco decided to check out the user who posted this review, Avanost (who has since deleted their Metacritic profile) and discovered that their only review was the Dragon Age 2 review. Interesting. GatoFiasco then googled the name, Avanost, and found their profile on Plurk, revealing a name, Chris Hoban. Taking this search with a grain of salt, he realized this could just be another person on the internet with the username of Avanost and so he wasn’t expecting anything to come of it. However, a simple google search of Chris Hoban reveals that he is, in fact, an applications engineer at Bioware.
As I have pointed out, Bioware has since removed the review and Chris’s profile from Metacritic at an effort of damage control. So what does this all mean? Obviously the company wants their game to sell well, regardless of its actual value since the employees of Bioware need to put food on the table. Nobody is going to say the product that they are selling is bad. That’s not even what we are saying, Dragon Age 2 isn’t bad, but it isn’t the immaculate gift from God that this review made it out to be. This show of deceit, however, puts Bioware in a tainted light, the same kind of light that Eidos has been known to revel in with the firing of Jeff Gertsmann, a former reviewer for Gamespot who refused to give Kane and Lynch a favorable review against the wishes of Eidos. It is unknown if Bioware is the host of any other tom foolery similar to this. In all honesty, I wouldn’t doubt it. With this cute, little stunt many fans have lost their trust in Bioware and I’m a little inclined to side with them. Deception such as this cannot be tolerated. Bioware, I hope this is the only time this has happened and that this employee is punished appropriately.
Let this be a lesson to you, do some research before you buy a game and don’t base your opinion off of one review.
Edit: Zomg! Reddit found this article! Check out the story at its source.
EA Mobile has released a new free update for Dead Space coinciding with the release of iPad 2. If you thought Dead Space for the iPad was good just wait till you play it on iPad 2. The new update, created specifically to utilise iPad 2’s new and improved hardware performance capability, which now improves the game’s overall graphics, visual and performance speed. The update also improves Dead Space by adding look sensitivity and Y-axis inversion thanks to iPad 2’s improved built-in accelerometer. “Dead Space showcases the power of the iPad 2 bringing the psychological thrill of this award-winning game to players in new ways,” said Travis Boatman, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Studios for EA Mobile. “The faster core and graphics capabilities of the iPad 2 open up possibilities to reach new levels of quality in EA’s games never before seen in a portable device like this”.
Dead Space will be available for iPad 2 when the device launches worldwide on March 25, but if you’re lucky enough to already own an iPad 2 (I’m looking at you America) you can download the new Dead Space update right now. For more information on Dead Space check out review here
Here at Capsule Computers, we wouldn’t be allowed to tell you about games unless we played them ourselves, which is why we’ve decided to start up a weekly post telling our readers what our editors are playing. Feel free to tell us what games you are playing this week too!
Editor-in-chief: MasterAbbott
Been playing Double Dragon on the iPhone for the past week. Wrote the review (here is the link), been speaking to the developers of the game on Facebook and Twitter and they are really cool; they always take the time to reply to questions. Will also have some interview questions lined up hopefully this week – just waiting on them being sent back so I can post them up. Double Dragon is a remake of the original and with a truckload of extra’s thrown in along with some challenging achievements that will keep you busy for hours. This is probably one of the best remakes ever made for the franchise. I hope it makes its way over to the consoles (XBOX and PSN) One thing lacking which I hope will be resolved in an update is online multiplay via wireless/internet instead of bluetooth. If you have an iPhone and love the 2D beat ‘em ups this is a game you MUST own! Do you have what it takes to take down the Black Warriors and rescue your beloved Marian? Then step up to the plate pick up the baseball bat and come out swinging!
Senior Editor: Travis Bruno
This week I’ve been playing a few games that I haven’t touched in a while. Managed to complete another chapter of Deadly Premonition despite the fact that it’s quite terrible despite a surprisingly well done story. The fact that they make your character actually need to eat and sleep in the middle of the very awkwardly handled situations is interesting, and also who the world is Zach? Besides that I’ve been playing some Pokemon White on the side to gather all of the different Pokemon that I missed and enjoying the end game content. Other than that, spending some time here and there on Black Ops multiplayer that is mostly what I have been focusing my time on; I could go on and on about the other games but it would be very long. In summary: Hyperdimension Neptunia, YS I & II, Bulletstorm, Record of Agarest War and some Phantom Brave. Been tearing my way through Dragon Age 2 as well. Did they possibly beta test the game at all considering the amount of graphical issues it has? Honestly.
Senior Editor: Dylan Radcliffe
Bought Bulletstorm when it went on sale on Amazon for $40. I was surprised when the Epic Edition came in, rather than the normal edition that I actually ordered. The bonuses aren’t that amazing, and I would’ve been fine without them; never even going to touch the Gears of War 3 Beta. Bulletstorm is one of those games that loses its charm as you crank up the difficulty; it is fun tossing people around for the enjoyment of simply toying with them, but when the difficulty is increased and killing people is no longer easy, it just becomes tedious. On the other hand, I am an Achievement Hunter and there are difficulty based achievements; no point in running through twice. I have to admit though, killing people in different ways so you can get more points and in turn get cool weapons and upgrades is a brilliant gameplay mechanic!
Senior Editor: Dustin Spencer
Been working on many different things, with the most prominent being Pokemon Black. It seems no matter how old I get, the series always has the power to suck me back in for each generation. I also put in quite a bit of time with Torchlight for the XBLA. Never knew how addictive that game was but I am glad I finally got into it (now I can look forward to the pending sequel). I worked a little bit on Dragon Age 2, but as nice as the new combat system was, I found myself stuck in an invisible wall within minutes of the first battle. I have also been working on a few other things, getting caught up on my backlog anyway with titles like Hotel Dusk and Dragon Quest V (which I am determined to complete). Right now I am mainly looking forward to the 3DS but Monster Tale has my full attention as far as future releases go. It reminds me heavily of Shantae even though it is not quite of the same genre, which has got me very hopeful as a new platformer is always a good thing to see.
Senior Editor: Matt Vella
This week I caught up on a lot of games, got around to finally renting out Dead Rising 2, it’s now number one on my ‘to buy list’. I also finally downloaded the ‘First Strike’ DLC for Call of Duty: Black Ops, loving the zombie map, and also got the new DLC for Assassins Creed: Brother Hood, and it’s just as awesome! I also got Apache: Air Assault for Xbox 360 and Guerilla Bob for Mac to review, Apache is pretty average but Guerilla Bob is really fun! I’ve had a great week in gaming! 🙂
Senior Editor: Jed Bradshaw
I’ve finally got around to actually playing Snoopy Flying Ace after purchasing it for 1/2 off quite a while ago.
It’s like MW2. With planes. And Snoopy. Plus, it is diabolically difficult. So far though, I have been digging the online multiplayer, mostly because I can’t get past the first level of the campaign. It is still really fun. I have also played Full House Poker for review (link here.) Finally, I sprinkled in some Geometry Wars, Pacman Championship DX and War for Cybertron.
Editor: Kelly Teng
Being a loyal Pokemon fan since the original TV series, what else could I possibly be playing? Pokemon Black (because let’s face it, Reshiram is so much cooler than Zekrom) is the title that’s eating up the battery on my DS. With the Pokemon franchise slowly becoming the same old game repackaged in a new colour, I admit I was worried…but as soon as I switched it on, all my worries disappeared. It pretty much takes everything I loved from every Pokemon game and upgraded it – which was, I’ll admit, long overdue. I wonder if the guys at Nintendo are running out of steam though, because the starting Pokemon are possibly the worst I have ever come across. Choosing between a blue beaver, an orange pig, or some sort of lizard really doesn’t make me a happy trainer. Overall, it’s everything we loved about Pokemon but the new additions are certainly a welcome.
Editor: Jared Hilliers
I’ve delved into the MMO world yet again, this time with Rift. These games have a tendency to eat all your time, dragging you away everything else in your life, they’re like an overly demanding relationship. The only other game I’ve had time with is Pokemon Black, which is obviously awesome and doesn’t need any reassurances. Rift on the other hand is in its honeymoon period, we won’t know for a few months whether or not it’s a keeper. It’s fun and promising, chasing Rift’s reminds me of Twister when they’re chasing hurricanes, but I don’t think Rift is exactly what everyone is expecting it to be: The next MMOMFG.
Editor: Kellie Wallace
Ive been playing through a few games these last few months. Since finishing Dead Space 2 twice (in a row, I have no life) I waited with bated breath for Bulletstorm. I LOVED it, playing it through once and starting again straight away! Now I play my favourite bits. I can’t enough of Grayson Hunt!
Today I slotted in Modern Warfare 1 after nearly a year of not playing it. I forgot how awesome it is. Now I am waiting for Homefront to be released so I can enjoy it and play it.
Editor: Chris Cerami
Let’s see, where to start? I recently finished Persona 4 after playing it on and off since its release in 2008 (I get distracted easily) so now I’m starting Persona 3 FES, which I’m really excited about. The story seems awesome and I love the art style. On my PSP I’ve also been playing YS I&II, I started Okamiden on my DS, and FINALLY finished Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht, now moving on to Episode II. On top of that, today I played a bit of Scott Pilgrim with a few friends and played an hour or so of 3D Dot Game Heroes.
Killer Instinct by all means is a classic title in video game history. For anyone who have forgotten, or isn’t aware, it was an arcade fighting game released in 1994, developed by Rare and published by Nintendo and Midway, and was the first arcade fighter to ever use an internal hard disk drive, allowing it to hold massive amounts of data and handle detailed graphics. It was known for having a unique auto-combo system where players could preform up to 80+ hits, the introduction of combo breakers, and rather than having best of 3 rounds, players were given double-energy bars to fight to the death. On top of this, it had a dark theme too it, similar to Mortal Kombat in regards to violent finishing moves known as ‘No Mercies’, similar to MK’s fatalities, as well as dishing out ridiculous amounts of awesome blood. The game also had a much loved soundtrack, which spawned it’s own cd called ‘Killer Cuts‘, which was available with every copy of the game’s Super Nintendo port. The Super Nintendo version was also well known for having the notorious black cartridge, as opposed to the common grey one. The game was also later ported to Game Boy, with obvious downgrades. Killer Instinct’s popularity led to a sequel, Killer Instinct 2 1996, which was ported to the Nintendo 64 as Killer Instinct Gold. Many rumours since have been spread about the possible Killer Instinct 3, which has unfortunately never seen the light of day. However, for a game with that doesn’t exist, it sure does have a lot of history to it! Let’s take a look at the history of Killer Instinct 3 over the past15 years and see what fans and gamers are still dreaming about…
RARE GAMES GRABBED BY THE GHOULIES, CONKER, & BANJOE KAZOOIE TEASE KI3
In 2003 Rare released a game called Grabbed by the Ghoulies, and in 2005 they released a game called Conker: Live & Reloaded on the Xbox. Both games teased KI3, hinting that it could possibly be in the works. These small, tiny insignificant cameos spawned many, crazy rumours, and got many fans excited. To hype up Killer Instinct 3 even more, Rare’s beloved Banjoe Kazooie even joined in on the fun of teasing about a third KI.
Conker reads a magazine with the KI logo, Grabbed By The Ghoulies features KI on an xbox cartridge.
Watch Conker playing Killer Instinct on a gameboy while playing Sabrewulf’s theme song here.
Banjoe Kazooie even decides to hint about Killer Instinct 3!
2007: Rare Releases Christmas Card Teasing KI3
Almost ten years after Killer Instinct Gold, after much begging from fans for a Killer Instinct 3, Rare began to tease and hint about Killer Instinct 3, in small ways to tease fans, beginning with a Christmas card in 2007 featuring Banjo Kazooie. As you can see in card below, you can clearly see a christmas stocking saying ‘KI3’. Fighting fans every where went crazy, and the internet exploded. A simple search in google is clear evidence of this, as it flooded almost every game-releated forum you could think about at the time. But fans would get their hopes up many, many more times.
2008: FANS GET HOPES UP OVER A ‘KILLER CLASSIC’
A few months later in February 2008, fans again got their hopes up. A magazine called Xbox World 360 included a few small words in a section of their magazine talking about subjects that would be mentioned in the following month. The sentence was simply: “”….and a KILLER secret game” and went on to say “Let’s just say, it’s a biggie, a reinvention of a CLASSIC” Many assumed Killer Instinct 3, because of the use of the words ‘killer’ and ‘classic’. But this was not the case, fans again would have to wait and hope for the next instalment.
2008: SUPPOSED ‘LEAKED’ KILLER INSTINCT 3 MUSIC SHEET
Many rumours surrounded the title, including that there was even a secret team working on Killer Instinct 3. Then in September 2008, this music sheet was apparently leaked to fan site mundorare.com, and once again fans were excited. Many even went so far to try and create the music hinted on the sheet, the most popular of which has been re uploaded to youtube countless times, and it can be heard here.
2010: SUPPOSED ‘LEAKED’ E3 LINE UP
Later in 2010, this image hit the internet, claiming to be a leaked copy of the 2010 E3 line up. Many of these games never saw the light of day, but some did. In fact multiple games actually were revealed for the 2010 E3 conference, such as Killzone 3 and Dead Space 2. Many games are actually being made or have been made, such as Gears of War 3, Mass Effect 3, amoung others. Of coarse though, titles like Battletoads, Call of Duty: MMO and Killer Instinct 3 remain our many gamers ‘we wish it existed’ lists!
2011: EX MIDWAY-MAN SAYS ‘LOVE IT IF WE COULD REBOOT KILLER INSTINCT!’
Now last week on Twitter, while answering questions on the latest Mortal Kombat title, Ed Boon of NeatherRelm Studios mentioned he’d love to reboot the Killer Instinct franchise if he could. For all those unaware, NeatherRelm is the rebranding of Midway, who published the original Killer Instinct alongside Nintendo. Of coarse this means next to nothing, but it does show at least people are still interested in the franchise, and most likely some fans are gonna get excited over something little like this, but they shouldn’t, its still not coming any time soon!
This tweet was in response to not so serious tweet about a Mortal Kombat Vs Killer Instinct game, but of coarse the internet has already thought of that cross over!
2010: WORDS FROM 3 DUDES AT RARE
So everything so far has been just spectulation, but what does Rare have to say about any of this? A LOT of talks f KI3 occurred in 2010 last year, bringing many hopes up!
The most promising words have came from creative director of Microsoft Game Studios Ken Lobb, the man behind the ‘Ultra Combo‘ in an interview in 2010, at X10. In the interview, Lobb said “I love KI! We wanna make KI, we’re not working on it today…..someday we’ll bring back KI!”
Lobb spoke more of KI3, revealing some interesting information as well. “Actually after KI2, we started KI3 so there was some early work done on it,” he said, “Someday, maybe. I think in some ways – again, we don’t have any plans – but if we were going to do a KI3, we’d probably start with KI1 on XBLA, you know to a.) see if everyone is still interested in the IP, but also as a reminder of what it was like….Street Fighter is a great example of that, right?” he went on to say, “They obviously did Street Fighter 4 last year very successfully, but right before it, Street Fighter HD. It sold very well. I’ve always been a huge fighting game fan so I never really “got out” of Street Fighter, but when Street Fighter HD came out, I played the crap out of it. I was excited to get Street Fighter 4. I think the same thing could work.”
But he’s not the only one from Rare to talk of a third Killer Instinct with Kinect features. Senior Software Engineer from Rare, Nick Burton mentioned KI3 in an interview in 2010 to the official Xbox magazine. When asked about KI, he said “Maybe Killer Instinct Kinect.” And when it was asked if it would work, he stated “You’d have to play our boxing game and decide if you think it would.” Also, the head of Rare itself, Scott Henson, spoke of reviving Rare’s classic retro games for the XBLA. “You can look at what we’re doing with Xbox Live Arcade and you can see how we’ve taken those classics and refreshed them and brought them to the service. We’ll continue to look at those kinds of opportunities.” He also acknowledged KI, showing Rare hasn’t forgoten about the franchise, stating”I know Killer Instinct is very high in the fan list and one we need to continue to keep our eye on.“
NO SERIOUSLY, WILL KILLER INSTINCT 3 EVER COME?
Rare no doubt does not forget Killer Instinct, they’re probably just unsure if it’d sell as good as they’d hope since it’s been so long since Killer Instinct 2.However, gathering from all the information we have, it’s pretty safe to assume that:
Rare hasn’t forgot about Killer Instinct, and it may return one day.
Most likely Killer Instinct will one day receive a HD remake for XBLA, and if sales are good, they may consider a KI3.
If KI3 does come, it MIGHT include kinect features.
When more news on the topic arrives, this article will be updated, so keep an eye on this! In the meantime if you noticed any mistakes, or have any new information on Killer Instinct 3, you can send an email to me at [email protected] or just leave a comment below! Furthermore, if your a Killer Instinct fan and would like to see a third instalment, let us know by putting a comment down below as well! C-C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!!!!
A new release from EA, Liqua Pop, is now out on the app store for both iPhone and iPod touch. EA’s latest is a match-3 puzzler that utilises liquid simulation features to make a pretty slick looking game with some impressive graphics. The goal here is to help Toadie the Frog get to the top of the leaf, but in order to do this you need to pop matching colour droplets by dragging them together to clear the way.
Some cool little features of the game include the ability to release bugs that help both you and Toadie complete your goal. There are seven different types of bugs, some of which can leave behind menacing obstacles. Liqua Pop also has Facebook integration, so when you manage to get a great score you can connect online and boast to all your friends. Overall the game looks like an interesting reaction-based puzzle game, and I look forward to investing some time playing the game.
