Marvel vs Capcom 3 screens

I actually never posted these up and I can't figure out why - anyway, check em out after the break if you haven't seen them.
So there's one thing I don't get here. This time around there's supposed to be an actual (intellegable) story for the game and stages that make sense for the characters (re: no more circus or pirate ship.)

If that's the case then why are those little guys from the Mega Man EX games running around in the Hulk/Chris Redfield level? How would they fit into an actual 'comic book' story setting?

The 'Project Natal' name is... Wave?

 
According to a story on Edge online, it is. Actually this is Edge reporting on the original NowGamer story- but I read it on Edge, so credit where it's due.


I don't like the name, way too reminiscent of the Nintendo Wave Bird wireless pad from the Gamecube (and Wii). I guess we'll soon see- e3 is only a few scant weeks away.

Edit: Pretty much confirmed at this point by NowGamer. It be Wave. Arrr.

Pokemon Black/White coming stateside 2011

Two new Pokémon^™ games, Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version, for the Nintendo DS^™ family of systems will be released in North America in spring 2011. Introducing a new storyline and the next generation of Pokémon, the new releases will feature the Legendary Pokémon Reshiram^™ (Pokémon Black Version) and Zekrom^™ (Pokémon White Version) on the game covers worldwide.
“Pokémon is a true worldwide franchise with legions of fans in every corner of the globe,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “We know these fans will be thrilled to discover this new generation of Pokémon next year.”
The launch of Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version follows the incredible consumer response to Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version, which have sold more than 8.4 million units combined worldwide to date. The Pokémon video game series has sold more than 200 million units worldwide since it was first introduced 14 years ago.

Notice that it says "for the Nintendo DS family of systems", so I guess this isn't a 3DS exclusive- or the games are going to be back-compat with all DS' in a non-3D format. Seems like a safe bet anyway since we already know that the 3DS 3D can be switched off if you like.

Killzone 3 interview fresh from the reveal

From what I've seen of the game it looks great- the 3D aspect is negligible as far as I'm concerned but the graphics look sharp and the jetpacks (while definitely not an innovation at this point) I think will be a lot of fun.

More excited for e3.

Little League World Series Baseball 2010! Seriously!

Activision will be bringing the popular series (!?!) to the Xbox 360 and the PS3 this July. It's going to be $39.99 and hopefully play better than MLB 2k10.

And no, I have no idea if your kid will be in it.

Splatterhouse and the art of Foley

Kotaku has a great post up about all the foley work that's gone into the upcoming Splatterhouse remake. It's not all that long of a read but sound effects have always been something that have interested me- if you're in that boat too, go check it out.

PS3 market share increases for 2010

Good news for Sony as VGChartz is reporting that the Playstation company's share of the global video game pie has risen to 31%. This brings it ever closer to the Xbox 360's numbers as well as, surprisingly, the Nintendo Wii.

The source, David Mercer of Strategy Analytics, attributes the change to Sony's intro of the PS3 'slim' (and the accompanying price drop) last fall, the new 'Kevin Butler' ad campaign, and an improved lineup of software.

He also tries to have his cake and eat it too as he points out that, although he expects sales to be relatively steady throughout the year, this might be a temporary surge and sees a rebound for Microsoft when 'Natal' launches this fall.

I really think that these new motion controllers- the Playstation Move and 'Natal', will have little to no impact on anything. I never thought much of the Move and I believe Natal will be meaningless at the rumored $149.99 price point. If natal comes in at a sub-100 level, I think it has promise.

It's with that in mind that I'll say- it really just comes down to software. The games are the thing. Period. That's why this year started out so great for Sony.The fall though, is set up to be dominated by blockbusters for the 360 such as Halo Reach and Fable 3.

Should be an interesting year all around. Very excited for e3.

Did Microsoft kill Natal before it even debuts?

If the rumor going around right now is to be believed- then in my opinion -yes.

$149.99 for (essentially) a controller? This is not a new console, it's a controller. I'm sure there are plenty of amazing ways to implement Natal in a bunch of games- really I am, but that price point... Ouch.

Think about this for a sec: Take 'Halo: Reach', which will not have Natal integration, but just for argument's sake... Take Reach and add Natal-

• Maybe you actually slap your hand against the back of the Xbox pad to load a new mag into your assault rifle
• Maybe you make a throwing motion to toss a grenade
• Maybe you lower your shoulder to barrel through some Grunts

Whatever you want to include here, it's all imagined anyway, the point is that all that stuff sounds cool right? Would (and will) Reach be cool to play with 'just a pad' too? Sure it will. And that's the problem with $149.99

If you're a traditional gamer, then you really have no need for the extra bells and whistles that Natal could bring. They'd be cool and all, but not for $149.99. I mean seriously, I like the Wii and it has a lot of great titles, but if there is an option to play with the 'chuck or classic controller- I use it. 

I think Microsoft would sell a boat load of the things at $49, $59- hell even $89. I'm a pretty early adopter and even I would have trouble justifying almost double that.

Now, before I go, just to remind everybody- I'm probably getting crazy here for nothing. Remember that the speculation surrounding the iPad's price turned out to be a joke. I mean I had actually heard $1500+ at one point for the base 3G model. And we all know how that turned out. 

Just food for thought.

PSN Update -- 'Soldner-X 2' edition

Old school shooter fans have something to look forward to as Soldner-X 2 hits the PSN.

 We've also got the Green Day Rock Band Demo, some nice add-on stuff and a PSOne classic in the form of Delta Force: Urban Warfare, which is playable on the PS3 only.

Next Guitar Gero outed by Amazon

'Warriors of Rock' it is.

Lets not make this one too gimmicky, okay? 5 was a really nice game and maybe we could just stick to that formula?

Either way, we'll find out all about GH6 @ e3.

GOW All-Fronts map pack on sale & Title Update 6 intro's 'Social Matchmaking'

'Social Matches' basically means that you can jump into - or out of - this game-set at any time to suit all your chainsawin' needs. Huzzah. Oh, that includes Horde Mode ; )

Also worth mentioning is that this weekend will take full advantage of the new update by being... a Triple Experience Weekend! Huzzah... again. Actually, it's more like a Trip Ex week- it'll run from 9:00am eastern, tomorrow May 27th, through Tuesday June 1st

And to round out all the Gears tidbits this morning- the 'All Fronts' map pack is on sale for 800mspts. Do I dare 'Huzzah' a third time? I do. You can also get the four packs that make up the All Fronts collection separately (but where's the fun in that?) or on the 'Gears of War 2 : Game of the Year' disc for the tidy sum of $29.99 American. Or less --> see below.


So? Go to it Gear-Heads.

Insomniac follows Bungie into the land of Multiplatform Developing

Long time Playstation developers Insomniac games (Ratchet & Clank, Resistance) have announced that their next game will be for the PS3 and the Xbox 360.

Honestly, this isn't a shocker. There were some industry rumblings a few weeks ago about it when Bungie made the shift away from exclusivity- if anything, this move makes more sense considering the 360's superior install base and sales figures.

Exclusive games have been fading into a memory for a while now, kind of a bittersweet experience no?

Nintendo Download -- 'Metal Poker' edition

There's certainly been a lot of stuff for the DSiWare service lately- that's something I used to whine about all the time and it's really nice to see that Nintendo is now actually caring for the portable shop as much as it does for the Wii's virtual store.

Now I've got a new problem though. Virtual Console releases are few and far between. And when something is released, well, it's not exactly a 'classic' shall we say.

Xbox LIVE Wrapup -- 'Slugbreaker' edition

So this week saw the release of Metal Slug XX, Aqua, the Backbreaker demo and a couple new games on demand. Pretty big week actually- not too shabby.

I've been waiting for Backbreaker for a while. The idea of a revamped Blitz-type game sounds great to me since I was always a fan of that series. Shame that there's no licensed teams though-

Fable 3 pricing and editions outlined

According to Major Nelson:

Today we announced details on the Fable III SKU’s that will be available later this year. Here are the highlights: 
Fable III will be available in Standard and Limited Collector’s Editions for Xbox 360.
The Standard Edition will retail for $59.99/£44.99/€64.99
Limited Collector’s Edition will retail for $79.99/£59.99/€84.99. 
The Windows version will retail for $49.99/£39.99/€54.99, and will also be available for download exclusively on Games on Demand on Games for Windows – LIVE.

Phantasy Star Portable 2 drops this Fall

The sequel to the popular PSP semi-RPG will be landing on store shelves this Fall:

Taking place three years after the end of the story missions that occur during Phantasy Star Universe, the denizens of the Gurhal System have dispatched the menace of the SEED — but the war effort has cost them, and with dwindling resources the game’s heroes will travel & take on entirely new challenges.

First screens after the break.

That big Sonic 4 news

Remember a few days ago here was going to be a big announcement from Sega? Big media event?

Well, if you didn't follow the Sonic blogs that day- number 1: you're obviously not that big of a sonic fan, and number 2: you really didn't miss anything.

The big news was that S4 will be coming to the iPhone and it won't be available anywhere until late this year.

Yes, that's right- the news was that it's been delayed. Exciting.

Wanna meet Hideo Kojima?

Your dream is about to come true! Dream might be too strong a word there...

On June 11th (it's a Friday) the Metal Gear creator will be at a store called Uniqlo in Soho from 12 noon till 2 and then shift over to Best Buy in Union Square from 6 to 8. You can get an autograph (maybe) and pick up MGS Peacewalker for the PSP a little early. Should be a cool scene.

Official scuttle after the break

Crackdown 2 machinima channel debuts

Right now on YouTube, you can check out the official story bridge that will take us from Crackdown to Crackdown 2. Lots has gone down in Pacific City- this'll fill you in.

It's a pretty cool little 'short', the first in a series. The animation is done like a motion comic. Check it out and you'll see what I mean.

Crackdown was such a great game- never should have been written off as a way to get into the Halo 3 beta. Great, great, stuff- can't wait for July!

The press release is after the break if you should so desire-

Little big Planet details... in FAQ form

Some great info here for LBP fans who are, no doubt, eagerly awaiting the second game in the Playstation exclusive series. Some stand-out info:

• Brand new 50 level story mode
• All costume DLC from LBP 1 is compatible with part 2
• The Marvel comics theme pack is still floating around out there somewhere- we may see it
• Custom voices (!)
• 'Sackbots', NPC Sackboys that can be used in level making, can be bad guys

Read on for the whole list of known stuff. Good all around.

Ghost Trick, Phantom Detective

From the creator of all those crazy lawyer games on the DS comes the tale of a dead guy who floats around and solves mysteries.

Gotta be better than it sounds. It looks like a point and click thing, adventure games sure are making a comeback huh?

Ghost Trick is coming soon for the DS from Capcom- full details and screens after the break.

Sonic 4 Online Media Event

Today, May 20th, is not really a day that will live in infamy- but it is a day that Sonic the Hedgehog fans the world over will get to know a ton of new info about the little guy's newest game (and first true sequel in ages) Sonic 4: Episode One.

Sega is sharing this story with two of the biggest Sonic fansites on the net- sonicretro.org & sonicstadium.org.

If you're a big time Sonic fan, you might want to stay with them throughout the day to pick up the news as it comes in.

If you're a small time Sonic fan, check back here later on to get a re-cap of all the Hedgehog action.

CAPCOM teams up with clothier Zazzle for custom apparel

Here's something cool, or something that hopefully will be cool since it doesn't seem all that complete yet.

Gaming giant Capcom has licensed quite a few of it's properties to Zazzle- which makes 'made to order' shirts, hats, keychains, etc...

There's some cool stuff to see but some of the categories seem a leeetle unfinished at the moment. And the Street Fighter image options are sorely lacking any coolness to speak of- you'll see what I mean when you go.

Zazzle- Capcom style

Publish yourself with PubIt!

Now this is pretty damn cool.

Barnes and Noble has only recently (seriously) made an effort to join the ebook parade with it's excellent nook, but now they're taking it one step further.

Starting this summer, you'll be able to self publish your own independent work in ebook form through B&N. That sounds great as it is but the kick is that it'll be open to reading by almost anyone with the e-means to do so- not just via nook.

I'm guessing that means that manuscripts will pub in a pdf or epub format so they'll be 'open'. We'll learn more in the coming weeks, including plenty about the dirty, un-artistic side of things. read: how much will it cost you to make some cash off your ideas?

Read the original story on Engadget.

PSN Update -- 'Modnation' edition

The long awaited Modnation Racers demo drops onto the PSN this week. Looks pretty cool, I actually saw it being demo'd at Best Buy and I almost got on line to give it a shot. Almost. That's pretty impressive by the way as normally I'd never even remotely consider touching one of those controllers- guitar or otherwise. Yech.

I'm including a new feature with the PSN Updates now- PSOne classic watch. I'm in love with the idea of putting out the Classics series but, as anyone who reads this blog can tell you, every week I become more and more despondent over the lack of good titles. Now they don't even give us any some weeks. *sigh*

This week's 'classic' : Bomberman Fantasy Race. ...good God...

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies Launches on July 11

The title pretty much says it all but if you're a fan of the very long running Dragon Quest games (I was a big NES DQ guy- better than Final Fantasy IMO), then you're gonna love this-

Nintendo Download -- 'your mind? BLOWN' edition

At least that's what Nintendo thinks. Personally, I'm not feeling blown at all. I doubt Frogger or Kirby are feeling blown either... well, maybe Kirby.

You know, that whole intro feels a little odd.

Xbox LIVE Update -- 'Ballad of Rocket Knight' edition

Not a ton to talk about here on LIVE this week.

Rocket Knight is out, which is great. The Rapture Metro pack for Biioshock 2 is available now too, and there's a nice discount being offered on Ballad of gay Tony for GTA4.

Read on for the whole week's worth of action...

Splinter Cell gets the drop on retail sales- rest of industry falls out the window

Splinter Cell Conviction lead the sales of all games last month (April) with a stealthtastic 471,706 units moved. Not bad for an old man.

Less fantastic is that the industry as a whole fell a staggering 26% over this time last year- mostly to blame is hardware sales, though software fell quite a bit as well.

Read the whole report @ vgChartz

Shock! Nintendo leads US hardware sales for April

Number one in the month, as usual, is Nintendo. Most of the sales figures do go the way of the DS hardware family though.

• DS sales : 440,000 units
• Wii sales : 277,000 units

The Wii's figures are still impressive, just no where near the DS totals. It really does print money.
Overall sales were down quite a bit though from April of last year- down about a $100,000. That's a lot.

Nintendo sues Queens own NXPGAME for piracy

So I've never heard of the NXPGAME site- as I understand it they don't have a brick n mortar -but apparently they sell "video game copiers" for the DS. Apparently they've also been warned several times to back off by NoA. Apparently they continued sales anyway.

Overall it seems like Nintendo was being extremely nice about the whole thing and was actually trying to avoid going to court over it. Good job by them in my book.

Unfortunately, some folks can't take a hint and they had to go farther. And that leads us to 'after te break'

PSP2 at E3 - unconfirmed! speculated!

Maybe is the keyword here so please- grain of salt.

Read the article on Edge. It does make for a very 'read between the lines' type thing. Just do me the favor of not getting too excited.

Cirque du Natal @ E3

Microsoft's E3 presentation will center on 'Project Natal', that we all pretty much could have guessed. What you may not have been expecting is that the segment will be graced with the presence of the always over the big top (sorry) Cirque du Soleil.

There's going to be a whole mini-show associated with the official unveiling of the groundbreaking new peripheral. Pretty cool. The special will air on the complete range of MTV networks including: MTV, Nick at Nite, mtvU, MTV Hits and Logo; you'll also find it lurking live on SPIKE TV and online at GameTrailers.com.

Should be a memorable one...

Official scuttle after the break-

PSN Update -- 'Mod Nation' edition

The Mod Nation racers demo debuts this week for the PSP. Seems like a pretty fun game- a little Mario Kart, a little Little big Planet... not too shabby.

Don't look for anything else though, there isn't much. The attack of the thinned out updates continues.

Oh, and did you see? No PSOne classics again. Thanks Sony.

Nintendo Download -- 'DSiWare!' edition

Yeah, yeah.... Phoenix Wright, I know. But I don't care.

The DSi gets Photodojo and Earthworm Jim this week!

I have 1700 Nintendo points sitting in my account from Christmastime and I can finally spend them!

edit: I can spend some of them. Dojo is free 'till June 10th. I'm happy about it, really.

New Modern Warfare 2 maps incoming to Xbox LIVE

Just like the Stimulus Pack, the Resurgence Pack will grace Xbox LIVE first- it'll be out June 3rd.

start transmission

The second pack of new multiplayer maps from Call of Duty(R): Modern Warfare(R) 2, will hit first on Xbox LIVE(R) online entertainment network worldwide on June 3rd with the release of the Call of Duty(R): Modern Warfare(R) 2 Resurgence Pack. Featuring five maps, the Resurgence Pack follows on the heels of the record-setting Call of Duty(R): Modern Warfare(R) 2 Stimulus Package of maps.
Developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI), Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is rated "M" (Mature) by the ESRB for Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence and Language. For more information, visit www.modernwarfare2.com.
Additionally, to celebrate the upcoming release, Infinity Ward will host two Double XP weekends. The first Double XP will take place beginning Friday, May 28, and the second will follow on Friday, June 4.

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Double XP too? Not bad if you're into that sort of thing.

3DS to be shown off at e3

Not a rumor, not an imaginary story!

If we are to believe the latest issue of Nintendo Power magazine, the 3DS (or whatever the name is gonna be) will be on display at e3. The article doesn't really elaborate at all on what (if any) software will be shown off, or even if the unit will be playable -- it could just be a staged demo. We'll have to see.

Either way, this ceertainly lends a little bit o' plausibility to the notion that the 3DS will be launching this year.

I love the smell of new hardware in the morning... the smell of unwashed, frost covered fanboys standing in front of me on line at seven am? Not so much.

Be the Zombie, live the Zom... no that's not right

So this went up on the official Playstation Blog and I thought I pass it on, which is a crucial part of any good zombie contagion after all.

Start Transmission

Ever wanted to be in a video game trailer? How about a zombie video game trailer?
On May 15th and 16th, we will be shooting a trailer for an upcoming zombie video game in San Francisco, CA. We want to give 20 of you the chance to appear in the trailer… as a zombie!

So how do you enter to be a participant in this trailer?
Send an e-mail to zombies@playstation.sony.com with the following info:

• Name
• Date of birth (MUST BE 18 years of age or older)
• Phone number
• Zip code of your residence
• Height
• Two Photos:
1. Face (Close-up)
2. Full body

Send your email between May 7th at 9:00am Pacific and May 12th at 11:00pm Pacific. If you’re selected, we’ll contact you on Thursday, May 13th.
Our wardrobe department will tell you what to take with you to the shoot.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

• Participants will have to make their own way to the video shoot on May 15th and 16th.
• Participants will not be compensated for their time or appearance.
• Participants will be required to be on set for approximately 10 hours per day.
• Not all Participants selected will be used in the video shoot. Final selection will be determined on site.
• Participants will be required to have make-up done by SCEA.

Now is your chance to be a zombie! E-mail zombies@playstation.sony.com to achieve immortality…the easy way.
Good luck!

Stop Transmission 

I wanna be the guy on the extreme right- looks like zombie-Nicholas Cage! Awesome!!11!!!!1

Carry around a back-up battery for pretty much anything-

Anything really mass-market anyway.

Yes friends it's true, the Risutobandobatteri *straight from Japan BTW* has you covered. Charge your PSP, DS, iPod and more, any time you need - on the go!


Why this little wonder sits comfortably (maybe) right on your wrist! When you need to get a 'charge out of life' simply plug your drained gadget right into one of it's many ports and... 


Well to be honest, I have no idea if that's how it works. I can't read Japanese. But it looks cool. And I thought I'd share. 


You're welcome.


Read the story on Engadget (where I sees it)
Read the original site (good luck)


*Remember - If it is completely discharged, it may not be available until some charge

Almost Official: Assassin's Creed : Brotherhood

Well it looks like the next AC will be starring Ezio and will be coming out this year after all.

Back when I first posted this rumor, I had contacted Ubisoft about a comment- I got no reply.

Now though, there's some kind of ARG going on on Facebook... and then there's this.

A tipster sent this in to Kotaku- looks like a return to Italia to me.

Finally... the God of War has come back... to the PSP

Sony has announced a sequel to it's PSP only GoW prequel, Chains of Olympus, and it's God of War: Ghost of Sparta.

So it's a sequel to a prequel that's still a prequel. This is like Lucas doing the classic Star Wars films at the same time as he was pumping out the crappy new Star Wars movies.

Pics and description after the break...

PSN Update -- 'Lead, Gold, & Stimulus' Edition

This weeks PSN update (remember they switched to Tuesdays) includes the multiplayer third-person cowboy shooter, Lead & Gold, as well as the Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Package of maps.

Yay.

I'd like to point out that once again we are denied any PSOne classics. Last week we got Dark Forces and this week... nothing. *sigh* Maybe I'm asking too much?

Blizzard/Activision's Battle.net joins forces with Facebook

Hmmmm, kind of cool actually.

Pretty soon you'll be able to add Facebook 'friends' to your friend list on Battle.net for a few rounds of Starcraft 2, or whatever else you should desire.

It's no secret to anyone who knows me (though I never mentioned it here) that I'm not a fan of FB, but this is a pretty good idea- not that I would ever be using it, since

1. I don't have a Facebook page and...
2. I really don't play all that much stuff online

This kind of thing does make you wonder where it might be heading though. Both LIVE and the PSN boast Facebook apps, so it wouldn't be a stretch to envision a similar functionality coming to the two biggest online gaming services in the world.

Adding friends to my lists from Facebook... maybe I would- uh, nah.

Xbox LIVE Newsbeat -- Vol 9

Some cool stuff coming up on LIVE in the coming weeks includes a bunch of new Avatar dress-up items from the world of gaming, some new additions to the 'Game Room', and the return of Rocket Knight for the first time since the 16bit era, if memory serves...

Nintendo Download -- 'Zombies in Wonderland' edition

Wow, not much this week.

Zero games for the virtual console, bust out the shovels for the DSi, and then there's Zombies in Wonderland- which just has me confused...

I love the smell of new trailers in the morning...

Now this was unexpected. Here, hot off of the Wondercon presses, is the teaser for the next Treyarch developed Call of Duty title: Black Ops.

Video Games | Call of Duty: Black Ops | Exclusive Debut Tease Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

So from that, my guess is that it does take place during or just after the Viet Nam war. Seems like the main character is a deniable ops (to borrow from Splinter Cell) soldier who is being treated after his exploits in the Nam. Just my guess- we'll probably see more at E3... probably.

Edit: Kotaku's Luke Plunkett has a really nice little look at the video and some of it's secrets. I won't spoil it here, but it looks like this CoD might have a lot of cool settings. Bravo to Treyarch if that's what they've done here- I'm getting tired of the standard military scenarios.