Weekly News Roundup: 6/28/2009

Games

MVC2 is the best way to be taken for a ride.

• Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 is getting a PS3 retail box release. Maybe. GameStop has since taken down the listing for it, but the case included a code for the game, an instruction booklet a disc with wallpapers and stuff, a subscription to Marvel digital comics, and 2000 Capcom points. Sounds like a deal for only $5 more than the straight download. Whether a retail box is true or not, the release is coming up soon, so here is Episode 1 of the Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 trailer.

• Japan had been missing out on some hot Mega action, as Mega Man 9 has only just been released in Japan. To celebrate, those with the highest scores will win the downloadable Rockman: Complete Works, a remake of the first Mega Man. Right now the contest is the only way to get this, but hopefully Capcom will release it in mass downloadable form at some point.

• Similar in what Sony did with Patapon 2, NIS America's Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! will now be a PSN exclusive downloadable title.

• Strikers 1945 Plus will be heading to North America, but it will only be a downloadable title on PSN, not be a regular retail title. This updated version of Strikers 1945 includes tuned-up graphics and an endless play mode.

• Capcom has made a teaser site with the number 1560 meandering on the screen. Speculation is that this is for a new Onimusha as the first game took place in the year 1560.

• Obsidian Entertainment has announced that the Aliens RPG is dead.

• Warner Bros. turned out to be the only bidder for Midway. You'd thin at least a few companies would want Mortal Kombat.

• Square-Enix's The Last Remnant was originally meant to be multiplatform, but it looks like the PS3 version could get cancelled if it's not already.

• Cross Edge, the epic cross-company RPG that brings together characters from Capcom, Namco Bandai, Nippon Ichi, Idea Factory, and Gust will be heading to the Xbox 360 - in Japan at least.

• A new KORG DS-10, called KORG DS-10+ will be out in Japan in September for the DSi. The + gives four analogue and eight drum synthesizers, 12 tracks, and the ability to edit in real-time.

• This Monster Hunter Freedom Unite Newbie cartoon is pretty hilarious.

• Unsurprisingly, a survey revealed that 20% less people know about Modern Warfare 2 and that it is the sequel to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare because the "Call of Duty" was dropped from the title. I knew something like this would happen.

• A survey hinted at new units and gameplay features for a possible Command & Conquer 4. These features included a mobile base and MMORPG-like experience system. Sounds cool.

• This Resident Evil claymation is 100% awesome.

• iPhone game developer Ketera Software blatantly copied flOw for their game Aquatica, even though they say it was an original idea.

- Shawn - 6/28/09

Weekly News Roundup: 6/21/2009

Games

In my day we weren't able to wait for a patch to make a game easier. Go back and play the original NES version; it'll bring you to tears.

• The PS3 version of the amazing Bionic Commando: Rearmed is getting Trophies with an upcoming patch. The patch will also make the game easier for those who complained it was too hard. Oh, boo hoo, it was supposed to be hard, but was already a bit easier than the original, you pansies. At least this will make it more accessible for some. Since Capcom is adding Trophies to this, how about Trophies for Mega Man 9?

• There is a secret in Mega Man 9 that has not been discovered yet. Seriously. So many things about the game have already been found, but there is one thing, still there, waiting to be discovered. What could this mega-secret be?

• The box art for Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 has been revealed and it has the "only on PlayStation" tag on it. Just like how Ninja Gaiden II has "only on Xbox 360." The same game is only on Xbox 360 and only on PlayStation 3. Funny. Yes, the PS3 version has a few extras, but it is the same core game.

• Valve had to change the cover art of Left 4 Dead 2 to appease the ESRB. It's okay to have a zombie hand with a chewed-off thumb, but not two chewed-off fingers? A PS3 version was listed by EA, but was quickly taken down. We'll just have to wait and see if a PS3 Left 4 Dead 2 is ever announced.

• Apparently there is a Tekken 6 Twitter site. And apparently they posted a screenshot of Penny Arcade's Cardboard Tube Samurai in Tekken 6, in some form at least. If you look closely at the picture, you can see Yoshimitsu's flag. So, I'm thinking that CTS is an unlockable skin for Yoshimitsu. God, I abhor Twitter.

• An update for Virtua Fighter 5 Arcade will add some cool Sega-branded costumes, like Ulala and Samba de Amigo. No word on whether this will appear as in the West as DLC or otherwise.

• 1up interviewed Soren Lund, director of the Watchmen: The End is Nigh games. If you want to know why the games turned out bad this holds your answers. Lund states one reason is that Zack Snyder got involved with the games and wanted more levels when the team was supposed to be fixing the game. He also says that Warner Bros. over-priced it, by a lot.

• DoDonPachi Dai Ou Jou Black Label Extra for the Xbox 360 version was so buggy that retail sales needed to be halted. The reason it was buggy is that the source code was copied over directly from the PS2 version of the game.

• Macross Ace Frontier for the PSP game is getting a sequel. Macross Ultimate Frontier will be out this Fall in Japan, but not North America. Never, North America.

• SOTA has released images of their upcoming Akuma "Raging Demon" 12" resin statue. I just want to know when SOTA is going to make more Street Fighter figures.

- Shawn - 6/21/09

Weekly News Roundup: 6/14/2009

Gundam!

Japan has proven they can build a life-size Gundam. So how long will it be until they actually make a fully-functional one?

• Japan's life-size Gundam is completed. This is something that should be left up all year round, not just for the couple months they have planned. The RX-78 Gundam does move, a little. It is able to move its head, has light-up eyes, and steam shoots out from the chest. Once that thing starts walking, though, that's the day we're all in trouble. Check out more photos at dannychoo.com and kenleewrites.com.

Games

• Some new screenshots from The Last Guardian have made their way online.

• Muramasa: The Demon Blade will not have English voice-overs. Because the game is so steeped in Japanese mythology, dubbing it would have lost some of its brilliance. Don't worry, there will be subtitles.

• Metroid: Other M was so secret that Koei didn't even know about it until well after Koei and Tecmo completed the merger.

• Here is a real-life Ryu vs. car bonus stage.

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled will be yet another timed Xbox 360 exclusive. The PSN version will be out later in the year.

• Kenji Inafune is a trooper. Here he is signing 500 Dead Rising 2 Servbot mugs by hand.

• Hey, its BioShock 2's Big and Little Sister anime-style on the cover of Taiwan's Famitsu.

• The Director of PSN Operations, Erik Lempel, has stated that because the PSP has been hacked so much, we will never see Trophies on the PSP. People don't need to be giving themselves large Trophy counts without doing all the game-work.

• Xbox Live's Community Games will be renamed Xbox Live Indie Games. That does sound a lot better.

• If you watched the Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker trailer then you saw the cardboard box with two Snakes in it. In a recent interview Kojima called it The Love Box, with no additional explanation. This game is going to get weird.

• These Resident Evil cosplayers do the Thriller dance. It's awful and great at the same time.

• Valve has responded to the boycotters of Left 4 Dead 2 and stated that the content is too big to just be DLC, so it's coming out as L4D2. They still have more DLC headed for the first game.

• It appears that Mezco has cancelled their LittleBigPlanet figure line. Surely somebody will pick up this cash cow of a license.

- Shawn - 6/14/09

Weekly News Roundup: 6/7/2009

Games

Well, L4D2 has fighter jets flying by, so that's something, at least.

Although most of the newsworthy buzz and announcements were all from E3 this week, there were a few things that came outside of the expo.

• Not long after the "too soon" announcement of Left 4 Dead 2 at E3, nearly 10,000 Left 4 Dead fans began boycotting the sequel. The boycotters do have some valid reasons, such as splitting the Left 4 Dead community, and not supporting the game as they continue to do with Team fortress 2. Valve has yet to respond.

• Shadow of the Colossus content is coming to LittleBigPlanet on June 11th. This is LBP DLC that I have to actually buy.

• Activision is suing Double Fine over Brütal Legend because they claim that they still have a valid contract to release the game. They why did they previously drop the game?

• Burnout Paradise's Big Surf Island will add 10 Trophies for the PS3 and 5 achievements for the Xbox 360. The PS3 version will have 98 Trophies, the most of any game and 32 more than the next closest game with Trophies. Big Surf Island is expected to be about $12.99 when it releases.

• A man dressed as an Umbrella agent from Resident Evil was arrested and detained for a short time when he was the first to arrive at a zombie crawl. His costume was too good.

• According to the internets, Conan O'Brien's new set looks like Super Mario Bros. There was a video with Conan's response to the while thing, but NBC took it down.

- Shawn - 6/7/09