Archive for September, 2009

Ghouls ‘n Ghosts announced for iPhone, terrifying thumbs everywhere

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

ghosts (Screenshot via Game Watch)

No doubt deciding that touchscreen controls were the missing element to make the game easy and enjoyable to play, Capcom has announced at the Tokyo Game Show that the eponymous, tear-generating side-scroller Ghouls ‘n Ghosts is being ported to the iPhone platform. I tremble with terror.

According to Touch Arcade, the game will resemble the PSP version Ultimate Ghosts ‘n Goblins, mixing 2D and 3D elements. No price or release date have been announced yet.

Seriously, Capcom, why do you want your audience to cry tears of rage? This franchise has been naught but merciless on gamers the world over for more than twenty years. Were we not despondent and depressed enough now for your tastes? Do you really see the need to punish gamers with a game (already near-impossible in difficulty and unforgiving controls) by mashing a glass screen with our thumbs?

I mean, you already can’t time your jumps correctly playing Ghosts ‘n Goblins. The thought of doing that with an iPhone…

(via Touch Arcade)

Super Street Fighter 4 Coming, Super Hyper Alpha Street Fighter 4 Zeta: Double Impact Strike Not Far Behind

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

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Capcom has spilled the unsurprising beans about the follow-up/expansion to their awesome fighter and seeing as I’m pretty much settled on the fact that Street Fighter 4 is the runaway Game of the Year, color me pleased.

Apparently nine more fighters are en route, including old school pugilists T-Hawk (ugh) and Dee Jay.    Eight new characters in all are going to be added, the remainder shrouded in mystery (come on Frank West!)

In addition, existing characters will allegedly be tweaked and balanced (how about we bring Sagat down from Olympus?).  All of this will be coming on a less-than-full-retail disc some time next year.

How will Capcom improve on the greatest fighting game ever made?  We shall see.

Symposium ad Nauseum: Abysmal Physics

Monday, September 28th, 2009

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Let’s go negative this week.  Reach back into the recesses of your mind where you store traumatic gaming experiences and share with us some of your worst encoutners with deranged video game physics.

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Captain Enzo in “PSA”

Friday, September 25th, 2009

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Click image to enlarge!

Demo Impressions: The Warriors Street Brawl (XBLA)

Friday, September 25th, 2009

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The side-scrolling beat’em up is one of my all-time favorite video game genres.  My nauseating love for Streets of Rage 2 has been well-documented, but really, any of the classics appeal to me: Final Fight, Golden Axe, TMNT, Guardian Heroes and, most recently, Castle Crashers.

So any time a new installment is announced I get excited.  Is it possible for developers to recapture the magic those old-school brawlers had?  The latest entry is The Warriors: Street Brawl.  I took the demo out for a jaunt.  My reactions after the jump.

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BLAST PROCESSING! Episode 31: Adventures in Text

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

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Erich, Dave, and Tim reminisce about the frustrating days of text adventures as an appetizer to a discussion of modern games including Tales of Monkey Island: Episode 1, Scribblenauts, Halo 3: ODST, Dead Space, and Lost Odyssey. In news, what do price drops, rebates, and bundles mean for the holiday shopping season? And in Symposium Ad Nauseum: throwing heads, guns without bullets, and balls as weapons.

Send us your feedback in text form in the comments below, over in the the DVD Verdict Jury Room forums, or by emailing us at feedback@pixelverdict.com.

You can listen to the show with the player below, download it here, or subscribe through iTunes or by adding our feed to your podcatcher of choice.

 

Everquest II: The Shards of Destiny – now live for the taking

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

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Sony’s Everquest II continues to soldier on with the release of the latest game update: Everquest II The Shards of Destiny.

Anyone who’s been into MMO’s for any amount of time (pre-WoW) can tell you that EQII is probably one of the most friendly and inviting communities on the scene, and the gameplay, while not quite so “pick up and play” as World of Warcraft, is user friendly and engaging. I haven’t been back to Norrath for a while, but this looks like a pretty extensive update, and may convince me to reactivate.

Features include:

• Chronomagic: Down-tier your level to experience content you may have previously missed while you were leveling up

• Enter the Shard of Love: For the first time ever, players will be able to explore the home of Erollisi Marr

• All new 4x Dungeon: Test your skills in Miragul’s Planar Shard

• Achievement System: Track and share your accomplishments with other players

• Housing Addition: All houses will receive a new room where you can use your creativity and expand your collections

Log in now and the Shards of Destiny update is there for the downloading.

Wacky Rumor of the Day That’s Sending the Webz Atwitter: Microsoft and EA 2-Getha f-Eva

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

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This one’s been the comment bait around the video game ’sphere.  Reuters is coughing up speculation about a possible buy-out from Microsoft.  Crazy if it’s true, for sure and brings up all kinds of questions.

What does that mean for Madden’s NFL exclusivity?  Would EA’s cross-platform juice be nixed?  How–precisely–is one Peter Moore involved?  Feel free to fan the flames below.