Rocket League

Rocket League

Soccer meets driving once again in the long-awaited, physics-based multiplayer-focused sequel to Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars! Choose a variety of high-flying vehicles equipped with huge rocket boosters to score amazing aerial goals and pull-off incredible game-changing saves!

I can't believe this even exists and could be so insanely good.
If you haven't seen this game yet, go look up some gameplay or pick it up already.
Hell even the multiplayer has virtually no lag for cross platform and that's saying a lot already when it comes to sony.

Rocket League on steam

MOBAS, coercive behavior and popular trends

MOBAS, coercive behavior and popular trends

There's nothing quite like playing for the first time a game of League of Legends or DOTA if you might. The objective of the game consists in taking down the enemy base part by part, in order to destroy the enemy core building. Teams are assembled out of 5 people, where collaboration between each other and positioning is key.



It's not particularly fun, or it stands out as other visually impressive games. It doesn't offers inmediatly complexity, variety to the objectives, the map, or even the characters (as most of them have inherently similar abilities at times). The large amount of time it takes a match to develop, as well as the fact it can not continue regularly without one of the 10 players involved would all seem to add as a detractor for newer players who'd want to get involved.

Yet it stands out as the most popular genre of today, with over 2 million concurrent players on LoL, and 500,000 on DOTA2. It doesn't seems evident for an outsider (or even an insider at times) how this could have happened. Games like Quake 3 have come and gone, without the repercusion and massivity that a game like League can offer. (Edward Zhao throws some info on the percentage of the userbase distributed among mobas that may be of use). So the question remains, why then, why this genre, why now.

"Well, they are free to play"

One of the focal point to the popularity of the genre seems to be a rather obvious one: anyone with an internet connection does can download the game and have at it. Most of the games of the genre (except SMITE) are optimized and targeted towards lower end computers, thus enabling people from all over the globe a smooth experience on the performance of the game.
The dynamics of the genre would also point to friend building and in the particular case of League of Legends, a grinding system that keeps the player working towards a goal (unlocking characters)

Machinæ Supremacy

Machinæ Supremacy

I came across the band while listening to No Life radio filed under chiptune and games. Anyhow apparently this band does a lot of renditions of old games based on 8 bit consoles and the sort.
As wikipedia reads:

Self-defined as "SID metal", many of their songs use a SidStation that features the SID chip of the Commodore 64. They have released a considerable number of songs for free download on their site, 32 original recordings, with approximately 100,000 downloads a month.

And if you go on their website you got almost every song by them for absolutely free, which is really not a strange move on the chiptune market considering the zeitgeist of people on sites such as 8bit collective.

Golden Sun : Dark Dawn

Golden Sun : Dark Dawn

Image taken from IGN

As I'm writing this, the title now is available for Europe, and has been for some time now, in the US. It's the third installment of the series, set 30 years after the events of the second one.

Much like your average Psi Fi sequel, the history of Dark Dawn takes on after the world has changed and some things went to hell with it. The children of those who had to do with it, are now dragged into bringing peace into the world yet-one-more-time.

Image originally taken from Nintendo Dojo

It doesn't sounds extremely original, but I'm not disturbed by it; I'm depositating (if that's a word) my confidence on the classic battle system, and world exploration along with the Djinn system of the first two ones.

If you haven't played the game, this system works much like any event-trigger action from RPGs such as Valkyrie Profile (Crystals), Wild Arms 5 (shooting mode), Tales of 'x' titles , etcera; with the addition of Summonings said Djinns, and when not doing so, they add bonuses to the different statistics of the characters (something like the Final Fantasy 8 Junction system).

Image taken from the GS:DD article from IGN

As I have checked, it's not for any emulation purposes thus far, but I'll be sure to keep checking. Interestingly enough though, there seems to be less expectative in emulation forums about this game than what it was on the previous ones.

Phoenix Wright and Japan's Conviction Rate

Phoenix Wright and Japan's Conviction Rate

Via The Escapist.com

This is a piece of the article written by Monaghan on the Escapist about the "Ace Attorney" games and the reflection of Japanese society.

While the widespread underhanded behavior among prosecutors is a little exaggerated, the idea of the prosecutor as a very powerful individual with a high social status has roots in the history of the Japanese legal system. Traditionally, prosecutors were considered part of the judiciary and regarded themselves on the same level, or higher, than judges. Conversely, attorneys were considered far lower on the totem pole due their inferior level of legal education and their lack of influence in the bureaucracy. (...) As in the games, high conviction rates are highly prized as a sign of prudence and professionalism among prosecutors. Given their intimate involvement throughout the process, a prosecutor will usually be extremely confident when they decide to take a case to trial. While not quite the crooked villains of the Ace Attorney courtrooms, the lofty stature and excessive power of Japan's prosecutors clearly provided inspiration for Phoenix Wright's egomaniacal nemeses

Said article can be found on the image at the very begginning of the entry, or in the following link: Phoenix Wright's Objection! (but I must point out I originally found it by Videojuegos y sociedad)

Symbolism and Mythology in Persona 3

Symbolism and Mythology in Persona 3

Warning: this may contain some spoilers about the game

I do admit there are several articles about the underlying mysticism behind both the saga and the personas game itself, but nevertheless, I had planned to rant about this for quite a while, without help of the wikipedia (only probably to link out for sources) because frankly, there are enough of those ...

Trailer of the upcoming "The Last Story"

Trailer of the upcoming "The Last Story"

Image originally taken from Juegoswii.com

Developer: Mistalker co., Ltd
Publisher: Nintendo
Platforms: Nintendo WII
Genre: Role Playing Game
Release Date: 2010. Still unclear folks.

Everyone keeps saying (and with valid reason) that 'The Last Story' may be the very last thing of Hironobu Sakaguchi, known to be the maker if Final Fantasy, and got out of Square after it merged with Enix. He and other designers finally made "Mistwalker" and have been launching titles since then.
Anyhow, Sakaguchi stated on his blog the following (and this is a translation that keeps going around from forum to forum. I don't know where exactly the fuck it's the real deal on the Mistwalker site, and I'm still looking for confirmation).

The energy poured into this project by the development team and I are 120%. I’m hoping you can understand that, however on the other hand, I feel worried and nervous like sending my child on a trip alone. Emotionally it feels like this is my last work, while pouring everything I have gotten into this project. Never regret, but now “I’m enjoying”; furthermore, aiming towards completion.

The engine of the hype is on the trailer released a couple (more than a couple. It's an expression) days ago since Hironobu went to the E3. The battle system looks more than good and lots of gamers look pleased to know that it will be launched this year for the WII. Although, and forgive me, I see a semblance of the Final Fantasy VII battle theme on the trailer though.

Screenshot from the Japanese Trailer

If you missed the link on the image, the trailer can be found here or you're free to find a better one and link me.

via aussie-gamer.com and Youtube

Parasite Eve 3 trailer from the E3

Parasite Eve 3 trailer from the E3

Yes, the same that got announced a gazillion years ago for the "mobile dispositivies" and later on got announciated it "would be launched for the PSP", Parasite Eve 3 saw another face on June's E3, by releasing a new trailer for the game. (This is technically old info but hey, I have been busy)

Throw me some Pyrokinesis and I'm sold

Something to note is the fact that THIS won't be the third title of the series, but more of a spin-off, which is why the real title is only "The 3rd Birthday".
There's little or no info at all about the plot; Apparently some monsters called the Twisted are wreaking havoc on Manhattan, and you as Aya gotta' shoot 'em all, or so it would seem.

The Mitochondria apparently changes drastically from one game to the other

On the trailer you can see the Overdive, apparently an ability that switches your body with one of the party members. Other than that, you can just see some shooting, whoopin' and Brea being hurt on the snow and whatnot.

Anyhow, here's the trailer on YouTube for anyone who missed it the first time.
On an unrelated note, Eidos got bought by Square Enix about a year ago. Didn't knowwww.

Philosophy and Religion on SMT Nocturne

Philosophy and Religion on SMT Nocturne

Summary Introduction: Shin Megami Tensei is both a game and a series of other RPGs developed by Atlus, focused on subjects as Religion, War, Sexuality, Good and Evil and Humanity. It grew on popularity on the western continent mainly after the success of the 'Persona 3', and the subsequent Persona 4, which brought most of the catalog of games for the Playstation, such as SMT Devil Summoner, SMT Digital Devil Saga, and the one I find most important to remark, SMT Nocturne.

The Protagonist, around the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse

This last one got released three years before the P3 on Japan but only arrived to our shores years later, if even arrived. The game consisted on a turn based Role Playing system where the player takes the command of a unnamed hero destined to shape the new fate of the world after its destruction. There's obviously a lot more going on, but you can read it here.

Now, something that brought my attention is the amount of redirected hits to a spanish article entitled as "Filosofía y Religion en Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne", or literally translated as "Philosophy and Religion on SMT Nocturne". I took a moment to see what it was going on and I found myself deeply inmersed on the reading: It is one of the most descriptive works I have encountered which seriously focuses on something as undervalorated as a video game main and sub plot. Here's a little extract ouf ot it:

The cultural and religious differences among the japanese, european and american societies got reflected on the age recommendation for the title. While on the US the game was classified as M-Rated (above 17-18, the same GTA San Andreas got), on Europe the game got a 12+ and on the Japanese ground, the title was labeled "E", for everyone. Therefore, it wasn't the sex or the violence the decisive factors while judging the audience targeted, but the philosophic and religious themes underlying which were more or less controversial on the different societies.

The only problem? The real text is written on Spanish. What I threw up there was just a translation of mine.
Still, you can use a translator, like the google one, and understand most of it.

via: "Philosophy and Religion on SMT Nocturne", on videojuegosysociedad.com

Marvel Vs Capcom 3: Teaser

Marvel Vs Capcom 3: Teaser

MARVEL VS CAPCOM 3™
Developer: Capcom Co., Ltd
Publisher: Capcom Co., Ltd
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Genre: Fighting game
Release Date: End of 2010 or beginning of 2011 (uncomfirmed)

I'm just as surprised as anyone to find out that, after ten years of waiting since the second part, Capcom and Marvel decided to produce a third game upcoming for the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3.

There's a several trailers already on youtube regarding the game, so here's one of them for you.



As you can see, some of the confirmed characters are: Ryu, Wolverine, Iron Man, Morrigan, Hulk, and the introduction of Chris Redfield (from the Resident Evil Games). On the planetxbox360 article you can also notice the names of Magneto and Storm.
The visuals are quite a lot alike Street Fighter 4, and the game will arrive at the consoles "at the end of 2010 or beggining of 2011" (as stated on the top). There's also some information that there will be trailers of the game already functional for the upcoming E3 on June (source).
Lastly, the game won't be part of any download center for both of the consoles (and won't be launched on any arcade console).

The idea seems great to be honest, but, the mechanics of the latest SF left me quite unsatisfied gameplay-wise; so I'll just observe and wait for the next trailer, and decide after it.
Who knows, maybe Capcom will stop butchering what used to be 'THE' fighting game saga per excelence.

Megaman 10: Back to basics

Megaman 10: Back to basics

It's been a couple of weeks now since the Megaman 10 appeared as a downloadable title for the Wii and the Playstation 3. As anticipated, all of the content is made to emulate the graphics and sound of an old NES: the movement from one piece of the stage to the next, the menu, even the theme for the boss-selection part from the first title is back.



The difficulty is horrendously hard for first timers, since most of the game consists on anticipating the enemy moves and buster-ing according to them, but as any other Megaman game, it tends to balance towards the user after two or three bosses by exploiting their weaknesses with the acquired weapons.



The history goes that a new robot virus appears and every robot goes bathshit insane because of it, so Megaman goes to find Dr.Willy's machine to turn everyone back to normal. Obviously you can read the extended version over here.

To be honest though, I was somewhat xenophobic the first time I saw an incoming trailer for the 360 of this game. I just couldn't comprehend why would anyone be interested in going back twenty years of evolution on the consoles.
I was obviously wrong. I didn't consider there's a chunk of people who grew up with these kind of games and still holds deeply the time expended doing silly things like obtaining the last of the energy tanks.

There's already plenty of LP videos on YouTube concerning the game, but I'll leave the first one I found quickly after the release of it: Let's Play： Mega Man 10 [part 1], Solar Man's Stage.

'The King of Fighters' Promotional Trailer.

'The King of Fighters' Promotional Trailer.

Don't tell me I didn't warn you later, though. While searching for a Buddhist demon, I came across, by chance, the promotional trailer for the King of Fighters, the Movie on YouTube. I couldn't help but to skip the bad, BAD fight scenes on the video and go directly to the end only to see the words "The King of Fighters" and grimace for the future of this film. I believe my reaction is only natural; after the disaster of Dragonball, Chun Li, and Dead or Alive, what can I expect?

You're warned. Click here to see the YouTube trailer

NIER: Five months later, but yeah.

NIER: Five months later, but yeah.

I found out about Nier by reading news on the Sword Machine blog, and quickly picked interest on it, so I rushed to the official website and several others to find out more information. Here's the main data from the official website:

NIER™
Developer: Cavia, INC.
Publisher: Square Enix, Ltd.
Platforms: Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Genre: Action-Adventure
Release Date: 2010

Nothing is as it seems in Square Enix's latest action adventure game, set in a crumbled world plagued by disease and dark, unrecognizable creatures. Players assume the role of the unyielding protagonist, NIER, resolute in his quest to discover a cure for his daughter, who is infected with the Black Scrawl Virus. With powerful allies and a mysterious book, NIER encounters things that will confound even the mightiest of the warriors

There are, however, some differences between the 360 and the Playstation 3 titles;
First and foremost, each console will have its own game: The 360 will have NieR: Gestalt, while the PS3, NieR: Replicant. Thus far, the versions are only confirmed for for Japan.

Replicant's version will have a smaller version of the protagonist Nier, and his quest will be to save his sister instead of his daughter. This is the only change confirmed between the consoles: The weapons, skills, scenarios and enemies will remain the same.

Odd, though. I had the feeling that Sony always targeted to higher audiences than Microsoft. Nevertheless, Japanese gamers' response to the character's age was unfavorable, so a smaller version of the guy was created for the PS.



My personal (and obvious) guess is that it'll be similar to Kingdom Hearts,  a hack n' slash game with swords, some magic and combos; with a more-adult world and, judging myself by the amount of blood and personal history of the He/She partner of the hero, more adult themes. Oh and, you can find the debut trailer for the game on YouTube.

Hiimdaisy's Persona Comic

Hiimdaisy's Persona Comic

I actually came across this article on Kotaku, while I was searching something else on google (or Kotaku? Can't remember) and found the first part of the series of comics by Hiimdaisy (Hi I'm Daisy), author of a lot of Metal Gear comics as well, some being really hilarious.



It appears that, the comic quickly got popular around the Livejournal users and the Shin Megami Tensei Forums along with the Persona ones, and by popular acclaim she decided to continue making them.
Five days ago, she released the second part of this series, containing parts since the exploration of the Midnight Channel to the appearance of Kanji.



If you're interested, this is the link to the first part of the comic, and this is the second.

Persona 4, again.

Persona 4, again.

It's possible you don't have a clue of what Persona 4 is, so you should read this article on the wikipedia.

I have nothing else to play on the Playstation these days, so I went with Persona 4 again. No, I do not own a Xbox 360.
It's not like I dislike the game; Au contraire. I'm just not a fan of 'replays', so the idea of going through the whole game again, for only 10 percent of actual new gameplay it's not something that drives me crazy.
I was thinking to buy something among the lines of Call of Duty, or Medal of Honor. But then I remembered how I never finish that kind of games. Plus, there's also the problem of the money.

You see, Persona 4 is not a game that dissapoints you like any other generic RPGs. It's wonderfully placed in the present day (okay, 2 years from now) and has a great development of characters with enthralling personalities. I think that I even stoled that last adjective from the game.

It's anything but a bad game. But what does annoys me, is the way the calendar chains you to a determinated way to proceed. You see, you only have 'so-much-time' to do, what you want to do. I'm used to a RPG where I can spend endless hours trying to find a mini game or some piece of equipment that will grant 'x' ability to defeat some almighty boss out there.
But in here, days pass by and you can only do something after the school, something on the evening. Initially, I spent a lot of time maxing some stuff and had to cut out the rest. But this time, I got something I could not get (literally, I couldn't find the guy. I never knew where it was) on the first walkthrough: Kanji's attack.



On a less important note, though; The Devil Summoner saga is nothing like this game. Just as a suggestion, try the game first before buying it, because you'll probably won't find the game 'that-similar' to the Persona 3 or 4.

Left 4 Dead: Something that bothers me.

Left 4 Dead: Something that bothers me.

Honestly. I'm surely not the only one who thinks it was a bad idea to conceive a game based on a Counter Strike mod. Maybe you don't know the story.

The Valve team was testing a new mod for counter strike half way the year 2004, based on a Zombie Apocalypse. The idea slowly turned into reality, and developers started to create a whole game based on it, with a couple more cutscenes than the current game. I curse the idiot who had the idea to leave that out.

And the outcome was Left 4 Dead. And yes, it sure delivers. It's a shooter with consistenly satisfying action, great artificial intelligence, and a good dose of adrenaline. The problem is that this all gets very boring, very fast.
It hardly has a useful life of more than 10 or 12 hours, and while the online chance adds probably twice as much time of play, it still isn't worth the 60 american dollars (43 on 'Best Buy', you can check in here).

Using a zombie team is anything but fun. You easily die to a couple shots of the Survivor team, unless you have the tank, for which being stucked in the infected team is most of the times dead-time (no word play intended).
There's actually a strip on VGCats that midly resembles what I'm expressing here.

You see, this all wouldn't really bother me if this would be JUST BIGGER. More cutscenes, a linear story without the level selection, a 4vs4 option for online playing, more weapons. Stuff like that helps on making a game memorable.

But I suppose that it's really on vain complaining about this after the trailer of L4D2 got out.