Category Archives: Gaming News

Nintendo Power Is Dead

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There’s… really no other way to say this. Nintendo Power, one of the oldest running gaming magazines and probably one of the first magazines some of you out there subscribed to, is stopping the printers and ceasing production. Ars Technica reports that Future Publishing, who took over publication from Nintendo back in 2007, would not renew its contract with Nintendo, nor would Nintendo themselves. Future hinted to Nintendo that digital was the way to go since many are getting their news online. However Nintendo didn’t see it that way, and now Nintendo Power is paying the price. Other magazines, like @Gamer, Xbox Magazine, Playstation Magazine, and Game Informer have digital versions of their magazines available. However some, like EGM and Gamepro, died out even with those initiatives, only to come back to lukewarm reception or with production greatly diminished.

Hearing this news, I think back to more recently when I thought that the console specific magazines would still live. I mean, the mags that fell were the independent ones, not the ones tied to a First Party — They would be funded after all. I guess I was wrong. Any magazine can fall now. At the moment not much is known when the last issue will be shipped. I’ll do some memory articles later on or leave it to a podcast topic.

Source: Nintendo Power magazine to cease publication (updated) [Ars Technica]

DICE Executive Producer Still Has Hope On A New Mirror’s Edge Game

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Oh Mirror’s Edge. The game that introduced me to the “next generation.” DICE Executive Producer Patrick Bach stated in an interview with IGN that there’s still a possibility that a new Mirror’s Edge and Battlefield: Bad Company game could still be made. He stated that, “Mirror’s Edge was a game we all loved. Of course it had flaws, like all games. But in general it’s an IP we love. We haven’t killed it ’cause it’s too good to kill.” Of course when you have an idea like Mirror’s Edge, a First-Person Platformer with a minimalist aesthetic and ambient music starring a Master Kick-Asser Faith as the protagonist, you can’t just let an idea like that go. Plus the game was really short and ended on a cliffhanger. What’s gonna happen to Faith and the runners? What about Kate and her link with the blues? And what about Callaghan’s re-election campaign?

On thing’s for sure: if a new Mirror’s Edge game is made, James and I will welcome this with wide-open arms. We want to see this story through to the end.

DICE: Mirror’s Edge and Bad Company Are “Too Good to Kill” [IGN]

Square Enix Teasing A New World Ending Game?

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Oh? What is this? Looks like a new countdown clock has popped up. This time from Square Enix, and it looks like they’re teasing a new The World Ends With You game. At first it looks like nothing much. Then you hear the music. Since I’m on a big Persona 4 fix now, listening to the music, it sounds very Persona-like. Since P3/P4 and The World Ends With You shares the same Japanese-Pop aesthetic, we can pretty much draw this conclusion. Or you can just ignore my long-winded deducing and look at the bottom of the page and see that Tetsuya Nomura and Gen Kobayashi are credited as Character Designers. Both worked as artists for The World Ends With You, so it’s pretty safe to say that this is a new TWEWY game. Another hint is in the URL, “subaseka.” In Japan, the game is known as It’s A Wonderful World, or Subarashiki Kono Sekai in Japanese Romanji. So Subaseka is a portmanteau of the game’s Japanese name.

I really wish I played this game when it came out. Hearing lots of good things about it, I feel pretty left out of the loop. If I find a copy though, I might transition pretty well into it–being fresh off Persona 4 and all. There’s 6 Days left to the counter. So by the end of the week something should come out of this. We’ll be there to break it.

Square-Enix Teaser Site

The Last Story Launch Hits A Little Snag [UPDATE]

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Yesterday I got dressed and was ready to haul ass to Gamestop in the Hub of South Bronx to pick up The Last Story. I called the Gamestop to make sure it was there. As soon as I asked the question, I was immediately responded with “It should be here tomorrow.” And I mean he immediately answered me, like he was asked that already by someone else. Considering how pompous I feel, being a gamer of such refined taste as I in a neighborhood such as this, I thought I was the only one in the neighborhood to preorder the game. I mean, I was the only one that preordered Xenoblade here and I had to make a second trip some days later for the artbook. I also preordered The Last Story that first day too. Certainly I deduced that I was remembered.

But I digress. I equated this to Gamestop being up to their old shenanigans again. But just out of curiosity I checked to see if other gamers were having this issue. And lo and behold, I wasn’t the only one. In fact, this was affecting many Gamestops and other stores in the U.S. Confirmation of shipping delays came straight from XSEED’s Twitter. Even Canada was having issues. So if you didn’t get The Last Story yesterday, check today. But do call ahead to make sure. Looks like Gamestop’s off the hook… for now.

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Shatter Composer Doing A Live Performance, Will Livestream If Enough People Are Interested

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Shatter composer Jeremiah Ross, aka Module, is going to do a live performance of the Shatter soundtrack in the San Francisco Bath House in New Zealand. This is NOT in San Francisco, repeat, NOT in San Francisco. This is in a club called San Francisco Bath House. Okay, now that that’s out of the way, he’s informed people on his Facebook page that if enough people are interested, he’ll livestream Shatter Live on Ustream for those that can’t make it to NZ. All you gotta do is go here and like/tell him you’re interested. The performance begins at 9PM NZ time on September 20th. He’ll be accompanied by Benny Tones (which he collaborated with before) and Jen Kyle.

You don’t know about Shatter music? Well get acquainted! It’s awesome! And buy the game on PSN or Steam while you’re at it!

Three Shmups, An Action RPG, And A Platform Hell Game Coming From Nyu Media This Fall

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Doujin publisher Nyu Media has sent out a newsletter to media outlets confirming that five new games will be coming this fall. Three of them are vertical shmup games from the Siter Skain series. Like The eXceed Collection, this series features different mechanics with each game when dealing with incoming enemies and bullets. Croixleur is an arena styled Action RPG where you control a girl donned in a maid outfit and use different weapons to take out enemies. Finally… Eryi’s Action. This game… Clearly this is inspired by the likes of Kaizo Mario, I Wanna Be The Guy, and Syobon Action (maybe this is where Eryi’s Action got its title from). You got hidden spikes, surprise enemies, and windmills out to kill you! I think Eryi’s Action and I are going to be juuuuuust fine. These five are set to release this fall on Steam (along with other distribution platforms) and from the publisher itself.

Product Descriptions after the break.

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Scott Pilgrim vs the World getting online multiplayer dlc this month

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Now imagine this craziness online…

A look at the upcoming XBLA release schedule revealed some pretty interesting news today. Appearing quite randomly, Scott Pilgrim vs the World is listed as getting new DLC later this month. The DLC will add online multiplayer to the title and will also include Wallace Wells as a new playable character.

I have to admit, after the Knives Chau add-on, I didn’t expect to see any more support of the title. But hey, having online multiplayer added to one of my favorite downloadable titles of this generation isn’t a bad surprise at all. The DLC is only confirmed for XBLA at the moment and will be available to download for 400 MS points on August 19th. Hopefully news of a PSN release will soon follow.

Source: Major Nelson via Joystiq

Gonna Play Dragon Quest X? Better Keep Playing, Or Else…

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Wii MMO Dragon Quest X was just released in Japan last week with much acclaim. Not only is it the first MMO for the Dragon Quest series, it’s also the first (and only) MMO for the Wii. One aspect that wasn’t quite touched upon was that you have to keep playing the game, otherwise your character data would be deleted. In other words, it you don’t sign in to Dragon Quest X for 3 months, your character’s data will be kaput. This most likely is a measure to make sure that data keeping is fresh for the server to save and not have orphaned and dormant accounts clogging the server. But at the same time this could have severe repercussions for those that want to come back and play for a while after being gone for so long. Who’s to say someone won’t be able to play the game because of school or work (more on this later today) and finally find the time to play, only to be greeted with a deletion message. Oi vey…

So far this only applies to Japanese gamers as the game has yet to come out in the States. Only time will tell if this measure will carry over to the worldwide release.

Use It Or Lose It, “Dragon Quest X” Will Delete Online Data If Not Being Used [Complex]

Tron Bonne, Lady, And More Join The Fray In Project X Zone

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Confirming the scans that popped up some weeks ago, Tron Bonne has joined the Project X Zone cast of characters. Alongside her is a Servbot (a separate character). She’ll be without her fighting game staple Gustaff and fight on-foot (but will bring her MvC moves with her). Still on the Capcom side there’s Lady from Devil May Cry 3. On the Sega side is Bahn from the cage bashing fighting game Fighting Vipers. Finally on the Namco side, Lindow bumps up the Gods Eater crew to three. And the main characters from prequel Namco X Capcom, Reiji and Xiaomu, will represent Namco.

Character art after the break.

Project X Zone website

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A New Wheel Of Fate Is Turning: BlazBlue Chronophantasma Revealed

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As the U.S. starts their journey on Persona 4 Arena this week, Arc System Works has revealed the next chapter in the BlazBlue storyline, BlazBlue Chronophantasma. With this new bitch-to-type entry comes three new characters. The ultra feminine kimono-wearing Amane Nishiki, the ballistics packer Bullet, and the diesel as hell Azrael. Everyone else, save for Nu and Lambda, makes a return in this entry with new portraits and new moves at their disposal. Now keep in mind, this is definitely another sequel to BlazBlue, not an update like some of these poor chaps are thinking. Calamity Trigger was the first. Continuum Shift was the sequel. Continuum Shift II and Extend were updates. Chronophantasma is an new entry, not an update. One observant fan also noticed some new changes that will be introduced in this game, like removal of guard primers, a new Overdrive mechanic, and redrawn neutral sprites.

See the reveal of this game only reminds me that I still have… Calamity Trigger to finish. Dear lord do I still have a long way to go. Welp, time to get crackin’! Chronophantasma is set to release this Winter in Japan. U.S. release is TBA, but it’s highly likely it’ll come here too in the future.

『ブレイブルー クロノファンタズマ』PV [YouTube, via Kotaku]

Matsumoto: Wii U Controller Could Be Beneficial To JRPGs

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I know it’s more a Strategy Game than an SRPG, but think about it.

Marvelous AQL and The Last Story Lead Designer Takuya Matsumoto said in a Siliconera interview that the Wii U Gamepad could be beneficial for JRPG strategizing. “I feel that the Wii U’s interface… works best for browsing and arranging information,” said the Lead Designer, alluding to how menu heavy JRPGs can be at times. “This special feature will likely bring about opportunities for deep research into JRPG strategy.” He went on to say that other info, like bios, story synopsis, enemy bestiaries, etc. could also be handled by the Wii U Gamepad.

This could bring about a much more streamlined experience for JRPGs. Now by streamlined I don’t mean “dumbing-down,” but more that it’ll make the actual selecting of menu items a lot faster than on a standard controller layout. Think of how quickly you might’ve selected things on Wii games using the IR Pointer. It was pretty damn quick. Also, while Matsumoto says JRPG strategizing, this could apply to Strategy RPGs. Games like Final Fantasy Tactics, Disgaea, Valkyria Chronicles, and Front Mission could benefit from this approach. These games are rife important information on terrain, units, and other miscellaneous info that the gamepad could provide without having to take you to a separate screen on the TV, or clogging up the screen with info (think Final Fantasy Tactics Advance). Heck, it could even work for RTS games like Starcraft. Some might see the Gamepad being used for just menu based stuff like maps and menu items in the future, rather than playing a more pivotal role. It happened on the DS with one of the screens being used as such, and it was fine by me.

Wii U Controller Will Push JRPG Strategizing, Says The Last Story Lead Designer [Siliconera]

This Week In Confirmed News 5

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Ready for Confirmed News buddy?

Confirmed news is back after its week break and we got a whole bunch of stuff to quench your news appetite with.

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Hideki Kamiya Wants To Return To The Viewtiful Universe

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I’m ready to Henshin A Go Go for a sequel!

In an interview between Viewtiful Joe creator Hideki Kamiya and Famitsu, Kamiya admitted he would like to make a sequel to the famed hero of Movieland’s games. The Viewtiful Joe series is made up of four installments: the original, part deux, Double Trouble on the DS, and their Super Smash Bros. clone Red Hot Rumble. This writer is glad to support this idea all the way. Unfortunately when Kamiya made Viewtiful Joe he was still working under Capcom, so they have all the rights to the franchise. One can only hope that he will be able to one day get the rights to his creation again and make that sequel.

[Source]

2K Boss Says Photorealism Is The Way To Go

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F**k your realism

2K Games boss Christoph Hartmann stated in an in-depth interview with Gamesindustry International that games should inspire to capture a type of photo-realistic emotion that movies tend to display much easier than games do. He feels it’s the only way to open new genres in the gaming industry.

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GameStop CEO Says Boo To Latest Pre-Owned Games Banned Rumor

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Hope this isn’t going away any time soon

A rumor has been moving around the mill lately that the next generation of consoles from Microsoft and Sony apparently won’t support any used games at all. Of course, this is just a rumor since a lot of details about the consoles themselves are little to non-existent, but this hasn’t kept the CEO of GameStop Paul Raines from being asked about this hot rumor in an interview he had with Gamespot about his company.

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