Category Archives: Gaming News

Want Shenmue III? Sonic All-Stars Dev Wants To See It On Kickstarter

For almost a decade fans have wanted to see a third entry in the Shenmue series. Time and again SEGA has failed to get the the project off the ground. And with SEGA suffering some pretty bad financial difficulties and playing it extra safe with their releases, the chances of a Shenmue game coming out is as good as dead. But one developer wants to see it come back. Steve Lycett, the executive producer currently working on Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed says that he wants to see Shenmue III on Kickstarter and wonders why “Yu Suzuki doesn’t put Shenmue 3 on Kickstarter. That would be a very interesting thing to watch.” He goes on to state that the idea of crowdfunding virtually takes the publisher out of the equation of what gets greenlighted. I mean, ultimately it’s still up to the publisher to give a project a go, but money talks louder than a well-put-together pitch.

Or, maybe a publisher may not be needed. Yu Suzuki mentioned earlier this year that he could possibly get a license from SEGA and make a new Shenmue game. As publishing goes, when you make a property under a publisher, it belongs to the publisher. If the creator (a person or a developer) leaves, it still belong to the publisher and they can still make games using the property. Currently Yu Suzuki doesn’t work with SEGA and is working for YsNet, so it’s out his hands to make a new Shenmue game unless he gets a license on his own work. Hey, maybe SEGA should give him one. Form the looks of it, SEGA doesn’t want to take anymore risks while Suzuki is more than willing to make them. Fans get what they want, and SEGA won’t be fully liable if the project backfires, all while still collecting licensing fees. It’s a win-win.

“Put Shenmue 3 on Kickstarter” – Sega All-Stars dev [OXM, via Videogame Writers]

Red Faction II Rated By ESRB, Might Come Out For PS3

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Ah, looks like the ESRB has ruined the surprise for THQ and Volition. The ESRB has rated Red Faction II and looks like it’s slated for release on the PS3. Not much else is known as to what kind of release this geo-modding first person will be. Is it going to be a PS2 classic, or a remastered HD Port. This leak comes off the heels of THQ reporting improved financial earnings thanks to Saints Row: The Third. So maybe THQ might be a little more confident right now to do things with the Red Faction series after the sales stinker that was Red Faction: Armageddon.

ESRB rates Red Faction II for PS3 [Gamepur]

Two G4 Mainstays Leaving The Network: Sessler, And Now Pereira

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Something’s a-brewing over at G4, and man it ain’t pretty. While you can see just how bad things were getting just by looking at the programming line-up of G4, you just had to feel bad for the only shows left that showed an ounce of G4’s original intent. And then two weeks ago, long-time X-Play host and game content head honcho Adam Sessler announced that he was leaving the network, citing a contract dispute. An obvious sign that Sessler had enough of G4’s bullshit and corporate mismanagement. It became clear that looking at what G4 has become, the network wasn’t for him anymore, and now he’s finally called it quits.

And now two weeks later, Kevin Pereira, long-time co-host of Attack of the Show, is leaving the network as well. Pereira was one of the more hated personalities from G4 fans, largely for his douchiness and overly dry (lack of) humor. Regardless, he was one of the faces of G4 and looked to still fit in with G4’s changing image. And now he’s leaving too? Oh yeah, something’s definitely wrong over at G4. Pereira had taken to his personal blog to address the concerns fans are having over his departure. However, unlike Sessler, he doesn’t state why he’s leaving.

To some, the last veteran left on the network is Morgan Webb. I can’t help but feel like her departure won’t be too far off either.

U.S. Copies of Xenoblade Outsell Japan’s Total Lifetime Sales[EDIT]

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Well it’s already been a month since Xenoblade went on sale in the U.S. So far I’ve been thoroughly impressed with this game with each gaming session unintentionally becoming a marathon session. But how has Xenoblade done in terms of sales? According to VGChartz* the game has sold a total of 220,503 copies in the U.S. Compare that to Japan’s totals sales of 159,000 copies sold, and Europe’s 176,000 copies sold, and you’ll see that the U.S. was the biggest contributor to the total sales of the game. Keep in mind, Nintendo did next to no advertising for the game, producing one trailer (that they sent to publications twice for some odd reason), making a crappy internet banner ad, and made the game a retailer exclusive. A whole lot of super-safe steps were made by NoA to make sure next to no money was spent in advertising this game. It was up to the fans to spread the word. Operational Rainfall was the primary hub for this, with others joining in to help out in spreading the word (myself included). Not only that, it was up against Mass Effect 3, The Witcher 2, and Nintendo’s own Mario Party 9 (which sells freakishly high numbers). And look, the game sold better than anyone expected considering the circumstances. All territories combined, Xenoblade has sold a grand total of 623,000 copies. Good job people!

Now if only there was a cake to celebrate this occasion.

*VGChartz uses speculative data for its sales numbers. [Edit] Unfortunately, VG Chartz is the only one reporting this since NPD won’t list Xenoblade due to its retail exclusivity. So Neogaf users, quote us with caution.

BBFC Leakes Zone of The Enders HD Collection And Release Date

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Fans have been begging for this Kojima classic to make a comeback either with a sequel or an HD port. It looks like their wishes are being granted as the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has rated the game, unintentionally making its existence known to the public. They rated the game 12+ and say that it will come out in the UK on September 1 of this year.

In Zone of the Enders, you piloted a mech across a stage, fighting enemy robots along the way. My only experience with the game was through a demo for the PS2. Unlike other mech games, you had complete control over how you mech flew around. You could shoot at enemies from afar, or come in close for a devastating sword swipe. Besides its unique controls, the game was also known for coming with a demo of the hotly anticipated Metal Gear Solid 2. While most people probably bought the game for that demo, it did make fans for Zone of the Enders. Here’s hoping this HD collection doesn’t suffer the same fate of another collection Konami made recently.

BBFC unveils Zone of The Enders HD Collection release date [Gamepur, via Operation Rainfall]

Wii U Titles Leaked By BlockBuster UK

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As we come closer to E3 and the Wii U’s holiday launch, Joystiq reports that BlockBuster UK has leaked a picture of what appears to be launch titles for the Wii U. Besides the 10 in the picture up there, the lists goes deeper, showing titles in the Splinter Cell, Tekken, and Aliens franchises. For now, most of these names look like placeholders. Joystiq had updated their article stating that a former Blockuster employee on NeoGaf says that the titles upthere now are placeholders and that the list was formulated by the sales team. So far what we’re not sure of is which of these titles are launch titles and which aren’t. Some are pretty obvious, like Rayman Legends, Metro: Last Light, and Just Dance 4.

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Resonance of Fate, Dead Rising, And God Eater Characters Join Project X Zone

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I gotta keep up with these website updates! About two weeks ago Namco, SEGA, and Capcom revealed more characters for their collaboration Project X Zone. On the Capcom side, we have Frank West representing Dead Rising. Hsien-Ko joins the already revealed Donovan from Darkstalkers. On the SEGA side, Zephyr and Leanne from Resonance of Fate join the fray. Quietly added was Riela Marceris from Valkyria Chronicles III. And finally on the Namco Bandai side we have Alisa and Soma from God Eater. You can see their character art after the break.

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XSeed Has Cancelled Localization For Grand Knights History

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Grand Knights History was slated for release some time in early Spring, roughly March. That time came and went with nary a word from XSeed Games, the game’s North American publisher. Many wondered if the game was just delayed. Others were fearful of Vanillaware’s other game, Dragon’s Crown, getting the shaft. Thankfully, that game is in good hands. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Grand Knights History as Xseed announced overnight that they have cancelled the NA localization of Grand Knights History, citing unavailable development resources. However, unless someone else picks up the game, I have a few hunches that this decision goes beyond unavailable resources.

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Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale – A Little Competition Didn’t Hurt Anyone

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There sure are a lot of crossovers going on. And I do love me some crossovers. A crossover between all of Sony’s characters was something I’ve been waiting for for the longest. After the success of Marvel vs. Capcom and Super Smash Bros., I’ve been waiting for something like this to happen. Back then though, there wasn’t a lot of characters to go around in the Sony department. But now, that roster has grown and a game like this is now possible. From the outset you can see that this game is heavily, heavily inspired by the Smash Bros. series, right down to the color and arrangement of the HUD (except for the timer, which is at the bottom). Even the physics seem to resemble that of Smash Bros. Brawl. But Sony seems to be doing a few things differently to make it stand out a bit.

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Rumor: Bayonetta Sequel Cancelled

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News of SEGA’s restructuring seems to be getting worse as now there’s rumors that the restructuring is also hitting Platinum Games’ titles. According to SPOnG, someone “…familiar with the situation has told SPOnG that progress on the apparent Platinum Games sequel was halted.” The source goes on to state that the game was to have new characters in the game. So far this seems to only affect any Platinum Games titles that SEGA has published, like Bayonetta, Vanquish, and MadWorld. So any other excursions Platinum has, like Metal Gear Rising, are still okay. This does however put MadWorld sequel Anarchy Reigns in a rather sticky spot. While the game looks close to finished and ready for launch, it puts the game in a situation where it’ll probably make it or break it for SEGA’s partnership with Platinum Games. Platinum, for a while, seem to have more hits than misses. Sure their games do well with critics, but the sales numbers, save for Bayonetta (which boggles the mind even more) seem to underperfom. If these problems continue, it won’t be long before we see Platinum left to fend for themselves. Hopefully, they won’t suffer the same fate as their previous entity.

Rumour: Bayonetta 2 Has Been Cancelled [SPOnG]

Nintendo Posts Its First Annual Loss In 30 Years

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While Nintendo did expect to lose a little over half-billion dollars in the past year, its still quite a kick in the face for the company. To put this in perspective, Nintendo has never reported an annual loss since going public, essentially when it went to the videogames business. Throughout those years, we’ve seen Nintendo stumble couple of times with the N64, Gamecube, and a few other excursions. But it never dragged Nintendo down that much… until now.

With Wii sales dropping as a new console looms on the horizon and the shaky (but much improved) launch of the 3DS, this could be the jolt that Nintendo needs to finally get back in the game. During this generation, you can see that Nintendo got pretty arrogant with their consoles, even going as far as charging $250 for the 3DS based on people really liking the 3DS with it was first shown at E3 2010. But hey, maybe things might be looking up. There’s a new Super Mario game coming out for the 3DS, and development on the new Super Smash Bros. is finally underway for both the Wii U and 3DS, and sales for the 3DS are on the rise as well. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Wii U crucial as Nintendo posts first loss in 30 years [techradar]

A Pair Of Shin Megami Tensei News To Wet Your Appetite

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If you have forgotten about it, here’s a reminder that Persona 2: Eternal Punishment will be hitting the PSP in Japan soon. Atlus has released a new trailer for the game and showed bits of gameplay as well. From the looks of it, it will stick to what made Innocent Sin a fun, old-school romp. Admitedly, I don’t know much about Eternal Punishment outside of only knowing it was the only Persona 2 game released in the U.S. back then. So I was surprised to see that Nanjo, the rich guy from Persona 1, will be in Persona 2: Eternal Punishment. Maya will take over as the main protagonist with Tatsuya Suou playing a scondary role. Katsuya Suou looks like he’ll play a bigger role as well. Madhouse will be doing the intro for Persona 2: Eternal Punishment. Satelight, the studio that did Innocent Sin‘s intro, will be busy doing the intro for the next game I’m going to talk about.

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Announcements From Nintendo Direct: Kirby 25th, Project X Zone Trailer, Animal Crossing, And More!

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Okay then, the Nintendo Direct broadcast has ended. Quite a few announcements were made, most of which were for the 3DS. Hit the jump to see the news. I’m gonna break them up in segments.

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Elizabeth and Two Others Join Persona 4: Arena

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Continuing the trend of checking official websites, it looks like Persona 4 Arena‘s Japanese site got an update too. Several in fact. Going there now, you’ll notice that the sites taking a little longer to load. That’s because the theme song gotten a change. Now someone is singing the theme song in glorious, glorious Engrish. Delving into the characters section, you’ll see three new combatants have been added. First is Elizabeth, Igor’s assistant from Persona 3. This might peak your interest if you’ve played to the end of Persona 3 and fought Margaret in Persona 4. Since Persona 4 Arena is canon and takes place after Persona 4, her inclusion might indicate something. She’ll be using Thanatos as her Persona.

Along with her is a character named Labyrs. She looks like a new character since I’ve never seen her in Persona 4. Maybe I haven’t played far enough in P4 (I’m still in Naoto’s Dungeon). The other character is Shadow Labrys. She (meaning both) looks like another android like Aigis. Her uniform suggests that she’s from Inaba. Her regular form’s Persona is Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos of Crete in Greek Mythology who was in charge of the Labyrinth. The Shadow form’s Persona is Asterius (aka Asterion), the Minotaur of Crete that was in the Labyrinth. Huh, looks like Atlus had a dream of seeing Japanese and Greek mythological figures clash. Persona 4 Arena is slated for a Summer release in the U.S. on PS3 and Xbox 360.

Persona 4 Arena’s Official Site (Japan)

Project X Zone Site Updated, Has Music, Hints At Resonance of Fate and Viewtiful Joe

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Last week Capcom, Namco, and Sega revealed Project X Zone, the sequel to Namco X Capcom that now adds Sega into the mix. I briefly mentioned in the reveal article that the site was still barren, only showing just the logo. Well, the site got a rather significant update. The first thing you’ll notice is the music. I will say it sounds pretty cool. Doesn’t sound tied to any one company; could be the theme song for the game, like for the intro. Then you’ll see a panorama behind the logo. Almost immediately you’ll notice Les Chattes Noires, which was a location in Sega’s Resonance of Fate. Looking in the background, that large tower looks suspiciously like the Tower of Basel from Resonance of Fate as well. If you look below it Les Chattes Noire, you’ll see a place called MovieLand, which was the world Joe would go to become Viewtiful Joe in Capcom’s… err, Viewtiful Jow. There are a few more things that might suggest something, particularly that ornate area to the far left, or the three movie posters above MovieLand

Looking at how these locales are arranged, maybe this is how the player will interact with the different game worlds, like Kingdom Hearts and the Disney Worlds, or like Smash Bros Brawl and those world orbs Tabuu seizes. Or maybe their worlds have clashed and are being melded into one. And so, the plot thickens…

Project X Zone Offiicial Website