Category Archives: Gaming News

Skullgirls Update: Big Band Fully Funded With 12 Days Remaining

What I’d tell you? He was bound to get funded within the month, it was only a matter of time. While not as fast as Squigly, Big Band’s crowdfunding took a little over two weeks to reach its mark, $400,000 for the whole campaign. Big Band himself was funded a couple of days ago, but today both his stage and story has been fully funded, marking his campaign a full success. Like Squigly, Big Band will be free for the first three months after release and you’ll keep him after the time is up if you managed to get him.

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Dead Island Publisher Acquires Saints Row, Reveals Trailer And Launch Date For Saints Row IV

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All is good in the land of The Saints. The much publicized collapse of THQ meant that properties were going to be sold off, including the Saints Row franchise. Volition, and its Saints Row game, went to Koch Media. Little did many knew was that Koch Media was the parent company of Deep Silver, the publisher of Dead Island and the upcoming Dead Island Riptide. As evidenced by the trailer they just revealed, Saints Row IV is alive and well. If fact, it has a release date: August 20, 2013.

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Jury Rules That Nintendo Infringed On Patent For Glasses-Free 3D

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Nintendo’s had a good track record so far in beating these trials whenever someone came in to sue them over patent infringement. But that luck’s run out as Federal Jury ruled that Nintendo did in fact infringe on the patent for glasses-free 3D. The patent holder, Seijiro Tomita, was the one that sued Nintendo in 2011. Tomita brought up a meeting Nintendo had with him in 2003. Scott Lindvall, Nintendo’s defense attorney, pointed out that Nintendo’s meeting with Tomita was just one of the many meetings Nintendo had with multiple vendors, and not just Tomita.

Tomita is being awarded $30.2 million in compensatory damages. Nintendo however will not stop selling 3DS handhelds.

U.S. jury finds Nintendo liable for patent infringement [Reuters]

Giana Sisters Twisted Dreams Releasing On XBLA On March 20th (April On PSN)

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We finally have a narrowed release date for the puzzle platformer Giana Sisters Twisted Dreams, and on a platform that we haven’t heard much about until now. In a Facebook update, developer Black Forest posted “We got through Microsoft’s submission process and Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams has a final release date! You’ll be able to buy it world-wide NEXT WEDNESDAY, March 20th, 2013 on XBOX LIVE ARCADE.” The post made mention of the PSN version, which it too narrowed its release to April (from the previous “later this year“). They also made mention of a “DVD edition” following the XBLA release. This probably points out to the retail version they mentioned when they first confirmed XBLA release in early December.

[via Giana Sisters Facebook Page]

Former PR Man For GameStop Is Going To Jail For Fraud

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Looks like someone caught on to his game. Former VP of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, Frank Christopher Olivera, was charged with fraud and plead guilty to those charges late last year. Judge Boyle then sentenced Olivera to 51 months in prison. So what did Olivera do? Well, he started by creating a fake company called Cloud Communications LLC. When he was sent payments, he funneled them to supposed Cloud Communications offices in Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, and Canada. He also setup a fake person, Jennifer Miller, to handle communications between companies. When the money was transferred to Cloud Communications, all of it was then transferred to Olivera’s personal bank account.

How much did he steal before being caught? $1.7 million dollars! The judge ordered him to pay all that back plus an additional $134,651 for damages. Olivera’s been able to pay back most of it. Looks like his inmates will be having a pre-order on their hands very soon.

Former GameStop VP jailed for fraud [GameIndustry International]

Slip And Fall Accident Claims The Life Of Dynasty Warriors Japanese Voice Actor

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Put simply, this is a really fucked up way to die. Tsuyoshi Takishita, the Japanese voice actor for Sima Yi of Dynasty Warriors, was walking home when he slipped and fell, dying from his injuries. Takishita’s agency, Aoni Production, didn’t specify how he died, only saying that he died from his injuries. Given how common slip and fall accidents are, dying from this is very uncommon. Usually you’d have to hit your head hard on something — or something angular like a stair step or sidewalk curb — to put your life in danger. Given some Japanese media’s tendency to not give specifics (probably to respect the dead), we probably won’t know what exactly happened.

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Pandora’s Tower U.S. Trailer And New Release Date

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Dubbed the black sheep of the Rainfall titles, Pandora’s Tower may very well be the last big release on the Wii. The company making the game, Ganbarion, doesn’t have the pedigree of Monolithsoft or Mistwalker, didn’t have stellar sales like Xenoblade and The Last Story, and critical reception was pretty average. However its premise and association with Operation Rainfall might make it a cult hit.

The story follows a girl, Elena, who has been cursed and is slowly turning into a monster. A soldier for the kingdom Athos, Aeron, takes Elena away from the festival they were in so that the townsfolk don’t kill her. In the trailer, we hear what Aeron has to do to lift the curse from Elena. We also get a glimpse of the relationship focus the game has with Elena questioning Aeron’s acceptance and love for her.

Pandora’s Tower was originally set to release on March 26th. However, according to Amazon, it’s been delayed to some time between April 22nd-April 26th. A pretty far delay, but makes sense considering what’s getting released this month. It hurts a bit, but a wise move nonetheless.

Pandora’s Tower 1st Official US Trailer [Youtube]

Capcom: Christian Svensson Wants Ace Attorney Collection For 3DS, Gun.Smoke Gets Rated For 3DS

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Got a pair of Capcom news to share. First up, Capcom VP Christian Svensson is hoping for Capcom to create an Ace Attorney Collection for the 3DS. “I have proposed this many times over the past two years… no news yet though. Hang in there,” is what he said on the Unity forums’ “Ask Capcom” section in a thread simply titled “Ace Attorney Collection for 3DS?” Given that Capcom released Ace Attorney Trilogy for iOS devices, it seems plausible to release something like this on the 3DS. Maybe not the whole series so far (which includes Miles Edgeworth and Apollo Justice), but at least the trilogy. Still, as Svensson says, “Hang in there.”

Next is the revelation of Gun.Smoke getting rated for release on Nintendo eShop. The game was an overhead shump game set in the wild west. The game was originally an arcade game and was released 1985, then released on multiple consoles, most notably on the NES in 1988. It’s not known if the one coming the 3DS will be the NES version or the Arcade version as there’s many differences between the two. Given that Capcom is releasing arcade classics under its Arcade Cabinet line, it could be the Arcade version. The ESRB rating shows the game as getting released on the 360, PS3, Vita, and Nintendo 3DS.

Locked: Ace Attorney Collection 3DS? [Capcom Unity, via Cubed3]
ESRB rates Gun.Smoke for 3DS VC [GoNintendo, via NintendoLife]

Atlus To Reprint Both Raidou Kuzunoha Games For The PS2

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Even though the PS2 is dead, its legacy lives on as sources tell Siliconera that Atlus will be reprinting both Raidou Kuzunoha games on the PS2. Devil Summoner Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Souless Army and Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon were both released near the end of the PS2’s lifecyle, 2006 and 2009 respectively. And since these were Atlus games, they became very rare to find, especially the second game that came with the Raiho plushie. They’ve also gotten mighty expensive.

Some are wondering why reprint them instead of making them PS2 classics. Well, it’s kinda hard to pinpoint an answer as both have their strengths and weaknesses. Releasing it as a PS2 classic could make the game much more available to everyone, but some might want a physical copy considering how hard these two are to come by. With a physical copy, people will get a second chance to get these games, but might prefer to play them on a PS3 as a PS2 classic (since these are the original PS2 games and all later models can’t read PS2 discs). There’s also the fact that PS2s are no longer being made.

Regardless, now’s your chance to get these games if you missed out. Both will be $30 each. Unfortunately, you get no second chances to get Raiho.

Raidou Kuzunoha Returns, Atlus Is Reprinting The PS2 Devil Summoner Games [Siliconera]

Live In The Bronx? Good At Fighting Games? Well, There’s A Tournament For That

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Up and coming gaming group Destructive World Gaming is hosting a fighting game tournament in The Bronx. North Bronx to be specific. We don’t see many big tournaments here in the Bronx (they usually go to Brooklyn and Manhattan). But if you’ve faced a Bronxite before, you’ll finally get to see their worth in their home turf (and ours! …well, mostly). The names of the game is Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 and Super Street Fighter IV A.E. (not sure if it’s the 2012 Edition though). The entrance fee is $20 and it’s Bring-Your-Own-Controller/Fight Stick (though DWG will have controllers available should you need one).

The venue of the tournament Uptown Sports Complex, located 170 W. 233rd Street (Google Map’d that for ya! Just don’t use Street View as their image is outdated). The tournament starts this Saturday, March 9th, at 4PM. Registration is open, so if you think you have what it takes to duke it out with the best of The Bronx, sign up! If you can’t make it but still want to watch, hit up their Twitch page as they’ll be livestreaming the tournament as well. We’ll see you there!

Destructive World Gaming main site
DWG Facebook Page
DWG Twitch Page

Skullgirls Crowdfunding One Week Later: Big Band Almost Funded

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During my first two articles about Skullgirls‘ crowdfunding, the funds raised grew exceptionally fast. So fast that Squigly was funded within 24 hours. Big Band’s funding moving is a little bit slower than Squigly’s. But with just 22 days left and $308,302 raised as of this writing, there’s no question that Big Band will get the funding he needs by the end of the month (or even this week!). The stretch goal is $375,000 for Big Band’s creation, $400,000 for story and stage. And remember, he himself does not cost $375,000, but only $200,000 since 1) he’s a stretch goal and funding is combined with Squigly, and 2) he cost slightly more than Squigly to make because his creation wasn’t as far ahead as Squigly’s when the Indiegogo campaign started. It’s safe to say that Squigly was in development before publisher Autumn Games’ financial assets were frozen, halting funding for Squigly and forcing Lab Zero to find other means of funding.

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Double Fine Wants To Take Back Its Publishing Rights From THQ

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It’s pretty much common knowledge that THQ is now dead and selling off its assets to multiple companies. The WWE license went to 2K Sports, Volition went to Koch Media, Crytek bought Homefront, etc. You can see the full list here. But there are smaller assets that are still with THQ and are to be auctioned off by April, namely the console distribution rights to some of Double Fine’s games.

THQ published and distributed Double Fine’s Costume Quest and Stacking across the Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2010 and 2011 respectively (While Double Fine did all of it themselves on PC). Double Fine VP of business development Justin Bailey stated to Polygon, “THQ retained limited distribution rights that we bid on during the previous process to reclaim them prior to their expiration.” Double Fine still owns the IP to these two games, but in its current state, other companies could scoop up the publishing rights for the console versions, thus potentially stifling Double Fine’s freedom to choose different publisher if they choose to make more games in each franchise. If they get them back, they have 100% control again, and can choose to find a more fitting publisher or self-publish those games on consoles.

Double Fine optimistic about regaining rights to Costume Quest and Stacking from THQ [Polygon, via DigitalTrends]

Zeus And Isaac Clarke Join The Fray In Playstation All-Stars

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Fresh off releasing Kat and Emmet for Playstation All-Stars, Sony has revealed two new characters for their take on the Party Fighter genre. First up is the main villain of the God of War series and and king of the gods, Zeus. He’s being set as a hard-hitting character, dishing out large, one-hit moves that send his opponents back and yields much buildup of his meter. His level 1 super is a standard, short-range move that can take out more than one character if timed correctly. His level 2 makes him levitate, following up with an attack that’ll KO his opponents. His level 3 turns him gargantuan, moving to the background (a la God of War III) and punching out his foes in one hit. The God of War series is the first one in PSAS to have two different characters (if you don’t count Evil Cole), i.e. there’s now a hero and a villain from a game. This opens the doors for more villains (or even sidekicks) from already represented series to come in. Could we be seeing Baron Praxis next?

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Well That Was Quick: Squigly Crowdfund Is A Success, Big Band Funding Is Next

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I thought this would take a while to get funded, much like other crowdfunded project I’ve seen. But once I saw the money raised hit nearly triple digits by the middle of the day, It was only a matter of time. Lab Zero needed $150,000 to finish up creating Squigly, Skullgirls‘ first DLC character. With $218,361 raised as of this writing, Squigly surpassed her general funding. Also surpassing $175,000 stretch goal, she will have her own stage and story mode added upon release. Speaking of which, she will be free buy for everyone for the first three months, becoming paid DLC afterwards for anyone who didn’t get her. Those who already got her will keep her free of charge.

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Persona 2 Eternal Punishment Now Available on PSN As A PS1 Classic

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One of two outcomes had to happen, and it looks like my gut was right. Atlus has released the original Playstation version of Persona 2 Eternal Punishment on PSN, finally making every Persona game much more possible to collect. Persona 2 Eternal Punishment was released late in the PS1’s lifecycle, and as such became a rather obscure title in the Persona series (and damn expensive as well). It wasn’t until games like Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne, Digital Devil Saga, and Persona 3 brought the game into the limelight. Another odd thing about this entry was that it was actually the second game in the Persona 2 duality, probably confusing players when events of the first entry, Innocent Sin, would be recounted somewhat. However given the way things end up by the end of Innocent Sin, you’d probably be able to play the game anyway without too much being spoiled. Regardless, players would finally be able to play P2: IS on the PSP many years later.

Eternal Punishment would get the enhanced port treatment Innocent Sin got last year on the PSP. However many wondered if it was going to get localized considering the status of the PSP in the U.S. and the release of the Vita. Two things were going to happen to this game: it gets localized and released, albeit without the sweet packaging Persona 1 and Innocent Sin got, or the PS1 version got released on PSN, costing considerably less than localizing the PSP version. And it looks like they took option two. No word yet if the PSP version will get localized anyway, but it looks like a done deal and this will be the only way we play the game. Besides, at least the original PS1 game’s localization wasn’t as idiotic as the PS1 version of Persona 1.

God Of War Demo, Persona 2 Headline Tuesday’s PSN Update [Gaming Blend]