EA Sports MMA Serves Up Four Courses of Pain [MMA]

Having seen it at GDC, Totilo gave us his impressions of EA Sports MMA yesterday. Today, EA Sports released a batch of 16 screens. How about that ballroom setting? Nothing like fine dining while two guys pound each other senseless. More

EA Sports MMA Serves Up Four Courses of Pain [MMA]

Having seen it at GDC, Totilo gave us his impressions of EA Sports MMA yesterday. Today, EA Sports released a batch of 16 screens. How about that ballroom setting? Nothing like fine dining while two guys pound each other senseless. More

EA Sports MMA Serves Up Four Courses of Pain [MMA]

Having seen it at GDC, Totilo gave us his impressions of EA Sports MMA yesterday. Today, EA Sports released a batch of 16 screens. How about that ballroom setting? Nothing like fine dining while two guys pound each other senseless. More

First Screens of PlayStation Move’s "Motion Fighter" [Move]

“Motion Fighter” is the working title of the fighting game showcasing the new PlayStation Move, revealed this afternoon at the Game Developers Conference. Sony’s published eight screens of the game. Here they are. More

Former Dead Or Alive Designer Talks Fighting Games [Tomonobu Itagaki]

Before the brouhaha at Tecmo, game designer Tomonobu Itagaki made a name for himself making fighting games. He’s currently working on another title, which he hinted at last year. Does that mean we’ll see another fighting game from him? “Because I made the best fighting game in the world, Dead or Alive, at my former employer,” Itagaki told Japanese game magazine Famitsu, “it’s futile to do battle with my own daughter.” Like most creators who view their work as their children, Itagaki clearly views the series as his daughter, and it sounds like he is apparently ready to move on. “Fighting games today are at an impasse,” Itagaki added. According to him, the fighting game, DOA withstanding, generation ended a long time ago. Itagaki also revealed that his new title is being developed on new game engine that has been built by assembling world class tech.

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Former Dead Or Alive Designer Talks Fighting Games [Tomonobu Itagaki]

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars Review: FanFic Comes to Life [Review]

In Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom Ultimate All -Stars, players select from among 26 characters plucked from the universes of Tatsunoko Productions and Capcom to create a tag team to brawl their way through waves of paired-off fighters. Much has been made of the fan-driven nature of this latest entry in the casual-meets-hardcore Versus fighter franchise. It was the fans who pushed for the original game in Japan. It was fans who demanded the U.S. release. It was fans who helped picked some of the characters. But it was Capcom and Eighting who ultimately made the game, so let’s see how they did. Loved Roster : Whether you’re a fan of animation studio Tatsunoko’s decades-worth of creations or not, this fighter’s roster offers an appealing collection of delightful characters to pick through. If you are a fan of shows like G-Force, Tekkeman and Yatterman the loving attention to detail used in giving life to these characters in a fighter won’t be lost on you. The game abounds with the sort of minutia that fans will spend weeks picking over. Simple Depth: I’m a longtime fan of the fighting genre, but Capcom’s versus franchise has always been lost on me, mostly because I felt it lacked the subtleties, the strategy of the Street Fighter series. On its surface, Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom, which uses just three attack buttons and a partner-switch button, has become even more streamlined. There’s even a stripped down, button-mashing variant control system for Wii remote players. But the game’s partner and combo systems, allowing you to layer attacks between your two characters, pop in and out of a fight and sacrifice health or combo bar to break out of or stream attacks, is a surprisingly deep mechanic. So deep that I’m still working to integrate it into my typical style of play. Online: The single-player experience for most fighters is little more than an elaborate training system. A way for you to hone your tactics and perfect the moves of your character of choice before taking on other players. While couch play is an important element of these titles, Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom without online multiplayer would have been only a partial experience. When the online works, it sings. The play is fluid and the ranking system… well, the ranking system is unique. The best part, after a match you can decide to instantly add an opponent to you foe list without worrying about Friend Codes. A Wii Fighter: Let’s face it. There aren’t a lot of solid fighters out there these days. And when you look at the Wii, you cut that number to practically one. This a surprisingly solid, well-crafted fighter for the Wii one that provides the depth I’ve personally always felt Super Smash Brothers lacked.. If you have any interest in fighting games on Nintendo’s latest console, fan of Smash Bros. or not, you owe it to yourself to pick this up. Art: I love the character design for this game. Granted I’m a huge, longtime fan of Tatsunoko, but I think anyone experienced or not with the animation company will enjoy the colorful look and attacks of these characters. The only thing that detracts from this game’s aesthetics are the comparatively bland backdrops, but I’m so enthralled with the 2.5D gameplay that I hardly ever notice. Co-co-combo Breaker: While this game includes most of the over-the-top bells and whistles fans of the Versus franchise have come to expect, it also manages to pack in a few important new things. Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom now let’s you switch characters mid-air, meaning those tag-team combos are no longer stuck on the ground. More importantly, though, is the inclusion of the Mega Crash and the Baroque Cancel. Mega Crash pops your character loose from attacks at the cost of of some of your life bar and combo meter, while the Baroque Cancel, which also sucks away at your life, coats your character in shimmering rainbows and allows you to string together an obscene number of hyper attacks. Together, these two new moves add some needed depth to what could have been a shallow experience for experience gamers. Hated $130 Game: You can play this game with five different ways. You can, I can’t. Despite offering support for two styles of play on the Wii remote, remote and nunchuck and the ability to use the classic controller or a GameCube controller, I found the only way I enjoyed playing was with a fight stick. The remote and nunchuk system left me feeling disconnected from the game. The remote’s direction pad felt far too mushy and I just couldn’t get those huge movements on the GameCube and classic controller thumbsticks to respond quickly enough for me. The fight stick though worked like a dream. An $80 dream. Offensively Offensive: More than with any other fighting game I have experienced, Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom is all about offense. You can get away with blocking when taking on the single player game, but hop online and you better not stop rolling out your attacks. I’m all for a hard-fought battle, but a bit more balance, a bit more weight on defense would have added some depth to the game. Unlocking: Why do games force you to play through them , jump through hoops to get everything you paid for? To get to all of the goodies found in Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom and to unlock all of those new Wii-specific characters you have to play through the game more than a dozen times. And not just play through it, but play through it in a very particular way, with a very particular cast of characters. Online: It’s great when it works, but when the connection takes a dump there isn’t anything saving the online play of Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom. My experience playing online was hit and miss with a good third of my matches slowing to a painful, soul-crushing stutter. What makes Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars such a pleasure to play isn’t the mechanics, it’s the cast. It’s like a good issue of Marvel comic What If? What if the super heroes of Marvel took on the combatants of Street Fighter. What if most famous of Capcom’s games were to fight some of the most memorable characters from Tatsunoko’s animations? And in this case it’s the cast that sells this game. You can buy Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom because it’s a solid enough fighter, or because it expands the fighting genre for the Wii. But you’re going to love it because of the cast. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars was developed by Eighting and published by Capcom for the Wii on Jan. 26. Retails for $49.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Beat the game with numerous characters, played a number of offline and online matches. Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ .

See the original post here:
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars Review: FanFic Comes to Life [Review]

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars Review: FanFic Comes to Life [Review]

In Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom Ultimate All -Stars, players select from among 26 characters plucked from the universes of Tatsunoko Productions and Capcom to create a tag team to brawl their way through waves of paired-off fighters. Much has been made of the fan-driven nature of this latest entry in the casual-meets-hardcore Versus fighter franchise. It was the fans who pushed for the original game in Japan. It was fans who demanded the U.S. release. It was fans who helped picked some of the characters. But it was Capcom and Eighting who ultimately made the game, so let’s see how they did. Loved Roster : Whether you’re a fan of animation studio Tatsunoko’s decades-worth of creations or not, this fighter’s roster offers an appealing collection of delightful characters to pick through. If you are a fan of shows like G-Force, Tekkeman and Yatterman the loving attention to detail used in giving life to these characters in a fighter won’t be lost on you. The game abounds with the sort of minutia that fans will spend weeks picking over. Simple Depth: I’m a longtime fan of the fighting genre, but Capcom’s versus franchise has always been lost on me, mostly because I felt it lacked the subtleties, the strategy of the Street Fighter series. On its surface, Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom, which uses just three attack buttons and a partner-switch button, has become even more streamlined. There’s even a stripped down, button-mashing variant control system for Wii remote players. But the game’s partner and combo systems, allowing you to layer attacks between your two characters, pop in and out of a fight and sacrifice health or combo bar to break out of or stream attacks, is a surprisingly deep mechanic. So deep that I’m still working to integrate it into my typical style of play. Online: The single-player experience for most fighters is little more than an elaborate training system. A way for you to hone your tactics and perfect the moves of your character of choice before taking on other players. While couch play is an important element of these titles, Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom without online multiplayer would have been only a partial experience. When the online works, it sings. The play is fluid and the ranking system… well, the ranking system is unique. The best part, after a match you can decide to instantly add an opponent to you foe list without worrying about Friend Codes. A Wii Fighter: Let’s face it. There aren’t a lot of solid fighters out there these days. And when you look at the Wii, you cut that number to practically one. This a surprisingly solid, well-crafted fighter for the Wii one that provides the depth I’ve personally always felt Super Smash Brothers lacked.. If you have any interest in fighting games on Nintendo’s latest console, fan of Smash Bros. or not, you owe it to yourself to pick this up. Art: I love the character design for this game. Granted I’m a huge, longtime fan of Tatsunoko, but I think anyone experienced or not with the animation company will enjoy the colorful look and attacks of these characters. The only thing that detracts from this game’s aesthetics are the comparatively bland backdrops, but I’m so enthralled with the 2.5D gameplay that I hardly ever notice. Co-co-combo Breaker: While this game includes most of the over-the-top bells and whistles fans of the Versus franchise have come to expect, it also manages to pack in a few important new things. Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom now let’s you switch characters mid-air, meaning those tag-team combos are no longer stuck on the ground. More importantly, though, is the inclusion of the Mega Crash and the Baroque Cancel. Mega Crash pops your character loose from attacks at the cost of of some of your life bar and combo meter, while the Baroque Cancel, which also sucks away at your life, coats your character in shimmering rainbows and allows you to string together an obscene number of hyper attacks. Together, these two new moves add some needed depth to what could have been a shallow experience for experience gamers. Hated $130 Game: You can play this game with five different ways. You can, I can’t. Despite offering support for two styles of play on the Wii remote, remote and nunchuck and the ability to use the classic controller or a GameCube controller, I found the only way I enjoyed playing was with a fight stick. The remote and nunchuk system left me feeling disconnected from the game. The remote’s direction pad felt far too mushy and I just couldn’t get those huge movements on the GameCube and classic controller thumbsticks to respond quickly enough for me. The fight stick though worked like a dream. An $80 dream. Offensively Offensive: More than with any other fighting game I have experienced, Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom is all about offense. You can get away with blocking when taking on the single player game, but hop online and you better not stop rolling out your attacks. I’m all for a hard-fought battle, but a bit more balance, a bit more weight on defense would have added some depth to the game. Unlocking: Why do games force you to play through them , jump through hoops to get everything you paid for? To get to all of the goodies found in Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom and to unlock all of those new Wii-specific characters you have to play through the game more than a dozen times. And not just play through it, but play through it in a very particular way, with a very particular cast of characters. Online: It’s great when it works, but when the connection takes a dump there isn’t anything saving the online play of Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom. My experience playing online was hit and miss with a good third of my matches slowing to a painful, soul-crushing stutter. What makes Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars such a pleasure to play isn’t the mechanics, it’s the cast. It’s like a good issue of Marvel comic What If? What if the super heroes of Marvel took on the combatants of Street Fighter. What if most famous of Capcom’s games were to fight some of the most memorable characters from Tatsunoko’s animations? And in this case it’s the cast that sells this game. You can buy Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom because it’s a solid enough fighter, or because it expands the fighting genre for the Wii. But you’re going to love it because of the cast. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars was developed by Eighting and published by Capcom for the Wii on Jan. 26. Retails for $49.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Beat the game with numerous characters, played a number of offline and online matches. Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ .

Read more here:
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars Review: FanFic Comes to Life [Review]

North American Record Of Agarest War Trailer Is Completely Shameless [Nsfw]

The North American trailer for Compile Heart ’s breeding RPG Record of Agarest War knows its audience, and with blurred nudity and a borderline money shot, grabs them by the…well it isn’t the throat. There were two ways to market this game in the states. Either Aksys could play up the fighting system and gloss over the more adult bits, or they could release a trailer that basically says that the game itself doesn’t matter as much as the scenery within. That’s not the sort of message that makes me want to rush out and spend my money. Very nice use of 70’s porno guitar though.

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North American Record Of Agarest War Trailer Is Completely Shameless [Nsfw]

Tekken 6 PSP Review: One Is the Loneliest Number [Review]

Tekken: Dark Resurrection was not only the best fighter to ever hit the Playstation Portable, it is still considered one of the top games to hit Sony’s portable. The arrival of Tekken 6 on the PSP could only mean great things, right? Loved Graphics: The PSP version of Tekken 6 is a surprisingly attractive game. The portable version does cut a few corners, for instance there’s no option to turn on blur, but overall it’s a sharply detailed game. Controls: With four face buttons and two shoulder buttons and a snappy directional pad, the PSP is a perfect match for the Tekken series. Each face button controls a limb of your fighter and the heavy reliance on single direction controls for special moves makes pulling off attacks on the PSP a breeze. Responsiveness: There’s no stutter, no lag here when playing the game. Controls and the fighters are smooth and responsive, making taking Tekken 6 on the go a joy. No Filler: The PSP version of Tekken 6 doesn’t include that annoying, seemingly never ending Scenario Campaign that bloated the console versions of the game. Everything you find in this version of the game you’ll want to do. Faster Load Times: My other chief complaint about the console version has also been fixed in the portable version. The load times, especially if you pre-load the game onto a Memory Stick, are lighting fast. I experienced almost no wait while working through the single-player story lines and arcade mode of the game. Mappable Buttons: It may seem like a minor thing, a no brainer. But it’s nice that the developers allow you to map all of the buttons on your PSP to whatever controls you want. That way you can make use of the shoulder buttons or ignore them. Your choice. Hated Stories: While cutting the scenario campaign from the portable version of Tekken 6 was the right move, it would have been nice if the team spent some of that extra time on beefing up the character’s cartoon story lines. No Online Multiplayer: Dark Resurrection’s lack of true online multiplayer was, perhaps, forgivable, but why doesn’t Tekken 6 have it? Worse still, while the ability to save and share ghosts of your fighting style with other players to use as AI is still in the game, that data can no longer be uploaded or downloaded online. All ghost data, as with multiplayer matches, can only be shared via a local connection. No Replay: It’s nice to be able to check out your finishing move after playing a difficult match in Tekken, and there are plenty of them. Unfortunately, the PSP version trimmed this feature from the game for some reason. Tekken 6 is a fantastic game, one that improves the graphics and playability of the fighting franchise for the portable. What it tragically doesn’t do is push the envelope in anyway to extend the reach of multiplayer gaming for the franchise. In fact, it actually cuts down on the ways the game can deliver more lasting fun. While the game will be a must-have for fans of the franchise, it still disappoints on that key issue. Tekken 6 was developed and published by Namco Bandai for the Playstation Portable on Nov. 24. Retails for $39.99 USD. A download code for the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played multiple arcade, story, ghost and challenge matches. Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ .

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Tekken 6 PSP Review: One Is the Loneliest Number [Review]

TOMY CORPORATION REVEALS GUIDE TO LATENT NINJA POWERS AND NEW CHARACTER MOVES IN NARUTOTM SHIPPUDEN: CLASH OF NINJA® REVOLUTION 3

TOMY Corporation today released the first installment of tips and tricks for the just released NARUTO™ Shippuden: Clash of Ninja® Revolution 3 with a guide to the new Latent Ninja Powers feature, as well as gameplay footage featuring unlockable characters Sai, Yamato, Kakuzu and Hidan unleashing their signature jutsu. Players can experience the death defying ninja moves of four popular Naruto characters and the latent ninja powers for the 40 ninja that are playable in the game.

Now available exclusively for Wii™, the classic 3D fighting game features new and improved gameplay mechanics, multiple gameplay modes, and for the first time, Wi-Fi multiplayer functionality.

A brief description of Sai, Yamato, Kakuzu and Hidan along with their signature jutsu can be found below:

Sai’s unique ability is creating attacks that jump off the page as he draws them. Sai can quickly scribble out birds or beasts that hop out of his scroll to attack his opponent. Generally his strong attacks lead to these ink creations, and knowing their startup times and trajectories is important in combining them with cancels to create dangerous chained combos.

Yamato is a great all-around character with some neat wood-based attacks up his sleeve. His forward-strong attack creates a wood trap that grabs and holds an enemy in place. His jump-strong attack is also a downward log that hits opponents multiple times, which is particularly useful in creating extra damage to fallen enemies.

Kakuzu has gained the ability to use multiple elemental jutsu because of the hearts of his enemies he’s stolen. Like most other characters, using the strong attack activates these more damaging attacks. However, in a unique twist, it’s the direction that’s pressed after the strong attack is activated that defines which jutsu occurs. Using strong attack, then quickly pressing down, will direct Kakuzu to lay a stream of fire onto the ground. He’s also capable of an upward wind attack and a forward, mid-range lightning attack.

Hidan is a character whose interesting back-story was turned into interesting game mechanics. He is immortal because of his religious connection to Jashin (his god), and his most devastating jutsu involves connecting himself to an enemy via their blood, and using himself as a voodoo doll to attack. In the game, if a player witnesses him drawing a seal on the floor they should immediately retreat. Standing in it allows him to use a secondary jutsu that is instant, unblockable and highly damaging.

To download the trailer and the Latent Ninja Powers guide, please visit: http://bhimpact.gamespress.com/product_page.asp?i=948

About NARUTO Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3
NARUTO Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 is the most recent installment to the top-rated, Wii-exclusive fighting game series. Based on the hit animated show from Viz Media, the game features 40 characters with the new grown-up look of the NARUTO Shippuden cast and follows the storyline of the much-loved series. The hit fighting game series delivers again with new and improved gameplay mechanics and a plethora of gameplay modes and options and includes Wi-Fi multiplayer functionality.

NARUTO Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 is now available for the Nintendo Wii for $39.99 MSRP and is rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB for Cartoon Violence and Mild Suggestive Themes. For more information, please visit www.TOMY-USA.com/videogames.

# # #

Elizabeth Stewart
Bender/Helper Impact
310-694-3134
elizabeth_stewart@bhimpact.com

Adrienne Borgstrom
Bender/Helper Impact
310-694-3247
adrienne_borgstrom@bhimpact.com

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