Ok you Super Saiyan, Naruto anime kidz. It’s time for an education on some real Japanimation. That’s right I said it. That’s what we called “Aww-knee-mae” in 1992. We had, Robotech, Battle of the Planets, Akira, Transformers the Movie, Ninja Scroll, Golgo 13 and Fist of the freakin’ Northstar. These were Pre-Pokemon invasion productions that paved the way to becoming a man. Not to get off on a rant here, (I know too late) but I’ve had this brewing for at least a decade. There I was, a young lad, newly exposed to properties with testosterone, meat and teeth. And what does American culture absorb? Sailor Moon, DBZ and Digimons… Imagine my horror and disbelief when this is what the Western market embraced…
When Kenshiro killed a man, they didn’t know it because pressure point attacks turned them into walking, talking, ticking blood bombs of pure awesome. So when I found out that Koei, creators of the Dynasty Warriors series, is producing Fist of the Northstar, it felt like a match made in heaven. This looks to be what a boy’s dreams are made of. I expect bodies to be flying in a glorious martial arts post-apocalypse. Kotaku predicts an international release which, if done justice, makes up for all the atrocities that became popularized in the Western market. It’s not like I expected Wicked City to be in every American home, but there was a definite anime paradigm shift that went from badass, to limp and lame.
After our look at the live model used for the Bayonetta advert, we just had to share a followup to some Korean marketing for Street Fighter that uses a cosplayer of their own. She’s not quite at the Bayonetta standard of quality, but she looks better than the ones we ended up with in 2 American films that featured the character. There’s a weird pervy guy hawking her down, but I’m going to chalk that up to some sort of culture gap…
What better way to start off October than with the ultimate gunwitch. This Japanese advert for Bayonetta features the most uncanny likeness to a fictional character ever. Outside of like…Lord of the Rings, rarely does that happen and they actually look better than what you imagine. How can a character so weird look so lustfully righteous? The lollipop is such a minute detail that adds 5 layers of hawtness in a borderline disturbing psychological fashion. Am I obsessing?
Just kidding about the title. Capcom did go to ridonkulous places with their Street Fighter franchise titles. This good-natured jab is inspired by the most ludicrous title and Capcom’s first SF 3D foray on the PS2. Super Street Fighter IV begs to be made fun of for the amount of rehashes they did for the original SF2. That said, I’ll probably eat up every bit as I have over the past what, 20 years?
SSF4 boasts 8 new characters and a discounted price. T. Hawk, Deejay and newcomer Juri is confirmed. Juri looks pretty sweet and is leaps and bounds better than C. Viper in terms of character design. The inclusion of C. Viper, Rufus and Rose were missed opportunities for more worthy contenders. At least they weren’t rock-throwing jailbird Cody…
I vote for Guy, Haggar and Rolento with a little bit of Poison on the side.
As a final thought, I leave you with Haggar piledriving a shark.
God of War would definitely be in my top 10 gaming franchises of all time. I keep beating myself up for never having played God of War 2. Even though it’s been on my to-do list before the coming of GoW3, it seem that my procrastination has paid off. Because this holiday season the hi-def blu-ray collection edition is coming out I’ll have an even bigger incentive to flip out with Kratos for the second installment. May even charge through the first again for posterity.
God of War Collection will feature reworked versions of both God of War® and God of War® II on a single Blu-ray Disc™ at full 1280 x 720 resolution. Both critically acclaimed games, which were originally developed for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, have been remastered with anti-aliased graphics running at 60 frames per second for a smooth gameplay experience on the PS3 system. Additionally, the Blu-ray Disc compilation will bring PlayStation®Network (PSN) trophy support to the franchise for the first time (included for both games).”
Comin’ at you for $39.99
I woulda dropped $20 for GoW2 anyway.
So Alpha Protocol has recently blipped on my radar. The buzz about it seems to be James Bond/Jason Bourne meets Mass Effect and Fallout 3. Obsidian is the developer whose credits include NeverWinter Nights 2 and Knights of the Old Republic 2. Something like this interests me way more than a Splinter Cell game et al. I love that RPG developers like Obsidian, Bethesda and Bioware have been branching away from elves and dragons. Some other buzz has arisen from this title due to the sexy times that can had with some of the female characters in the story. Which, by itself shouldn’t be newsworthy, but hey it is a selling point.
You’ll be able to pick this badboy up this October.
Big words. As GOW has a ridiculously large following. And rightly so as I’ve seen it in action first hand at a buddie’s place. Touted as one of the best reasons to own a 360, looks like us PS3 fanboys have their own run n’ gun exclusive title. The comparisons are justified by that a large exaggerated beefy soldier type runs around in 3rd person with a large exaggerated beefy weapon. The main difference seems to be the setting with a stronger sci-fi fantasy feeling. Check it out for yourself.
The closest thing you’re going to see to the genuine article Optimus Prime, in anything with the “Revenge of the Fallen” title. This downloadable content for the videogame tie-in available this summer is bittersweet in that it allows you to imagine what could have been on screen. This alone borderline makes me want to play the game.
Flower has been out for some time and I finally got around to checking it out. I had read so much about it online that I made a point to put it on my “to get” list. Downloading this PS3 exclusive title has been one of the better decisions I have made on PSN.
The best I can describe the experience is you’re some kind of Nature Spirit that needs to rejuvenate the planet. The themes are a bit bewildering at first, but as you progress the game feels quite literal in its message. There are all these dead plants and fields you fly through while bringing green back into the land. You start off as a single petal and with every flower you fly into more pop off until eventually you fly through the air as a massive collection of color and movement. Each stage has objectives to complete by simple exploration, and once you reach the end of each stage, the player is rewarded with an epic scene of nature’s majesty.
It may be the most relaxing gaming experience ever to be grace the PS3. Or video games period for that matter. As you fly through groups of flowers, often times each will play a single note in the same key signature. So no matter what order you gather, a light musical strumming sequence is played. The soothing sounds fit all of the moods as you progress from day to nightscapes.
As far as the graphics go, it’s the best at what it does. As you fly through grass, each individual blade of grass is parted via Flower’s physics engine. I can only imagine this world being used as an environment in an action or role-playing game. The camera is gentle and flowing and the controls are tight. The 6-axis is used for movement and a single button is pressed to propel you through the wind.
Those with obtuse sensibilities and an insecure sense of machismo may be scared of a title called “Flower”. But the fact is, if you like fun, unique, well-made gaming experiences, then Flower is a must have. Do I enjoy other games better? Sure. But for 10 bucks on the PlayStation Network, you can’t beat that amount of entertainment value per dollar.
