Is Resident evil another dead franchise on psp?

 On June 2, 2009 Capcom announced that a new Resident Evil title would be making its way to the PSP, the only details given were that it wouldn’t be a port of an older title. That was nine months ago and no new info has been announced, now this could be a case of Capcom aren’t ready to show the title or maybe they are saving it for E3.

I’m a huge Resident Evil fan and was very excited at the announcement however the lack of any info on the title being release has me worried, Is the game still being made? This wouldnt be the first time Capcom have  pulled the plug on a big PSP title. A PSP version of Devil May Cry was originally planned for the PSP and apparently there was a PSP version of DMC 3 playable at E3 in 2005. Sadly in 2009 Famitsu magazine broke the news that the title was “suspended from retail sale” basically it was cancelled.

I truly hope that I’m wrong on this but I cant help but worry Resident Evil PSP is as dead as one of the games decaying zombies.

I have contacted Capcom and will update you with any info I receive.

Sony’s kill switch strikes again?

 

Sony’s “kill Switch” or  the “Sony timer” is a very old urban myth but after experiencing the current PS3 phat outage situation first hand im wondering if it’s more than a myth?

Since 1980 crazy conspiracy theorists had jokingly suggested the existence of the “Sony timer”,  a kill-switch that destroys your Sony device just after its warranty runs out. The Dell Laptop recall from a few years back (due to faulty Sony batteries) brought the urban legend into the public eye with many anti Sony consumers using it as an advantage to further denounce Sony.

Late last night I was experiencing problems unlocking trophies on my PS3, then I was completely logged out of PSN and un-able to log back on. It turns out im not the only one facing such problems with most owners of Phat PS3 models having similar issues. Have Sony accidently triggered their Kill switch on the older PS3 models? I’m sure fanboys from both camps will tell alternate stories on the situation. Hopefully Sony will fix this problem soon.

Has media Molecule missed a big opportunity?

Little Big Excite Bike?

A great big chunk of Exite Bike + a smidgen of Little Big Planet = a whole lot of awesomeness.

For those that aren’t quite following me, Hello Games recently released a trailer for their new title Joe Danger and it looks amazing. The game seems to combine two of my favourite titles into one amazing downloadable game. With the gameplay of Excite Bike (Nes Version) crazy flips included and the creativity of Little Big Planet (LBP) this title looks amazing, it is definitely flying high on my awesome radar. Check out the trailer at Gametrailers.

Whilst watching the trailer I couldn’t help but think how much this reminded me of LBP, I’m finding it hard to believe this isn’t a LBP level. Media Molecules PS3 masterpiece does include vehicles (or the ability to create your own) but that’s not quite the same as having a pre-made one to use. Leaving it up to gamers to make their own vehicles may seem cool but it will lead to the less skilled gamer missing out on all fun.

LBP has seen the release of numerous DLC costume and sticker packs, however one vehicle pack could have had a much larger impact on the game. If LBP had vehicles immediately available combined with the multiplayer aspect and the great physics model of the game we would have seen this type of thing long before now. It’s awesome that Hello Games are creating this game for us all (and I’ll be buying it day one) but I cant help but think Media Molecule should have beat them to it.

Are Square Enix ripping off their fans?

The original Final Fantasy is a game that managed to save Square Enix (SE) (who were just know a Square at the time) from Bankrupcy in 1987. It’s a classic title that paved the way for future iterations of the very succesful Final Fantasy JRPG series of games that we all know and love today.

The game is now available on the Itunes store and I was quite looking forward to picking it up. To my disappointment the title is priced at a whopping £5.49p, now that might not seem like such a high price for a game but compared to most titles on Itunes it is fairly expensive. Considering the fact that the game is over twenty years old I really have a hard time digesting this price point, If you’re a fan of the series your probably going to want to pick up both games that were just released on Itunes (Final Fantasy one and two) which is going to cost you around £11 in total. For that amount of money you could pick up five or even more great titles on Itunes.

I do enjoy gaming on my Ipod, it’s a great system to pick up and play every once and a while. I’m currently playing through Plants versus Zombies on my Ipod and loving the game, PVZ only cost me £1.49p , Final Fantasy 1 costs more than three times that amount.

Both Final Fantasy titles area quite large adventures but to be honest bringing the title to IPod was probably a simple port process and the price tag just shows how greedy a big company like SE is. SE knows that fans will want to pick this up and will pay the high price point, I can’t help but think SE is taking advantage of it loyal fans. I however won’t be buying either Final Fantasy title untill they are greatly reduced.

Why Capcom Why?

The recently released DLC for Resident Evil 5 included a new version of the Mercenaries mode, called Mercenaries Reunion. The mode includes re-worked versions of all the previous maps, a tweaked scoring system and new characters with fancy new moves.

If your familiar with my blog you’ll know I’m a big fan of Resident Evil and more specifically the Mercenaries mode. I’ve written a few articles on potential DLC ideas so this new DLC was highly anticipated by me. I love the DLC especially the new Mercenaries Reunion, however for all the extra content that Capcom has included a couple of omissions really stand out. Wesker and Jill are not part of the new Mercenaries mode, for those familiar with the Resident Evil series of games the reunion sub-title of the mode refers to the cast of Resident Evil 1 being re-united (reunion get it). Wesker and Jill are both characters from Resident Evil 1 so why on earth are they not part of the Reunion?

Wesker and Jill are both favourites amongst the Mercenaries players making the lack of these two in the mode even more strange. Jill’s omission can be explained by the fact that she now flies the rescue chopper, previously piloted by Josh Stone who is now selectable in the mode and obviously can’t fly the chopper. This is kind of lame as Capcom actually went to the trouble of creating a new character who pilots an escape chopper in one of the new scenario missions that is included as part of the  DLC so why not let him be the pilot for the Mercenaries mode?

I’m not alone on this matter either with many fans over at the Capcom-unity forums asking for the two characters to be added to the mode via more DLC.

 

Heavy Rain over before its even begun?

Heavy Rain is set to release tomorrow in the UK and Europe. I have been keeping an eye on the title for a while now and having really enjoyed the demo I was planning on picking it up.

Heavy Rain’s plot is very important to the actual gaming experience, discovering who the origami killer actually is could be said to be most important part of that experience.

I have never had a game spoiled for me unknowingly, most of the time if I want to avoid a game being spoiled I avoid message boards relating to the specific title. Most of the time gamers have the decency to mark threads as containing spoilers anyway so other gamers don’t have their experience ruined.

However with regards to Heavy Rain it seems that some people went out of their way to spoil the game for others. Spoilers (mainly the origami Killers identity) have been posted all over the internet without any warning at all and before the game is even released  (in some parts of the world).

I was unlucky enough to happen across one such spoiler which was actually posted on a non gaming website, again without any warning. I dismissed the spoiler at first thinking that it was just a joke, then I noticed the same spoiler being posted all over the internet, Twitter and YouTube being the worst sites.

You could argue that a game is about the experience and not the end point, but to be honest I’m really finding it hard to want to play Heavy Rain now that I know who the actual killer is, especially when I have a lot of other games to play and don’t have a lot of money to buy games as it is. I’ll probably still pick up Heavy Rain when its been reduced or perhaps rent the title at some point. However this is kind of sad, a title as unique as Heavy Rain really should be supported from day one to ensure that more unique gaming experiences find their way onto our systems, but thanks to a few childish individuals I wont be picking Heavy Rain up tomorrow.

Has your gaming experience also been murdered, or are you dying to play Heavy Rain?

I have disabled comments for obvious reasons.

Is a new version of Metal Gear Solid 4 incoming?

Metal Gear Arcade (MGA) has recently been getting quite a bit of attention from gaming news sites, for those who are unfamiliar with the title its an Arcade title based on Metal Gear Online and features 3D goggles, motion controls and head tracking.

The first thing that came into my mind when reading about MGA was a PS3 port to support Sony’s motion controller peripheral that launches later in the year. The three unique aspects of MGA (3D visuals, Head Tracking and Motion Controls) are all things which are either coming to the PS3 or have been demoed on the system already. That point combined with the fact that Metal Gear Solid 4 is already no PS3 and MGA is probably running on PS3 hardware in my mind makes a MGA port or an updated version of MGS4 on Ps3 seem more and more likely.

The idea of a new version of Metal Gear solid 4 being released isnt all that crazy, every previous MGS title released has had a extended/sub version released. The first title in the series was re-released as MGS integral, the second and third titles saw the use of the sub naming come into play, with MGS2 Substance and MGS3 subsistence being released. Many fans have been wondering why a Sub version of MGS4 has yet to be released and clearly look forward to such a release.

Many fans have been asking for a trophy patch to be released for MGS4 for some time now, such a patch would spur many fans on to replay MGS4 again and would also see more units of the title being sold. Perhaps trophies are something that Konami/Kojipro are holding back for a new version of MGS4. A trophy enabled, motion controlled version of Snakes final mission with 3D visuals and new content would sell like crazy all over the world and would be a massive boost to the PS3 and Sony’s entry into the motion controller market.

Konami’s 2009 financial results were down 18.4% compared to their earnings in 2008 (the year which MGS4 released), if konami were to release a new MGS4 title it would be a massive boost to their current financial results.

The only doubt I have in my mind about such a re-release happening is the fact that if such a title was in development why hasn’t it been announced? Surely Sony would want to announce this as soon as possible to further hype the Arc/Gem/Disco dildo (or what ever its going to be called). There is a sensible reason for this, such an announcement would be best made at E3. Microsoft and Sony will be going head to head at this years E3 with each trying to outdo the other with regard to their motion controller peripheral, if Sony were to announce a motion control supported MGS title that would be a big boost for them indeed.

Having purchased MGS4 already for my PS3 but subsequently sold it on after numerous play through in order to further fund my gaming addiction I would welcome an updated re-release of this classic title and happily purchase it. Is such a title coming? Its very plausible indeed, but only time will tell.

Super Street Fighter 4 to launch at £25 in UK

Capcom yesterday announced that Super Street Fighter 4 would launch on April 27th in North America and April 30th in Europe. No pricing details for these two territories were given.

Today both Game.co.uk and HMV.com have listed the title as being available for pre-order for £25 for both XBOX 360 and PS3, quite a bargain if you ask me. I’ve already got my copy pre-ordered, how about you?

Demon’s Souls USA has a seperate Trophy set

Demon’s Souls is coming to the US very shortly. Having spent a lot of time I can say its a great game and well worth the time and money of any gamer looking for a lengthy action/rpg title  that is unlike anything else on the market at the moment. Having obtained the platinum Trophy I was interested in finding out if the US version had a separate Trophy set to the Hong Kong version, if so I was considering picking up the US version aswell.

I contacted Atlus USA via youtube and got the following response.

“Hello. The US version has the same trophies available as the Asian versions of the game, but they will be counted as a new set. Therefore, you will be able to re-earn them. Thank you for your interest and support! “

Looks like I’ll be importing the game for a secong time.

Nintendo shows UK Wii owners the finger

Nintendo Wii points were originally priced at £7 for 1000 points and £14 for 2000 points via the Wii shopping channel, in store you could usually pick up 2000 points for about £15. It would seem that now Nintendo have decided to raise the price of Wii points, which via the Wii shopping channel now cost £9 for 1000 points  and £18 for 2000. Retailers are now charging a whopping £20 for 2000 points, while some of you may think this is that great of a deal these prices have increased by more than 25%. I cant imagine any reason why Nintendo would do this when essentially your not actually buying any physical goods at all.

I had intended on picking up a few thousand points recently but I’m not going to at those prices. I have contacted Nintendo and will update you as and when I here from them.

Game.co.uk, Play.com and Hmv.com are all selling the points cards at the new higher prices so if you find any at the old price grab them while you can.