The Nintendo Wii really needed more RPGs and the console is starting to deliver. Ougon no Kizuna, being developed by Jaleco, may be one of the more interesting RPGs to hit consoles in some time. It’s also nice to see Jaleco back in action. They made some really awesome games back in the 1980s.

The game is an action-RPG, where you will use the Wii Nunchuck in battle. I don’t know a lot about the game yet, but it certainly looks like a title we need to keep our eyes on.

Scans Via Gamekyo via VG Chartz

written by Will Snizek \\ tags: action, battle, gallery, game, Jaleco, Kizuna, lot, Nintendo, Nintendo Wii, Nunchuck, Ougon, RPG, RPGs, time, title

We don’t know about you, but whenever a press release touts that their new game “contains no violence or foul language” and “no action sequences or timed puzzles,” our attention for it wavers more than a bit. Merscom’s Time Stand Still hopes to attract your attention regardless.

The game is completely mouse driven and features a story about an English girl, twenty-something, living in Sweden who takes on “cases.” Yes, the press release doesn’t go into any more detail than that.

Does it sound like a game you guys would play knowing that it keeps it G-rated and full of talkative, non-action bits? If it does, it’s now available for “as low as $6.99 with Game Club” here.

Via Press Release

written by Carlos Macias \\ tags: action, attention, bit, Dares, English, fun, game, language, Merscom, mouse, press, release, story, Sweden, time, violence

When I first heard about ‘Mario Super Sluggers’, I was expecting ‘Wii Sports Baseball’ with a Mario skin.  While some may see it this way, I’m basically considering it an advanced sequel to the Wii Sports Baseball game which was highly flawed.  Fortunately, the Mario baseball game will allow you to control more than just hitting and pitching.  As expected, you will see Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser and Wario etc in the game, as well as your Mii if you chose to use it.  Up to four players can take part in the action at once and the game is full of fun mini-games.  

While it may look like a cheap way to get more out of ‘Wii Sports Baseball’, this title actually looks like it will be pretty good.  You can find out on August 25 when the game releases in North America for $49.99.  

written by Will Snizek \\ tags: action, baseball, Bowser, Extras, fun, game, Luigi, Mario, Mario Super, Mii, Nintendo Wii, North America, part, Peach, sequel, skin, Sluggers, Wario, way

A new video from ‘Too Human’ has surfaced showing off some seriously insane combos.  The first part of the third-person action adventure game trilogy looks sweet so far.  ’Too Human’ is produced by Canadian developer Silicon Knights for the Xbox 360. Its current release date is set for August 19, 2008.  Who said nothing cool comes out of Canada?

written by Will Snizek \\ tags: action, adventure, Canada, Combos, date, developer, game, Human, Insane, Knights, part, release, Silicon, trilogy, video, Xbox

Full Press Release:

London 12th August: In her latest incarnation the new Lara Croft isn’t just a pretty face - as a former gymnastic representative for Great Britain, she’s now got the all action skills to match.

Athletic and agile, 23 year old Alison Carroll from Croydon is set to be catapulted from her current job as a receptionist to a world of superstardom as she follows in the footsteps of Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie and model Nell McAndrew to become the new face of Lara Croft.

Unlike her predecessors Alison does not come from a modelling background, but with 12 years’ experience as a professional display gymnast, she is completely at ease at the thought of appearing in front of thousands of screaming Lara Croft fans. She certainly had no trouble impressing the judges when she competed against hundreds of other hopefuls in the search to find the live model of the action heroine.

Alison is an elite gymnast who has flown the flag for Great Britain. She has performed across the UK and overseas as part of a team of twenty athletes, wowing Prince Charles when she appeared at a special event at Westminster Abbey. She is also a dedicated coach of younger gymnasts, and recently choreographed the routine for the junior team that won the British National Championships.

Alison already follows a rigorous training regime, visiting the gym six times per week, and will be well prepared as she embarks on the fast and gruelling training programme required to portray sexy heroine Lara Croft. Starting immediately she will undertake a series of courses which will include a SAS survival, combat and semi-automatic weapon firing courses in Eastern Europe, and a crash course in world archaeology, to become the world famous, archaeologist and action heroine.

Once completely trained in the ways of video gaming’s leading lady, Alison will be lining up a host of international modelling assignments, starring in TV commercials, appearing on chat shows and is set to travel the globe over the coming months.

Alison Carroll says; “This is a fantastic opportunity and I am really looking forward to embracing Lara’s world” said Alison Carroll “I still can’t believe they chose me to take on the role of Lara – and I can’t wait to get stuck in. This is my dream job – I have always wanted to be an action hero and hope to be able to use my gymnastic ability to perform all of Lara’s stunts. It is slightly daunting but I am really excited at the same time.”

Sarah Hoeksma, Eidos Group Marketing Director says; “With her tremendous athletic ability, dance training and striking look we feel Alison embodies all the assets required to be the live model of Lara Croft, and we are really looking forward to working with her.”

Alison follows in the footsteps of previous Lara Croft stars, Karima Adebibe, Lucy Clarkson, Rhona Mitra, Nell McAndrew, Lara Weller and of course Angelina Jolie in the Tomb Raider movies.

Tomb Raider: Underworld marks the first game in this popular, recognisable series that is designed specifically for next generation consoles. Lara Croft uncovers proof of the existence of the mythical hammer of the Norse God Thor, a weapon rumored to have the power to smash mountains into valleys and destroy the Gods themselves.

Setting an epic journey around the globe in motion, Lara visits the ruins of ancient civilizations, collecting clues that lead her to a forgotten power that could lay waste to civilization. Exploiting the power and capabilities of next generation consoles, Lara must hunt for clues across massive environments, solving multifaceted puzzles, facing foes both animal and supernatural, this time with the aid of enhanced weapons and abilities.

written by Will Snizek \\ tags: ability, action, Alison, Alison Carroll, Angelina Jolie, course, Eastern Europe, Face, God, Great Britain, gymnast, heroine, Job, Lara, Lara Croft, Lara Weller, LONDON, Lucy Clarkson, Mitra, model, Nell McAndrew, Oscar, Power, Prince Charles, Raider, Sarah Hoeksma, series, Team, Thor, Tomb, training, UK, Westminster, world

Velvet Assassin (previous, working title: Sabotage) is an upcoming stealth action video game for Xbox 360 and PC to be released on October 17th, 2008. The game is inspired by a real life World War II secret agent/saboteur Violette Szabo. Players take on the role of Violette Summer as she goes behind enemy lines to thwart the German war machine.

In Velvet Assassin, players assume the role of Violette Summer and head deep behind enemy lines with no support or official backing from the British Government. Violette risks her life fighting to defeat the German war machine one stealth mission at a time. Velvet Assassin combines lush, surreal visuals and a ground-breaking stealth combat system to deliver a gaming experience which is truly the first of its kind.

Thanks Shaun!

written by Juan Perez \\ tags: action, enemy, game, Killer, life, machine, role, Sabotage, Shaun, stealth, Stealthy, summer, title, Velvet Assassin, video, Violette, War, Xbox

If you a big Gears of War fan, this is one announcement you will certainly want to check out. Amazon.com will be the exclusive retailer for the Lancer replica and “Headshot” Locust Drone action figure in North America. The prices are a little high for some wallets, but they are probably worth every penny.

Full Press Release:
Continue reading »

written by Will Snizek \\ tags: action, Amazon, Canada, com, Delta, Drone, Figure, game, Gears, Headshot, Lancer, Locust, Marcus Fenix, Michael Capps, NECA, New Jersey, North America, November, Randy Falk, release, Replica, US, War

DC Universe is one game that we are certainly looking forward to.  It’s unfortunate that it will not be on the Xbox 360, but PC and PS3 gamers still have a shot at playing the game.  

Fact Sheet

ESRB:                                   Rating Pending

Developer/Publisher:        Sony Online Entertainment LLC

Platforms:                           PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and PC  

Game Description

DC Universe^™ Online for the PLAYSTATION® 3 computer entertainment system and the PC is currently in development by Sony Online Entertainment LLC in collaboration with DC Comics and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.  DCUO brings high-energy action to the forefront with a combat system designed to deliver a fast-paced action experience with the extraordinary powers of  DC-styled super heroes and villains at your disposal. DCUO has the dynamic art style of renowned comic book artist Jim Lee of DC Comics’

WildStorm Productions, who as Executive Creative Director is ensuring that DCUO is visually compelling and authentic to the DC Universe.

DCUO offers a dramatic online setting where players battle for and against their favorite DC Comics heroes and villains including Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and The Joker.  For the very first time, players and fans will be able to enter this fabled world as an active force for good or evil. The action and drama will play out in such well-known locations such as Gotham City and Metropolis.

 Key Features

• DCUO is an action-focused super-hero game in a fully realized DC Universe
• Players can experience the intensity of a 3D world created in the artistic vision of legendary comic book artist Jim Lee
• DCUO uses a state-of-the-art physics engine that turns the world into your weapon
• Extreme customization allows players to create their own custom hero or villain
• Players will embark on story-driven adventures penned by famous DC writers
• DCUO game-play is being optimized for the PC and PLAYSTATION 3 system
• The DCUO game world’s depth will span the entire DC Universe 

DC UNIVERSE and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © DC Comics.

written by Will Snizek \\ tags: action, artist, book, computer, DC Comics, DC Universe, DCUO, Entertainment, Executive Creative, fact, game, Gotham City, Jim Lee, LLC, Metropolis, Online, Playstation, sheet, Sony, system, world

Those of you waiting for the upcoming SOCOM: Confrontation should be glad to know that you can take part in the beta starting September 1, according to the game’s official website. A pre-order at GameStop (only a five-er is needed) will get you in and “Qore” subscribers can head into the trenches on September 8 through the 30th.

The series was once helmed by developer Zipper, but they have sinced moved on to create the epic-scale 256-person shooter, Massive Action Game (MAG for short), revealed at Sony’s E3 2008 press conference. From what we’ve seen, though, Confrontation seems to be in able hands. And if it turns out to be a dud, just cancel the pre-order. Keep your receipt! Those Gamestop employees can be quite sensitive when dealing with cancellations…

Via SOCOM website

written by Carlos Macias \\ tags: action, beta, Confrontation, developer, game, Gamestop, MAG, person, Qore, September, series, shooter, SOCOM, Website, Zipper

Johnny Rico is back after an eleven year hiatus from his first alien gorefest adventure in Starship Troopers 3: Marauder. Is his latest adventure worth a watch?

Well, you’d think in a movie that’s based around fighting bugs, it’d have more of them in it — but no. Aside from a couple of scenes where aliens come in and destroy a handful of soldiers, you’ll likely come out of Marauder highly disappointed as it switches its giant-ant shooting with religious preaching and weak one-liners; oh, yes, worse than in the first couple of movies.

The Starship Troopers series has never been a triple-A franchise right from the start but its loss of bugs and gibs give way to a simple story made worse by an overacting, underwhelming cast.

Jolene Blalock, who plays Lola Beck, is clearly placed in Marauder as an Angelina Jolie lookalike brought in to attract the young, male demographic; cleverly avoiding to dish out the money for the real deal.

The rest of the cast is just as bad as they belch out every line as if they’re going into an epic battle. Clearly, they’re not as they run around in cut-and-paste environments throughout the entirety of the film.

Marauder wouldn’t be so bad if it knew what it wanted to do. Some scenes point you towards a spoof on action movies but those type of movies strive from its friendly banter amongst the cast. Here, every moment is boring and filled with references to the previous films which will be all but lost on the general viewer.

If it wanted to be a legit action movie the serious tones touched on and acted out are severely undercut by the overall easiness of the plot. For example, how do you take it serious when soldiers are asking for autographed helmets by a singing superstar “sky marshall” one moment and getting shot up the next?

Production values are noticeably absent as the special effects present would not be out of place in a mid-90s PC video game cut scene with plain graphics and incredibly limited animations. The giant ants never convincingly interact with the actors and when they do, it’s to the same effect as when a kid plays with plastic GI Joes and mashes them together.

Marauder also makes a point to guarantee the viewer sees decapitations and body parts flying around, but are so cheaply produced that you’re quickly taken out of those short moments when they appear.

About the only bright blemish in this otherwise forgettable film are the “Citizen” mock propoganda ads. They are spliced in with enough satire and humor to effectively break up the overall blandness of the story. Had the director chosen to run with the theme presented in these clips, ST3 might’ve been an average experience, but as it stands it’s a failed experiment.

All things considered, the movie is too serious at times and doesn’t exploit the ridiculous angle of it all well enough, the rest of the time, to even passively watch. Most of the movie is spent on religious “who’s right, who’s wrong” rantings which never gel together and play out like a last minute write-up to add some substance to the lame premise. The bad, and sometimes comical, acting might give you a couple of chuckles, but you’re better off staying far and away from this one…it reeks of “generic brand.”

DVD/Bluray/UMD Release: August 5, 2008

[Editor’s Note: Walking down the aisles of your favorite retailer you’ll see movies that you’ve never heard of. Even if you’d like to know how they fare no one cares enough to review them! That’s where “Movie Watch” comes in…oh, and we’ll try to cover movies on Xbox Live from time to time. Because if you’re gonna spend those confusing Microsoft points on something other than games, it better be worth it, right?]

More Movie Watch:

Batman - Gotham Knight
Like a Dragon (Ryu Ga Gotoku)
Raising Jeffrey Dahmer

written by Carlos Macias \\ tags: action, adventure, Angelina Jolie, cast, couple, Film, Jeffrey Dahmer, Johnny Rico, Jolene Blalock, Lola Beck, Marauder, moment, movie, right, Starship, story, time, Troopers, viewer, Watch