Nov 09

Thanks to Atari for picking up the Ghostbuster franchise, 2 new screens were leaked to the press.

While many of us thought Ghostbusters: The Video game was lost due to the release of Activision-Blizzard, Atari saw the potential. It seems that many developers only invest in games that have sequel potential ie. Guitar Hero etc. Coming to PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC, DS and PS2 in 2009, the release will coincide with the Ghostbusters movie’s 25th Anniversary.

“Ghostbusters: The Video Game is a fantastic addition to Atari’s global line-up in 2009,” said company president Phil Harrison in a prepared statement today. “The title has built considerable anticipation and excitement among game fans.”

written by Juan Perez \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sep 02

The third game in the Kingdom Hearts series, which has been long overdue for a sequel, should be announced at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, according to a rumor posted on Kotaku.

Disney and Square Enix collaborated on what, at the time, seemed like a weird combination of licenses but proved to steal our hearts with its action-RPG stylings. The post makes no mention of a release date but it’s likely to be out, at the earliest, Summer 2009 and it will be exclusive to Sony’s PS3.

Via Kotaku

written by Carlos Macias \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Aug 14

Codemasters® announces blockbuster Overlord sequel for the PLAYSTATION®3, Xbox 360, PC, plus exclusive extensions for Wii and Nintendo DS

The sequel to Overlord, Overlord II comes to the Wii, DS, and PS3 & X360.  Notice the ampersand?  That’s because the PS3 & X360 will be the same version of Overlord II.  While the Wii will be called Overlord Dark Legion, featuring minion control through Wii Remote movement.  And the DS version will be called Overlord Minions, a dedicated puzzle action title, for Nintendo DS.

“Epic battles, all new Minion play mechanics, a stunningly detailed new visuals and a fresh theme – Overlord II’s really packing a punch,” says Lennart Sas, director and Overlord lead at Triumph Studios. “We’re really excited about shifting the world to a new era where a Roman-inspired Empire rises as the arch-enemy of the Overlord, which leads to an epic clash between the regimented forces of a sprawling state and the faster, harder, more manic minion horde. It’s also great to see the series reaching new formats. The creativity being packed into the design for Overlord Dark Legend on Wii and Overlord Minions on Nintendo DS make great use of the platforms’ unique features and are perfect extensions to the Overlord series.”

Via PressRelease

written by Juan Perez \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Aug 12

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: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Aug 05

The Lost Boys is perhaps my favorite vampire film of all-time.  With that said, the film did NOT need a sequel.  It especially didn’t need a terrible sequel.  The one positive thing that resulted from ‘The Tribe’ is reassurance that Joel Schumacher’s original was all we needed.

‘Lost Boys: The Tribe’ is an obvious attempt to sucker fans of the original for one final time.  Here’s the basic recipe they used to create ‘The Tribe’:

  • Replace believable cast with a wretched group of actors.
  • Replace epic soundtrack with one of the worst soundtracks ever created.
  • Replace good visuals with tacky amateurish ones.
  • Stick to the original story, but throw in just enough annoying characters to make it new.
Set out to make a new life for themselves in the surf town of Luna Bay, siblings Chris (Tad Hilgenbrink) and Nicole Emerson (Autumn Reeser) are trying to start their lives over after the death of their parents.  Their strategy to accomplish this is to rent a delapidated house, drink as much booze as they can handle and have sex with the first person that comes along.  The brother and sister duo is predictable, cliche and boring. Chris meets the “cool” character in the movie Shane (Angus Sutherland), who is supposed to be the hotshot in town and the head of his own vampire tribe.  Unfortunately, there’s a reason most of us didn’t even know Kiefer had a half-brother named Angus.  His performance was dry, dimwitted and forgettable in every possible way. Eventually the slutty sister Nicole falls under Shane’s spell and becomes nearly undead.  Chris teams up with vampire hunter Edgar Frog (Corey Feldman) to combat Shane’s tribe of “suck monkeys.”  Feldman’s performance was the complete highlight of the film.  It was certainly bad acting at it’s best. It almost seemed like Feldman took the role too seriously, but he at least provided some comedic relief.   The rest of the movie isn’t really worth talking about.  It’s full of cliche “sex and violence” vampire stuff and as predictable as yesterday’s news.  I was hoping we’d get a glance of Corey Haim’s appearance in the film and it’s there right at the end.  I wasn’t sure how they’d work him in considering he was cracked out on set and couldn’t remember his lines.  At least they got him in there for a quick spot at the end.  If you haven’t watched this film, I’d suggest avoiding it.  I tend to enjoy low-budget films from time to time, but they brought nothing creative to the table with this one.
 
One thing I might add to the review is the fact that we may want to simply avoid any film from director P.J. Pesce.  He’s about as talented as Uwe Boll.  We’re talking about the same director who brought us “Sniper 3″ and “From Dusk Till Dawn 3,” which I assume means his strategy is to bring us terrible sequels. “The Tribe” simply felt pieced together and glazed over with cliche action.  It seems like Pesce lacks the ability to stimulate the audience with anything creative.  With that said, I am hoping Pesce doesn’t get the chance to ruin the sequel to another good film series.  The only possible reason you might want to watch “The Tribe” is if you are a die-hard Feldman fan…

written by Will Snizek \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jul 28

Very little to get excited about this week but a couple gems that stick out like a sore thumb: Soulcalibur IV and Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, the sequel to the game that made twin-stick shooting and neon all the rage with its debut on XBLA in 2005.

We got a chance to try out Soulcalibur 4 at Comic Con this past weekend and have placed our pre-orders well in advance already. This blogger took Yoda for a spin and found that beating his opponent was not the hardest of feats as the green goblin jumps around much like in Star Wars Episode II. Expect to tailor your strategy against him with plenty of low kicks and no grab moves.

Geometry Wars: RE2? Skip the demo and dip into your Microsoft Points fund to outright buy it. ’nuff said.

(The following scores were “aggregated-tive-ized” as of July 28, 2008 via Metacritic)

The Good…

  • Soulcalibur IV (360, PS3) - Metascore: 94 (PS3)

The Bad…

  • City Life 2008 Edition (PC) - Metascore: 66
  • Baseball Mogul 2009 (PC) - Metascore: 65
  • Art of Murder: FBI Confidential (PC) - Metascore: 51

The Unrated…

Xbox 360

  • Spectral Force 3
  • Summer Athletics
  • Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2

Wii

  • Summer Athletics
  • SNK Arcade Classics Volume I
  • MLB Power Pros 2008

PC

  • Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI
  • Everlight
  • Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm
  • Beijing 2008 - The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games
  • Legend: Hand of God

PS2

  • Summer Athletics
  • MLB Power Pros 2008

written by Carlos Macias \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jul 18

While it might seem like the above headline is an affirmation, confirmation, or whatever from Microsoft and Activision, it’s really just common sense when you think about it. The topic? Well, the fire-cooling announcement that Guitar Hero: World Tour’s instruments will work on competing software — i.e. Rock Band (and possibly its sequel).

Continue reading »

written by Carlos Macias \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jul 09

A recent post by the gents over at Kotaku throws out a rumor that the zombies who once haunted Dead Rising’s Colorado mall, where Frank West mowed them down and dressed up as Mega Man, might have migrated to Las Vegas for the sequel.

As anyone who has ventured to Sin City will know: that place is crowded! It should feel good to take down zombies with broken slot machine levers, put their faces inside roulette spinners, and slam them through the Wheel of Fortune for an immediate jackpot.

All this has yet to be confirmed, of course, and Las Vegas hasn’t been too privy on allowing their city to be recreated piece by piece, but a faux-Sin City would do, no?

Via Kotaku

written by Carlos Macias \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jun 04

SCEE has announced that they have stopped production on PS3’s The Getaway (the third in the series) and Eight Days, according to GameIndustry.biz. Little was known of Eight Days besides a trailer shown at E3 2006 and only a handful of in-game screenshots of London were ever released for The Getaway.

The first Getaway and its sequel, Black Monday, were full of gameplay problems as it disposed of a functioning HUD and relied on visual cues for the gamer to determine health, ammo, etc. The gun-play was off, as well, and while nicely recreated, London was devoid of life outside of the main missions. Regardless, the story was its superior trait and those familiar with Guy Ritchie flicks (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch) got its charm.

Via GameIndustry.biz

written by Carlos Macias \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

May 29

While the first Beyond Good & Evil is famous for having been a tremendous flop, it did please more than a few gamers who tried the photography-focused gem. Sure, it featured its share of slowdown and, at times, frustrating controls but hardcore gamers dug it. This time around, though, it looks like the sequel will be geared towards a more casual audience. In talking with Next-Generation, Ubi Soft’s Chief Executive, Yves Guillemot said the following:

“We think the game was probably a little too difficult for the general gamers at that time. We’re going to make it more accessible and make sure that it’s really done for the new generation that’s come into videogames.”

Let’s just hope Mr. Guillemot wont take the much-anticipated sequel too far out and make it so that the controls consist of only waggling and an “A” button.

Via Next-Generation

written by Carlos Macias \\ tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,