Soul Calibur V and Kicking Elderly Mitsurugi's Ass

Am I the only one who can't wait to kick a septuagenarian Mitsurugi's ass? I love beating on elderly combatants in fighting games. What is your old ass doing in a fighting tournament? Go sit in a park somewhere! Just kidding, I love old people. Except when they come at me with a sharpened katana, which happens much too often.

Listen to me, I'm talking crazy. God, I can't wait for SoulCalibur V, which will hopefully restore a shred of my sanity. 

Don't Get Sharked in Ace Combat: Assault Horizon

Have a look at your primary dog fighting opponent in the upcoming ballet of missiles, vulcans, and shredded fuselages, Ace Combat: Assault Horizon. His name is Markov, also known as The Shark. If you're lucky, you'll notice him on the battlefield by the shark teeth painted on the front of his fighter jet. Though it's more likely that The Shark will shoot you down before you even realize his sights are locked onto you. Step your game up, kid!

I've been looking forward to Ace Combat: Assault Horizon for some time now, if only for the intoxicating action and camera work, something I've always loved in the Ace Combat series. While that has always been a calling card of the franchise, the story has attempted to stay equally interesting, but most times it's come up a little short. Project Aces is looking to change those fortunes by recruiting New York Times’ bestselling military author Jim DeFelice. Honestly, dog fighting is the crack. Whatever story brought to the table is supplementary to the ratatatatatatating.

Take to the skies on October 11 of this year.

Dark Souls: Welcome to Die

The title for the latest Dark Souls trailer is 'Prepare to Die'. For any other game I'd be all like CHALLENGE ACCEPTED, you can't kill me! But this is Dark Souls, the successor of Demon's Souls, so I will swallow my pride and accept that I will die horribly on numerous occasions. 

The trailer is mostly a montage to some of the many deaths that will befall you, should you be brave enough to challenge Dark Souls. And when it's not quite showing the player dying, it's showing something that will most likely end up killing you very shortly. Demon's Souls was a game for masochists, and Dark Souls is picking up right where the predecessor left off.

Dark Souls will release this October, and in the event PSN is still down at that time, fear not! For the first time, the controller-breaking difficulty of From Software's role-playing series will be available on Xbox 360.

Also comes the news that a preorder will bump you up from standard to the collector's edition for no extra charge. The $60 entry fee nets you a metalbook case, art book, digital download soundtrack, behind the scenes development video, and a mini strategy guide. Trust me, you'll want to preorder if only for that strategy guide alone. Demon's Souls was an incredibly nuanced and complex game, with tons of secrets and strategies that one cannot discover on his or her own. You will need all the help you can get.

Soul Calibur V Welcomes You Back to the Stage of History

I'm quite excited for the announcement of SoulCalibur V, which keeps one of my favorite fighting franchises running. Set 17 years after the conclusion of SoulCalibur IV, the latest entry in the series follows the son of Sophitia, Patroklos, as he no doubt sets out on an adventure that revolves around the Soul swords in some way.

Aw yeah, I'm pumped. The Soul Calibur series not only managed to deliver a deep fighting experience with a whole assortment of interesting characters and exotic weapons, but what it offers outside of that is just as awesome. Unique game types and one of the most comprehensive character creation tools I've ever seen in a fighting game, in SoulCalibur IV. No word on if any of this will return in SoulCalibur V, but really, how could it not?

Here are some images and a teaser for you to fawn over. The series' first sword-and-shield male is kind of a big deal. And before you say anything, no, Lizardman does not count.

If enough people 'Like' Soul Calibur on Facebook, new artwork will be revealed at SoulCalibur's home on the web. Now, get busy!

More of Ace Combat: Assault Horizon's Instruments of Destruction

The latest trailer for Ace Combat: Assault Horizon is supposedly about the 108th Task Force, who are probably the crew of people you work with while you pilot dozens of flying machines built with the specific intent of blowing the shit out of other flying machines. Not saying that the video doesn't accomplish its mission, but after watching it, I really don't care any more for my partners in cinematic modern-air-warfare. 

I do however, care increasingly for getting my sweaty paws on Ace Combat: Assault Horizon so I can ignore all my orders from commanding officers and wingmen and just go blowing shit up while doing barrel rolls, huge loops, and flying 3 yards from the side of a building. That is the proper way to play Ace Combat games, is it not? Choppers, fighters, and bombers, oh my!