CES11: Capcom's 'A' Games

We spent some time in Capcom's suite, and as always, they brought their 'A' games. We saw 5 of their upcoming titles, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, Okamiden, Bionic Commando Rearmed 2, MotoGP 10/11, and of course, Marvel vs. Capcom 3. As MvC3 has enough content to warrant a post of it's own, we'll go over that a little later, but for now, dig in to Capcom's other offerings.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (DS) January 2011
I've heard about it, read about it, watched the videos but never quite seemed to care for it to go out of my way to make mention of it. After spending some time with the game however, I've taken quite a liking to the title. Designed by Shu Takumi, the mind behind the prolific Phoenix Wright series, Ghost Trick has the pedigree to be something special, but will it have the substance? Right now, all signs are pointing to yes. The artwork and character style -- like the Phoenix Wright titles -- are colorful, unique, and busting at the seams with style. The animation really stuck out to me, as characters moved smoothly and gracefully, enveloping their own personal styles. It was like watching a big-budget anime play out on the dual screens. I found the gameplay -- a truly unique puzzle solving experience which requires the lead to possess and control inanimate objects in order to complete tasks -- to be quite fun, with the grounds for evolving from enjoyable to flat out addictive. Don't make the same mistake I did by glossing Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective over, give it a well-deserved look, and when you're done, check it out again because you most likely missed an awesome detail the first time around.

Okamiden (DS) March 2011
Capcom has handled the marketing for Okamiden flawlessly, which isn't surprising seeing as how adorable the main character is. You take control of Chibiterasu, offspring of Okami's lead (and MvC3 combatant) Amaterasu. While related in blood, this adventure is not a direct sequel at all, but a spiritual successor. From what we played, we got to see a stage which utilized Chibi's Galestorm technique, via the Celestial Brush. The Galestorm was key to Chibi and partner Kurow overcoming the treacherous winds faced while attempting to successfully reach the next area, which appeared to be a mountain peak in the sky. Upon reaching the top of the peak, a miniboss rhythm battle ensued, where you had to slash at drum notes created by the decidedly Caribbean band. The stylus was in full effect throughout, reacting precisely the way you would want it to, and keeping well in line with the awesome functionality introduced by the original Okami. Our hands on wasn't quite in depth enough to garner a true decision on Okamiden, but there is some potential for good here, as well as the potential to disappoint.

Bionic Commando Rearmed 2 (XBLA, PSN) February 2011
Hot on the heels of the success Bionic Commando Rearmed found, the next installment attempts to plug in the gameplay holes of the original. It's not the first time we've played Rearmed 2, but it is maybe the most quality time we've spent with it, and we learned much under the informative tutelage of Capcom's reps. By now you must know that the ability to jump has been added it, and that completing the game without jumping nets you a nice trophy or achievement. What I didn't know was that there is a separate mode to play that restricts the moustached Nathan Spencer's jump, so you wont accidentally fuck up your achievement. The special abilities are a nice touch, adding elements like grenades, heals over time, and so forth. Unfortunately, there is still no online multiplayer, and I was a little let down by the operation of the local multiplayer. Basically, the camera follows the first player, therefore if the second player lags behind, they have a 5 second time limit to get back onto the screen. If they don't, it's life over for them. If the second player just happens to be the more seasoned BCR2 player, they're assed out, say in the situation that the first player screws up a jump and plummets 10 stories down. At any rate, the lack of online multiplayer for this $15 title is marginalized (if that's possible) by two details: 5-6 hours of gameplay, and online leaderboards for both the single player story, and the always entertaining challenge rooms.

MotoGP 10/11 (X360, PS3) March 2011
Capcom pushes out MotoGP 10/11 with all the content of the recently completed 2010 season, to go along with future free downloadable updates for the 2011 season, such as real time stat and ranking updates among other unique features. It was my first time playing, and I found the controls and physics to be punishing, if only because I'm terrible at racing games. Fans of a realistic racing experience and crotch-rockets alike will appreciate the gameplay of 10/11. For those of you like myself, who just cheese it for the duration of the course and use the nearest wall as your brakes, the offer of player assists turns the game from more of a sim to an arcade experience, more forgiving to the casual or beginner virtual racer. Another nice addition for the bike-newbs is the implementation of a dotted guide-line which shows the the best place to position yourself for the challenging turns, and also scales from green to red, offering a hint of what speed you should be shooting along at. Local co-op is available in Career Mode, with a second player hopping in as a mate to help your team take the pole position. Online racing pits you against a racing-record 19 competitors, assuring that you will need plenty of practice and hours logged to finish in the top 3.

All in all another solid showing from Capcom, though nothing new or groundbreaking was introduced. It was good to see them in Vegas, and I hope to see more software developers use CES as a booster for their upcoming IPs in the future.

Check in next week for more photos from Capcom's display!

CES11: Kinect Gets Busy at Microsoft's Keynote

Photography by Mark Hagan

What better way to open CES weekend than with a keynote by Microsoft, led by the magnificently mad bull named Steve Ballmer. Microsoft has performed well on most notes, especially so with their gaming division (in the States, anyway). Mr. Ballmer wasted no time christening this CES 2011 with words of the Xbox 360, Kinect, and Xbox LIVE.

After an initial introduction, the lovable mad man turned things over to Kinect hot-shot Ron Forbes, who gave us some old and some new. As this is a weekend about making news, let's not concern ourselves with the old stuff, instead focusing on what we can look forward to for Microsoft's gaming juggernaut: a lot of Kinect integration, specifically to Zune, Netflix, and Hulu Plus.

The oft overlooked Zune feature was made to look quite slick in its pairing with Kinect, both by way of gesture and voice control. Speaking in a fluid conversational tone to his Xbox (as many Kinecters can already attest to), Mr. Forbes was able to initiate a few awesome features. The combination of gesture and voice allowed him to quickly and effortlessly receive suggestions of new movies available in the Zune application, from there allowing him to watch trailers, then jump right into the movie from the trailer. In his horrible taste, Mr. Forbes happened to be in the midst of a Twilight: Eclipse viewing, which he was able to jump right back into and resume from where he previously left off, without ever picking up a controller. More of the same was done with Zune music, albeit not as impressively as the video function. We saw a little more of the same being done with Netflix and Hulu Plus, however not as in depth as what was displayed with Zune, understandably so.

Digital Ballmer's hand movements are as convincing as the real thing

Moving right along, Ballmer reclaimed the stage in avatar form, in his likeness with the same lack of hair, and a mysterious lack of girth. As he spoke, his avatar's mouth kept up with his words. Its facial expression changed to mimic that of its owner. A laugh, a frown, all portrayed convincingly by Ballmer's digital image, right down the the most minute detail; a wiggle of the eyebrows. The audience was then treated to the realization of this Avatar Kinect. A party chat, which seemed to be set at a tailgate, featuring half a dozen avatars talking to each other, interacting, seemingly living and breathing. An awesome next step for the technologies. This was mentioned to be free for all Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers, with no mention made of the elephant in the room, Xbox LIVE free memberships.

More was seen and said, but none as important as Kinect's next steps. Did you know Kinect has sold 8 million units world wide? As of this writing, I am NOT a Kinect owner, but this presentation has intensified my necessity for one. And for my sports fans, the ESPN3 app that I labor over to keep you satisfied will see new social integrations, such as mini-games and added avatar interactions. Look for the College Bowl Showdown in your ESPN3 app to get a sneak peek at what to expect. 

All in all a strong showing from Microsoft's gaming division. No groundbreaking revelations, but genuinely interesting advancements to keep current customers locked, and entice those who may have previously doubted Xbox and Kinect.

Is Steve Ballmer gonna have to choke a b*tch?

Keep Up With Us at CES

We are in Sin City for what is perhaps the most technologically advanced weekend of the year. While the gaming industry may not be at CES in full force, there will still be plenty of interest for our faithful readers. After all, gamers are also about cutting edge technology, are we not? We'll be reporting on gaming peripherals, PC hardware, displays, and maybe even some software. If we're really lucky, we might hunt down some PSP2, PSPhone, and 3DS news. 

In combination with some of the other events and expos occuring during CES weekend, you can count on a wealth of fun and exciting updates from Team OBG.

Get up-to-the-minute updates on Twitter, and look for daily updates right here. Keep it locked!

The Game Dealer, From the Makers of Game Dev Story

Game Dev Story is a solid, solid iOS game purchase. In it, you own a development company, and you must micromanage a dumbed down game development process from hiring staff and freelancers, to attending game expos. Simple, addictive fun.

I'm thrilled to hear today that Kairosoft, Game Dev's devs, have released a spiritual successor to the sleeper hit called Wai Wai! The Game Dealer. In it you, you guessed it, manage a retail game store. PROTIP: Naming your game store GameStop will immediately bankrupt you and instantaneously cause you to lose the game, and your iOS device to explode in your hands. 

No localization plans have been announced yet (sorry to burst your bubble), but here's to hoping Kairosoft brings the addictive sim stateside, albeit with less Wais in the title.

via Destructoid

Dude Steals 3DS, Has Photo Shoot

Apparently, some dude in China stolen Nintendo's latest high tech portable right off the production line. Like any quick-thinking geek, the factory worker had a nice little photo shoot with his new illegal toy, along with some Nintendo figures and older Gameboy and DS hardware incarnations, which may also possibly be illegal. Chinese factory worker, I salute you on your bravery, but also SMH at your stupidity. Unless of course, this just happens to be a PR stunt of some sort from Nintendo's side, which is a completely possible (and perhaps probable) scenario. 

I'm surprised at how small and sleek the 3DS looks when compared to it's predecessors. No release date or pricing information from Nintendo yet, but you can bet we'll get some details very soon. Unfortunately, I will not personally be able to deliver first hand impressions to you, good readers, as Nintendo seems to only be dealing with the big outlets when it comes to their prized handheld. You best believe I'll be your top source for stolen, second hand information though. 

Here is some ugly ass video of the 3DS being handled by the sticky fingered filcher. And don't forget to check the gallery for more shots of the 3DS' glamour shoot that you don't want to miss.

Nintendo 3DS Leaked (gallery) via Kotaku via TGBus

Work Your Mandible On New Resistance 3 Footage

As a late adopter to the PlayStation 3 (money don't grow on trees, kids) I've never played any installment of the Resistance series, but have always heard good things. Resistance 3's earlier trailer featured a bunch of nap-inducing live action scenes that, while well done and moody as hell, wasn't one of the more exciting things I've watched. Then the VGA's rolled up with their exclusive trailers, and the third chapter of the Resistance saga became infinitely more appealing.

PlayStation.Blog has hit us with a director's cut of said VGA trailer, adding a good half-minute of additional footage. It's likely that the extra 30 seconds wont do anything to make you wet your pants, but it's worth a watch in case you've forgotten about, or have yet to see, the original VGA trailer. 

Our Favorite Low Budget Games of 2010

As the year comes to a close, it seems as if everyone and their mother is dropping their two cents on the best and worst games of 2010. To set our list aside, I want to try something different. Since you can go to just about any place on the internet to find a best of the year list, let's try this:

Our Favorite Low Budget Games of 2010

VVVVVV by Terry Cavanagh (PC, XBLA)
It doesn't get much more simple than this. Commodore 64 inspired graphics, three button gameplay, and a soundtrack of banging chiptune beats. Released in January of this year, VVVVVV captured gamers' hearts with its simple allure, and breaking point difficulty. The plain, outdated look on its face belie VVVVVV's complexity, which feels almost like a Metroidvania game circa the 1980s. 

Super Meat Boy by Team Meat (PC, XBLA)
Based on the successful Newgrounds flash game Meat Boy, Super Meat Boy picks up where its predecessor left off; by making you want to kill yourself. Fans of fast action platformers and punishing twitch-reflex difficulty immediately fell in love with Super Meat Boy. Team Meat made some enemies along the way, like PETA and lamers who wanted a fun and relaxing gaming experience, but sometimes you need to break some heads to get to the top.

Limbo by Playdead Studios (XBLA)
Limbo earned a healthy buzz mostly for its "art game" presentation as completely black and white. In its entirety, Limbo never strays from it's noir style; the characters are little more than blobs of shadow, though the backgrounds are detailed and beautiful. Music is left out in favor of ambiance. With plenty of tricky platform puzzles to solve, Limbo is a slightly disturbed yet hauntingly lovely slice of low budget gaming.

Shank by Klei Entertainment (PC, PSN, XBLA)
Shank is one super pissed off badass motherfucker looking for revenge on the dudes that ruined his life. What better means to do this than a gory side-scrolling stylized action game with slick hand drawn graphics and an epic southwestern soundtrack? While the story wasn't the best, the insanely fun fighting and on-the-fly weapon switching made stringing together combos pleasing for both your eyes and your id.

Minecraft by Markus "Notch" Persson (PC)
What would this list be without Minecraft, arguably the low budget title of 2010. Technically, Minecraft was released in 2009, but it only really began to blow up this year. Starting as a one man job, Minecraft is a game where you can pretty much build anything you want, from the simplest log cabin, to a god damned working CPU. After an incredible increase in popularity this year, Notch hired some more people and created a development company funded strictly by Minecraft sales. As of December 29, 2010, Minecraft has over 2,750,000 registered users, and over 900,000 purchases. Not too bad for a one man project.

Our Most Disappointing Blockbuster Games of 2010

There were tons of gaming disappointments in 2010, some more unforeseen than others. It's easy for a small studio with limited funding to make a bad game, but when a big budget gaming blockbuster goes wrong, it's that much funnier. So without further ado, let's take a look.

Our Most Disappointing Blockbuster Games of 2010

Red Dead Redemption by Rockstar San Diego (PS3, X360)
By no stretch of the imagination is Red Dead Redemption a bad game, in fact, most outlets have it pegged as the game of the year. I however, am growing increasingly critical of Rockstar's games, which is why I found RDR to be a huge disappointment. As a fan of westerns, be it movies or games, I was incredibly excited to hear of an open world western done by Rockstar. There was so much potential, so much that could be done to create a new experience. Beautiful graphics and involving story aside, in the end, Red Dead Redemption ended up feeling too much like a reskin of the Grand Theft Auto series, which felt like a crushing blow and a waste of potential to do something fresh.

Fallout: New Vegas by Obsidian Entertainment (PC, PS3, X360)
In late 2008, a game by the name of Fallout 3 snuck up on me and held me prisoner from the real world for an unhealthily long period if time. The follow up to one of my favorite games of recent memory had to be good, now that the developers had some time to work out the kinks of the original, as well as listen to and implement community suggested changes. Nuts to that! Development was handed over to Obsidian Entertainment from Bethesda Game Studios, and Obsidian didn't really feel like making any tweaks. The moved the story to Vegas and called it a day! Fallout 3 while awesome, wasn't perfect. There was plenty of room for improvement to make the experience even better, but why put in extra work when you can move copies on the strength of the series' name?

Fable III by Lionhead Studios (X360)
The simplistic yet involving Fable series has always been a joy to play, even if it did seem like the game was built to be played by a 12 year old. 2008's Fable II had an interesting story to go along with a dreadfully easy, but enjoyable combat system that delivered an entertaining experience from start to finish. Fable III claimed it would allow you great moral decisions, as the purpose of the third and final entry in the series, is to start a revolution as you see fit. Unfortunately, most of the game's decisions were binary, and rigid, leaving little room for experimentation. You're forced to make promises to allies to earn their trust, and in a turn for the anti-climactic, only at the end of the game are you allowed to renege on your word. 

Epic Mickey by Disney Interactive Studios (Wii)
The name Warren Spector is held in high regard to just about everyone in the gaming industry. Deus Ex, Thief, System Shock, and now Disney's Epic Mickey. One of these things is not like the other! Working with Disney, the talented Mr. Spector became all about the mouse, seemingly living, breathing, and pooping Disney. Unfortunately, his Epic Mickey turned out to be a convoluted mess, where teases of a dark, steampunk tale where Mickey would be responsible for the fate of other characters was way overblown. The morality system seemed like no more than a throw in, with no real weight on the outcome of the game. The controls were spotty, with Wiimote support seemingly added last minute just for the sake of motion controls. Level design, story, graphics, it all left much to be desired.

NBA Elite by EA Sports (PS3, X360)
The NBA Live series has been releasing yearly installments since 1992, and since 1995 under the Live moniker. In 2000, 2K Sports threw their hat into the basketball game market, and had been steadily outperforming the Live series since. With Michael Jordan appearing in their latest title, along with other classic ballers of yesteryear, it seemed like the Live series would have to do something drastic to outdo NBA 2K11. So they decided to change their name to NBA Elite, because people like new and improved names, right? Countless bugs, missteps, and general fuck ups later, the game was outright canceled, and the world would be without a yearly EA NBA sim for the first time in almost 20 years. 

More Uncharted 3, Less Fallon

A few weeks ago, Uncharted 3 made its grand gameplay debut on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. I understand that Jimmy Fallon is a game geek who may or may not have a few million loyal watchers, but I still can't fathom why you debut such an anticiated game on a show who attracts a fanbase which may not even own a PlayStation 3. 

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, let me tell you how happy I am that Sony has offered us a little more of Uncharted 3, and a lot less Jimmy Fallon. These two videos give us pretty much more of the same, pure awesome. Watch Nate and Sully deal with some unsavory characters in new and exciting ways. Nate fights two people at once, picks up ammo automatically, and gets his cover shot out from in front of him. Sully stands around and barely manages to pull his weight. Good times!

Fan-Made Duke Nukem Short Shakes It, Baby

It's no secret that Duke Nukem has experienced a major revival recently, mostly due to the long overdue paralleled revival of Duke Nukem Forever. I predict sometime in the not-too-distant future, we will all have Nukem-fatigue after the 8th consecutive summer blockbuster, 12th graphic novel, and of course, the wildly successful subcription fee-based multiplayer FPS. However this is not that time, so the more Duke Nukem news the better!

A bunch of Finnish dudes have thrown together a short film called The Duke: Fate of Humanity, and it looks awesome of course. If I were ever to see a Duke Nukem movie, I would hope it to look very much like The Duke here. Strippers, beer, guns, the aliens who screw with them all, and the bad-ass who sets shit straight. There is no dialogue in the short, thankfully, because I sense a European accented Duke exclaiming "Hail to de king" that I wouldn't want ruining the all-American man's man I've come to love. Pause. 

via Kotaku