Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood Steps Up the Dev Diary Game

It seems like I gush about AC:B every time I write about it. The game looks like an assassin's arsenal full of fun, with a deep and interesting campaign, a fun and involving multiplayer, and kick ass trailers. Developer's diaries on the other hand, while informative, oft times pander more to giving the developers face and voice over time, at the expense of making them feel detached, than truly showing more to the fans. Well, look at what one of my favorite things of late did to one of my hated things of late. 

Ubisoft has been just unconscious with it's promoting of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood so far. Lights out killing it with well produced trailers and enjoyable videos. So Ubisoft brings it's slick production to the dev diary game and absolutely tears it a new one, making it seem more like a History Channel original than a look in at an upcoming game. It's nice how they involve the developers to make them seem like part of the Brotherhood, rather than relegating them to talking heads who are tied to the project. Nicely done, Ubisoft.

Brotherhood's latest dev diary is making me look forward to the next installation, as opposed to making me want to forget these things exist. So, who wants to set odds on whether this style will pick up or not?

Final Fantasy Dissidia Duodecim Avoids Alliterative Awesomeness.. With a 012?

Breaking news; the PSP exclusive Final Fantasy Dissidia Duodecim has decided to forgo it's impressive run at gaming alliteration world records by throwing in the numbers 012. 

The follow up to the fun yet faulted frantic fighting Final Fantasy fan service title of two years ago has appeared and alluded to an assortment of added appearances. Currently confirmed cutting-edge characters constitute XIII's Lightning, and personal preference, IV's Kain.

Square Enix slips the teaser site settled by scant stories, however habituated with heaps of harmonic heroism. Several supplemental screenshots display detailed definition of particular protagonists antecedent appearances. With Tokyo Game Show looming lavishly, Square Enix will undoubtedly unfold increased information in due time.

Numbers can't alliterate, homey.

via Andriasang

Left 4 Dead Space 2

EA's multiplayer reveal for Dead Space 2 looks pretty good, if not familiar. It's basically Left 4 Dead's multiplayer to a T. Remeber that mutation where gameplay was nothing but special infected versus the four survivors? Yeah, that's pretty much Dead Space 2's multiplayer.

You'll play as a band of Isaacs also known as the engineers, and face off against a collective of Necromorphs, such as the agile, close-range pouncing type, the long-ranged noxious ooze spitting type, and the portly, mid-ranged vomit type. Seem familiar? Of course not. It's not a knock, the L4D multiplayer was great fun with a band of friends, with the added gore and Dead Space's feel and story, engineers vs. necromorphs should be a blast. The objective based versus component will retain many of the gameplay intricacies from the campaign mode, so you wont feel gimped trying to take down a pack of player controlled necromorphs.

We've been assured that there will be several multiplayer game types, meaning hopefully we'll see some free-for-all deathmatches where engineers can dismember engineers. Make sure you check out GameTrailers TV for the full rundown of DS2's multi. 

Samurai Dead Rising Features Zombies, Katana, LSD

Capcom's incredible juggernaut push for Dead Rising 2 continues. Most companies would probably cut back the marketing after the incredibly well received Dead Rising: Case 0 broke Xbox Live's week one sales records. Capcom on the other hand seems only to intensify things, now with a tie in called Samurai Dead Rising.

Heavy hitting artist and animator Norio Shioyama, whose massive body of work includes such classics as InuYasha, Armored Trooper Votoms, and The Centurions lends his talents to the psychedelic katana brandishing action of our nameless hero as he mows down the undead in stylistic monochrome. The tripped out visuals are accompanied by a slamming drum and bass selection that fits the art style perfectly. And though the thought provoking clip comes in just a shade under three minutes, it seems that there will be more Samurai Dead Rising shorts in the future. Awesome.

With Dead Rising 2 already cemented as one of Fall's hot releases, the timing of Capcom's zombie slicing samurai skits makes me wonder if there are greater forces at work here. A tease of taking Dead Rising 3 to the feudal period, or maybe samurai DLC? We already know Chuck Greene has proficiency with a katana, as preordering  from Gamestop nets you a ninja gi and blade, unlocking a whole new set of assassin moves and animations. Maybe we can expect some samurai garb and a zombie infested bamboo forest sometime down the line. 

Whatever the case may be, this Samurai Dead Rising thing has the opportunity to be something epic. Make it hap-pon, Capcom.

Enos Still Lives

15 years ago on this day, I fell in love. On September 9th, 1995, children in North America were introduced to the Playstation gaming system, one of the most influential and iconic pieces of entertainment technology of our time. 

From their inexperienced beginnings, Sony has developed the Playstation brand into a powerhouse, worthy of it's spot in the annuls of gaming history. While I may not agree with all of Sony's choices for Playstation throughout the years, I had an undying infatuation with my PSX. I played games, I played CDs, I played the music from my games as if they were CDs, I modded it, I stole games, I broke it, I bought it again.. Endless memories of what I thought was the greatest thing ever, a title freshly inherited from my Sega Saturn.

What may possibly be the strongest factor that roped me in to Playstation, that had me calling every Funcoland within a 50 mile radius, what had me pestering my weary father to drive me out to strange, small towns in attempts to acquire the mystical gray box, was the marketing.

Who the hell is Enos? What am I not ready for? Enos Lives and UR Not E (with the seething red tone of the capital E burning itself into your subconscious) were two of the great marketing slogans that amazed me as a kid (along with "CROSSFIRE!") and maybe part of the reason why I appreciate marketing so much today. Ready (red E) Ninth of September and You Are Not Ready marked the beginning of a new era for gaming, as well as Sony's incredible marketing of it's Playstation that continues today with Kevin Butler and miscellaneous flashes of ingenuity. 

While friends and strangers alike accuse me of being an Xbox fanboy, in my heart and in my mind, Playstation has it's own special place. PSX and PS2 helped to mold me as the die hard gamer I am today. And even though I've had my complaints with the PS3, and it's taken me a while to warm up to it, I'm grateful Sony is continuing it's tradition of quality devices, entertaining games, and fun marketing.

Happy birthday, Playstation.

Let's Talk Outland

In what, to me, looked like one of the most intriguing titles to come out of PAX '10, Outland has landed on people's radars in a big way. The Ubisoft published XBLA and PSN downloadable features a side-scrolling, platforming world populated by beam saber wielding silhouettes, Shadow of the Colossus styled bosses, and vibrant colors.

The real surprise here, is that Outland borrows it's main gameplay concept from the cult shoot'em up classic, Ikaruga. To sum up the mechanic, I paraphrase Wikipedia's Ikaruga page:

Only attacks of an opposite polarity can kill the player. Same-colored attacks are absorbed. Switching the character's polarity also changes his color, and attacking an enemy using the opposite-polarity is the primary method of inflicting damage.

That about sums it up, loosely. While I'm sure there will be plenty of differences and added complexities, Outland looks pretty much like a side-scrolling Ikaruga, and I ain't mad about that. Developers Housemarque have confirmed that we'll have moments of bullet hell, where projectiles of different colors infest every piece of glorious HD screen space, leaving the player with no option but to color shift, dodge, and man the fuck up. 

As what could be the greatest testament to gaming hand-eye coordination, shoot 'em ups have never really had mainstream popularity. Though for those of us that have a dirty little secret love for the underutilized genre, Outland looks to keep us content with it's wonderful shoot 'em up heart and it's sexy side-scrolling body.

Preview: Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

Is there something wrong with me? People within the game journalism game are game for gushing over this game. Me, not so much. Don't get me wrong, it looks good. The action seems fun, the graphics are incredible, but something about Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is rubbing me the wrong way.

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Sony Brings Multiple URLs Together to Form a Move Marketing Voltron

Check out Sony's marketing for Playstation Move. It's one site that is comprised of about 7 unique URLs, each serving a specific purpose. Have a mother or girlfriend who you need to convince to buy you a Move? Enlist the help of the Sensitive Fireman, who will be damned if appealing to your woman's soft side won't net you some glowy motion controlled goodness. Unsure of how Move stacks up to the competition? Try Move vs. Stuff. Need to catch up with the latest Move trailers and promos? Move Candy has you covered. Last but surely not least, if you're leaning toward the purchase of a Kinect rather than a Playstation Move, Yay Buttons makes an argument targeted indirectly at Microsoft's motion tracking system, and quite cleverly too. Say what you will about Sony and Playstation 3, but their marketing is always top notch.

Yay Buttons and Sensitive Fireman are definitely the best of the bunch, but the other URLs serve their purpose as well. It's a neat little site thrown together by the folks at Sony, and even if you're not ready to drop the money on motion controlled gaming yet, you should at least give it 5 minutes of your time for some information on the system, and a bit of fun.

Amazon's Preorder Deals Are Get

Those of you who have followed Otaku But Gangsta for some time now (bless your patient souls) know how much I support Amazon's game store. Preordering games from Amazon.com, more often then not, credits you with ten or twenty bones after your order ships, to use on any game that ships directly from their warehouses. Dayum! That brings the price of most new games down to $40, that's like.. SNES or Genesis prices right there, and that's what games SHOULD cost. 

The kind folks at GamerDeals.net have compiled a list of the fiscal year's upcoming releases, with how much credit you can expect for each. Amazon has been running these promotions for as long as I can remember, and it amazes me how people can get their gaming fix from pits like GameStop, who will offer you $20 for the title you spent $60 on last week. Oh gee thanks, that's so generous of you. While GameStop may offer superior in-game bonuses for your preorders, to me nothing beats Amazon's credit deal. Getting a mom-and-pop game shop to break street date by a few days comes close, but that's about it. 

How else can Amazon continue to build their video game customer base? How about ninety-nine cent release date delivery? Or even better, if you have a .edu email address, free release date delivery for a year, on top of other things. Amazon's aggressive game marketing strategies has kept me coming back to them, and I bet once you try it, you'll be hooked in too.

Amazon $10-$20 Video Game Credit List via GamerDeals

Hyperbolic Statement: The Old Republic Will Blast Faces Off

As another gaming con concludes, another Star Wars: The Old Republic trailer graces our unworthy, fleshy presences. The latest tease job from our future benevolent overlords at BioWare, comes not in the form of barn-burning animated fight scenes, but instead submerges us in the lore of The Old Republic.

An oddly composed party of four stand before an imperial officer, who preps the crew on their mission at hand. The basis of the forthcoming mission widens the eyes of both gamers and geeks alike; Darth Revan. A conversation wheel appears, the player makes his choice, the character relays the player's thoughts, and we're off to battle.

The fighting is smooth, the voice acting is top notch, and the story is rich and fulfilling. These are the things we know and/or can assume, seeing as how BioWare can rarely do wrong, and we've seen their union with Lucasarts leads to things of an awesome nature. The inclusion of Darth Revan will reel in KotOR and Star Wars fanboys alike, and in the off chance that Revan doesn't have you pitching a tent, well maybe the blood red rust of HK-47 in glorious HD will?