In 1999, CyberConnect2's Tail Concerto launched in North America, giving gamers a 3D platformer in a world populated by mech-riding anthropomorphic cats and dogs caught in racial strife. More than a dozen years later, the developer is returning to the premise to create a spiritual successor to its PlayStation original, Solatorobo: Red the Hunter for the DS. XSEED Games today announced that it has reached an agreement with Japanese publisher Namco Bandai to bring Solatorobo to North American stores this fall.
Don't ask how they determine ownership of the robots.
Similar to its predecessor, Solatorobo is set on a chain of islands floating in the sky and inhabited by anthropomorphic cats and dogs that use mech suits in their day-to-day lives. Unlike Tail Concerto, Solatorobo is being billed as an action role-playing game. Players will assume the role of the adventurous Red Savarin and his mech Dahak as they embark on a journey that begins with a stolen file aboard an airship. In addition to mech-assisted combat, players will partake of minigames for a variety of activities like fishing and flying.
CyberConnect2 makes more than games about mech-riding anthropomorphic critters. The developer is also working on the over-the-top action game Asura's Wrath for Capcom and has spent the last decade producing numerous entries in the Naruto and .hack series.
Saturday 25 June 2011
Big in Japan June 13-19: Zelda 3D
Even with a new entry in Sega's popular Yakuza series, the top two spots of Media Create's Japanese sales chart for the week of June 13-19 were occupied by offerings from Level 5 and Nintendo. Taking first place was Danball Senki for the PSP with 166,187 units sold. The action role-playing game is about a boy named Ban Yamano who controls a customizable LBX robot and has to battle other kids with LBX robots. As a bonus for customers, the game comes with an AX-00 model that gamers can assemble from scratch.
Remote-controlled robot action is the flavor of the week on the Media Create chart.
Settling at second place is the remake of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, which sold 164,110 on its debut in the sales charts. A 3D version of the Nintendo 64 original, the game includes extras like modified Master Quest dungeons and a Boss Challenge mode.
Also making its debut is the adventure game/visual novel Steins; Gate Hiyoku Renri no Darling for the Xbox 360. The title allows gamers to affect the direction of the game via the choices onscreen, as well as use phone triggers to make choices through answering random phone calls and clicking on highlighted text from phone text messages. Unlike the past Steins; Gate title with dark overtones, the game's story is lighthearted and contains romantic elements.
While the PSP has seen a boost in hardware sales to 31,741 units from the previous week's 26,681 systems sold, it wasn't enough to top the 3DS. Driven in part by the release of Ocarina of Time 3D, Nintendo's new handheld topped 40,000 units sold for the week.
JAPAN GAME SALES WEEK OF JUNE 13-19
Software
Rank/Title/Publisher/Platform/Unit Sales
1. Danball Senki / Level 5 / PSP / 166,187
2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D / Nintendo / 3DS / 164,110
3. Yakuza: Of the End / Sega / PS3 / 53,775
4. Steins; Gate Hiyoku Renri no Darling / 5pb / Xbox 360 / 31,666
5. Steins; Gate Double Pack / 5pb / Xbox 360 / 11,041
6. Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D / Capcom / 3DS / 9,062
7. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 Professional / Square Enix / DS / 7,997
8. Battle & Get! Pokemon Typing DS / Nintendo / DS / 6,609
9. Wii Party / Nintendo / Wii / 6,556
10. One Piece Unlimited Cruise Special / Namco Bandai / 3DS / 6,549
Hardware
3DS – 40,649
PSP – 31,741
PS3 – 16,081
Wii – 6,678
DSi XL – 5,464
DSi – 5,322
Xbox 360 – 2,875
PS2 – 1,346
DS Lite – 109
PSP Go – 55
Remote-controlled robot action is the flavor of the week on the Media Create chart.
Settling at second place is the remake of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, which sold 164,110 on its debut in the sales charts. A 3D version of the Nintendo 64 original, the game includes extras like modified Master Quest dungeons and a Boss Challenge mode.
Also making its debut is the adventure game/visual novel Steins; Gate Hiyoku Renri no Darling for the Xbox 360. The title allows gamers to affect the direction of the game via the choices onscreen, as well as use phone triggers to make choices through answering random phone calls and clicking on highlighted text from phone text messages. Unlike the past Steins; Gate title with dark overtones, the game's story is lighthearted and contains romantic elements.
While the PSP has seen a boost in hardware sales to 31,741 units from the previous week's 26,681 systems sold, it wasn't enough to top the 3DS. Driven in part by the release of Ocarina of Time 3D, Nintendo's new handheld topped 40,000 units sold for the week.
JAPAN GAME SALES WEEK OF JUNE 13-19
Software
Rank/Title/Publisher/Platform/Unit Sales
1. Danball Senki / Level 5 / PSP / 166,187
2. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D / Nintendo / 3DS / 164,110
3. Yakuza: Of the End / Sega / PS3 / 53,775
4. Steins; Gate Hiyoku Renri no Darling / 5pb / Xbox 360 / 31,666
5. Steins; Gate Double Pack / 5pb / Xbox 360 / 11,041
6. Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D / Capcom / 3DS / 9,062
7. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 Professional / Square Enix / DS / 7,997
8. Battle & Get! Pokemon Typing DS / Nintendo / DS / 6,609
9. Wii Party / Nintendo / Wii / 6,556
10. One Piece Unlimited Cruise Special / Namco Bandai / 3DS / 6,549
Hardware
3DS – 40,649
PSP – 31,741
PS3 – 16,081
Wii – 6,678
DSi XL – 5,464
DSi – 5,322
Xbox 360 – 2,875
PS2 – 1,346
DS Lite – 109
PSP Go – 55
Marathon coming to iPad for free
Gamers who owned a Mac in the mid-1990s likely have fond memories of Marathon, a sci-fi shooter many consider the spiritual ancestor to Halo. Today, both games' developer, Bungie, confirmed that Marathon is coming back to a new Apple platform--the iPad.
Marathon will soon be available for the iPad for free, thanks to a big fan.
Via Bungie.net, the company revealed that Marathon for the iPad will soon be available and was ported over by a rabid fan of the series. In an in-depth Q&A, Bungie interviews software developer Daniel Blezek, who has spent his spare time porting over the game since the iPad was released in April 2010. Originally set for release last fall, the game will be available shortly on the App Store--and it will be completely free.
According to Blezek, the iPad version of Marathon will run at 30 fps and will feature a set of onscreen controls adapted from the original keyboard commands. It will have a virtual left joystick for motion, with an "action" button underneath it. The right thumb will have primary and secondary fire controls above a button, which switches weapons. Though the original Marathon had no aiming reticle, the iPad version will have it as an option.
First released in 1994 for the Mac, Marathon is set during the year 2794 on board the huge starship Marathon, which is en route to colonize far-off worlds. Players assume the role of a security officer on board the ship who must repel an invasion by races of hostile aliens known as the S'pht and the Pfhor. The defense is complicated when Durandal, one of the artificial intelligences on board the ship, becomes "rampant," prompting him to take increasingly unstable--and homicidal--actions.
Marathon's arrival on the iPad will mark the second time a game in the classic series has been brought to a current-generation platform. In 2007, Marathon: Durandal, an updated version of Marathon 2: Durandal, was ported to the Xbox 360 by independent developer Freeverse.
Marathon will soon be available for the iPad for free, thanks to a big fan.
Via Bungie.net, the company revealed that Marathon for the iPad will soon be available and was ported over by a rabid fan of the series. In an in-depth Q&A, Bungie interviews software developer Daniel Blezek, who has spent his spare time porting over the game since the iPad was released in April 2010. Originally set for release last fall, the game will be available shortly on the App Store--and it will be completely free.
According to Blezek, the iPad version of Marathon will run at 30 fps and will feature a set of onscreen controls adapted from the original keyboard commands. It will have a virtual left joystick for motion, with an "action" button underneath it. The right thumb will have primary and secondary fire controls above a button, which switches weapons. Though the original Marathon had no aiming reticle, the iPad version will have it as an option.
First released in 1994 for the Mac, Marathon is set during the year 2794 on board the huge starship Marathon, which is en route to colonize far-off worlds. Players assume the role of a security officer on board the ship who must repel an invasion by races of hostile aliens known as the S'pht and the Pfhor. The defense is complicated when Durandal, one of the artificial intelligences on board the ship, becomes "rampant," prompting him to take increasingly unstable--and homicidal--actions.
Marathon's arrival on the iPad will mark the second time a game in the classic series has been brought to a current-generation platform. In 2007, Marathon: Durandal, an updated version of Marathon 2: Durandal, was ported to the Xbox 360 by independent developer Freeverse.
Xenoblade creators working on Wii U title
A number of developers are keen to work their magic on Nintendo's upcoming console, so it should not come as a shock that a first-party developer for the company would be next in line to announce its contribution. Monolith Soft, who recently created Xenoblade Chronicles and Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier, is currently in the middle of creating a game for the Wii U, the new system that was announced at the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo.
Will the Wii U title from the Xenoblade creators be another RPG?
The company recently put up new positions on its recruitment page, according to a translation done by Siliconera. The page itself states that the company is looking for an effects designer to create battle effects in the upcoming game. Other positions include a motion designer for events and battle scenes, as well as an experienced 2D designer who can draw mecha using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Corel Painter.
Will the Wii U title from the Xenoblade creators be another RPG?
The company recently put up new positions on its recruitment page, according to a translation done by Siliconera. The page itself states that the company is looking for an effects designer to create battle effects in the upcoming game. Other positions include a motion designer for events and battle scenes, as well as an experienced 2D designer who can draw mecha using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Corel Painter.
L.A. Noire PC-bound this fall, ships 4 million units
Rockstar Games answered many gamers' prayers today by announcing that L.A. Noire is coming to the PC this fall. Originally announced as a PlayStation 3 exclusive in 2005, the open-world crime-solving game has already proven a hit on Sony's console and the Xbox 360, shipping 4 million units worldwide to date. Since its mid-May release, the open-world game has sold nearly 900,000 copies domestically on both platforms, enough to make it the top domestic release for that month.
L.A. Noire will soon be solving cases on the PC.
Though the original was developed by Australian studio Team Bondi, the PC edition of L.A. Noire is being ported over by Rockstar Leeds. According to Rockstar Games, the Windows version of the game "will run on a wide range of PCs" and support both keyboard remapping and gamepads. The PC edition will also sport 3D graphics, something not found on the console editions of the game. Rockstar did not specify what type of 3D the game will support.
L.A. Noire follows Cole Phelps, a detective entangled in a violent web of vice, corruption, and crime in 1947 Los Angeles. Players jump into the seedy underworld of the metropolis and are tasked with solving a series of murders and other criminal offenses, ranging from arson and drug trafficking to racketeering.
L.A. Noire is also notable for its use of the new facial animation system called MotionScan, which captured the performances of real-life actors. In the game, players can read the faces of characters during questioning to determine if they are lying or not, thereby advancing the storyline.
L.A. Noire will soon be solving cases on the PC.
Though the original was developed by Australian studio Team Bondi, the PC edition of L.A. Noire is being ported over by Rockstar Leeds. According to Rockstar Games, the Windows version of the game "will run on a wide range of PCs" and support both keyboard remapping and gamepads. The PC edition will also sport 3D graphics, something not found on the console editions of the game. Rockstar did not specify what type of 3D the game will support.
L.A. Noire follows Cole Phelps, a detective entangled in a violent web of vice, corruption, and crime in 1947 Los Angeles. Players jump into the seedy underworld of the metropolis and are tasked with solving a series of murders and other criminal offenses, ranging from arson and drug trafficking to racketeering.
L.A. Noire is also notable for its use of the new facial animation system called MotionScan, which captured the performances of real-life actors. In the game, players can read the faces of characters during questioning to determine if they are lying or not, thereby advancing the storyline.
Friday 24 June 2011
X-Men: First Class
At a German concentration camp in occupied Poland during 1944, young Erik Lensherr is separated from his parents by Nazi guards. The child's desperate mind remarkably bends a metal gate until a guard knocks Lensherr unconscious (the same footage that's in the first X-Men movie). Scientist Sebastian Shaw, who has observed this through a window, calls Lensherr up to see him. Placing a metal coin on a desk, he orders Lensherr to use his magnetism power to move it. When Lensherr cannot, despite his best efforts, Shaw shoots and kills Lensher's mother in front of him. In his rage, Lensherr's out-of-control magnetic power kills the two guards and destroys two rooms, to Shaw's delight.<code><!--more--></code>Around this same time, in Westchester County, New York, mansion, a young Charles Xavier meets a young, shape-shifting girl named Raven, disguised as his mother, who is looking through the fridge for food. Xavier accuses his "mother" of being an imposter, and asks what it has done with his real mother, as she would not make him a sandwich or hot chocolate, at which point, Mystique shifts back to her normal, blue-skinned form. Overjoyed to meet someone else "different" like him, he says she can come live with his family.
In Switzerland in the movie's present-day of 1962, Lensherr forces a banker (by ripping out one of the metal fillings in his mouth) to trace a bar of Nazi gold to Shaw's address in Argentina. In a tavern there patronized by former German soldiers, Lensherr kills three men as he learns that Shaw has a yacht in Florida. Meanwhile, in England, Oxford University graduate Xavier is publishing his thesis on mutation; his foster sister Raven, a waitress, lives with him. Simultaneously in Las Vegas, Nevada, CIA agent Moira MacTaggart follows U.S. Army Colonel Hendry into the Hellfire Club, where she sees Shaw, Emma Frost, and Azazel. After Shaw threatens Henry, Azazel disappears with the officer; moments later he is in the War Room, advocating that U.S. install nuclear missiles in Turkey.
Shaw meets with Colonel Hendry on his yacht, and refuses to give Hendry his money, at which point Hendry pulls out a grenade and threatens to pull the pin, but Shaw takes the grenade and pulls the pin himself, and absorbs the blast (at which point we now learn that Shaw is a mutant, and absorbs energy, which also keeps him young), then taps Hendry, expelling the grenade's energy into the Colonel, blowing him up.
MacTaggart seeks Xaviers advice on mutation, and takes Xavier and Raven to the CIA to convince the chief that Shaw is a threat. After convincing them that mutants exist they are to be taken to a covert facility, but first Xavier tracks down Shaw. Lensherr attacks Shaw, and when Shaw escapes in his submarine Lensherr tries to stop him, but Xavier stops him so that he does not drown. Lensherr joins Xavier and Raven at the CIA facility, where they meet Hank McCoy, another mutant that Xavier accidentally outs. McCoy and Xavier use a prototype Cerebro to locate mutants and recruit several of them to train to stop Shaw. Upon the recruiting process, we also see Xavier and Lensherr walk up to Hugh Jackman in a bar and introduce themselves. Jackman tells them to go to hell, and they walk off.
Shaw plans to meet with a Russian general, but sends Frost instead, who is then captured by Xavier and Lensherr. The facility is attacked by Azazel, Riptide and Shaw, with all the guards being killed. Shaw recruits Angel and kills Darwin by forcing him to ingest a massive amount of energy. When Lensherr and Xavier return they begin to train the mutants, though Raven is conflicted about hiding her natural form.
President Kennedy institutes a blockade. Shaw travels with the Russian fleet to ensure that the missiles get to Cuba. Xavier, MacTaggart and Lensherr fly to the blockade to stop the fleets from engaging. Shaw uses a nuclear core to charge himself up and a helmet to block Xaviers telepathy. While Azazel kills the crew of the Russian missile ship, Xavier uses his powers to make a Russian ship destroy the missile ship before it crosses the line.
Lensherr pulls Shaws submarine from the water, but an attack forces the jet and submarine to crash. Lensherr finds Shaw and removes his helmet and Xavier takes control of Shaw. Lensherr puts on the helmet, then kills him by slowly forcing the coin that Shaw taunted him with through his brain.
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