Square had Dissidia: Final Fantasy playable at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show. Dissidia does not have an announced release date outside of Japan (where it hits on December 18th) but Square Enix would be foolish not to release this celebration of the Final Fantasy series 20th anniversary stateside.
If you haven’t heard of Dissidia, it is an upcoming PSP “fighting” game where you use everyone’s favorite characters from the entire Final Fantasy universe and fight in one-on-one duels with other all-star characters. You can think of it as Square Enix’s answer to Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. Brawl (although it’s apparently only a single or two-player game, no hint of online support).
Major characters that you can play as in Dissida include: Titus from Final Fantasy X, Squall from Final Fantasy VIII, Kefka from Final Fantasy VI, Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII, Zidane from Final Fantasy IX, Cecil from Final Fantasy IV, Garland from Final Fantasy I and, of course, Cloud from Final Fantasy VII (although he’s yet to be fully revealed), among many others. The group of heroes and villains is truly an all-star cast.
And like Super Smash Bros., the game does not play like a traditional fighting game. As you can see in these gameplay trailers from the 2008 Tokyo Game Show.
And here are the previously released Characters trailer and the second released trailer for the game.
Capcom saw fit to release a new trailer for Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show, as the game’s release date is nearly upon us. It hits U.S. shores, exclusively for Nintendo DS, on October 21st (two days before it hits Japan).
In Order of Ecclesia players take on the role of Shanoa, female member of the Ecclesia, which is an organization that has sworn to defeat the evil forces of Dracula. By using the new Glyph attack system, gamers will be able to unleash over 100 different combinations to battle Dracula’s minions throughout 20 explorable areas.
Here is the newest trailer for the game, which shows off some nice, stylish cut-scene animation, with interesting artwork, and then cuts to actual gameplay.
StarCraft II’s opening cinematic set the BlizzCon 2008 crowd afire when Blizzard unveiled a teaser video of the intro to their highly anticipated RTS sequel. Even though the scene was simply a teaser, and not the entire sequence.
But once again Blizzard impresses with some mighty fine CG that is quite simply as top-notch as you can get. Although the opening cinematic isn’t as action packed as I thought it would be, given that this is StarCraft II. But regardless, the teaser video definitely has a very cool, Aliens-esque cinematic feel to it that is definitely worth checking out. And fans will be in for a treat.
Today Nintendo adds new/classic games to the popular Wii Shop Channel. The games go live at 9AM Pacific time. Wii owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at stores like Amazon (see Card above).
We’ve included videos of each of today’s games for nostalgia’s sake or so you can see if it’s to your tastes.
This week’s new WiiWare games are:
World of Goo (2D Boy, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone—Comic Mischief, 1,500 Wii Points = $15): World of Goo is an award-winning, physics-based puzzle/construction game made entirely by two guys. Grab living, squirming, talking globs of goo to build structures, bridges, cannonballs, zeppelins and giant tongues. The millions of Goo Balls that live in the beautiful World of Goo are curious to explore—but they don’t know that they are in a game, or that they are extremely delicious. World of Goo Corporation is contractually obligated to state that everyone is a winner, and is enthusiastic to celebrate everyone’s Goo building opportunities equally.
Art Style: Cubello (Nintendo, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone, 600 Wii Points = $6): Art Style: Cubello mixes the strategy and feel of a traditional puzzle game with the precision and reflexes required in a shooter. As each stage begins, various colored cubes form into one large object called a Cubello, which floats and rotates as you play. Launch additional cubes from your magazine and try to connect four or more of the same color, removing them from the Cubello and eventually leaving only its core. Take on the challenge of either Stage or Endless mode and watch what happens when Bonus Time is activated. The straightforward controls and goal ensure that anyone can play, while offering enough depth that even advanced players will find themselves quickly addicted to the unique world of Art Style: Cubello.
This week’s new Virtual Console games are:
Secret of Mana (Super NES, 1-3 players, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older—Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes, 800 Wii Points = $8): Good and evil battle for a young warrior’s heart. There is one force in the universe that keeps good and evil in perfect balance. It is called the tree of Mana. But a magic sword has tricked a young warrior into upsetting this balance, spreading evil throughout the land. Thus, the warrior must undertake a dangerous journey to find the seeds of the Mana tree, which have been hidden for centuries. Only then can perfect harmony be restored. In this incredible adventure, things are not as they seem. Magic swords release evil as well as fight it. Treasure chests hold booby traps. Monsters are friends and friends are enemies. Potions give power, black magic takes it away. Dragons fly, weapons change. It’s a world turned upside down that you must help the warrior make right. And the only way to succeed is to solve the Secret of Mana.
Street Fighter II’: Special Champion Edition (Sega Genesis, 1-2 players, Rated T for Teen—Violence, 800 Wii Points = $8): Street Fighter II’: Special Champion Edition was the first Street Fighter game released for the Sega Genesis console. The Street Fighter series can be considered one of the first fighting games to popularize competitive video game fighting. This version of the game contains both the Champion and Hyper rule sets, from the two editions released in the arcades. It also introduced an exclusive Group Battle mode that is now a general feature in most fighting games. Play as one of 12 different characters, each with their own distinctive fighting style. Try single-player mode or challenge a friend in this legendary, classic fighting game.
In the bold and often-bloody Dead Space gamers step into a third-person sci-fi survival horror experience that delivers psychological thrills and gruesome action. Set in the cold blackness of deep space, the atmosphere is soaked with a feeling of tension, dread and sheer terror.
In Dead Space, players step into the role of engineer Isaac Clarke – an ordinary man on a seemingly routine mission to fix the communications systems aboard a deep space mining ship. It is not long before Isaac awakes to a living nightmare when he learns that the ship’s crew has been ravaged by a vicious alien infestation. He must fight through the dead silence and darkness of deep space to stay alive.
How scary can zombies in space really be? “Very” according to this Dead Space video review.
To quote the IGN video review: “Call it science fiction survival horror, but Dead Space does the genre proud with an engaging story; action that’s tense, fast-paced and extremely violent; as well as atmospheric qualities that will get under your skin and make you jump. It may be a newcomer, but the seeds of an incredible franchise have been sown, and EA’s in a great position to reap a phenomenal franchise full of scares. If you like survival horror, action or sci-fi, Dead Space needs to be on your radar.”
There’s a comic series based on the upcoming original survival horror Dead Space video game. These six animated comics are set in the Dead Space universe, and serve as a prequel story for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC game that will be released on October 14th in time for Halloween 2008.
The comic is written and illustrated by Ben Templesmith and written by Antony Johnston. This series tells the gut-wrenching tale of a deep space mining colony that unexpectedly pulls an ancient and vicious alien life force from the dark rock.
Sh*t hits the fan amidst colony-wide panic in the last part.
Warhammer Online developer Mythic have said more than 750,000 people have registered accounts for the MMORPG. Although actual subscription numbers won’t be known until people begin paying to play, when their 30-day free trial runs out next weekend.
Interesting fact is that most of the registered accounts are for the Destruction faction. Mythic is promising to correct the unfair population imbalance. As a result starting last weekend 13 servers will apply 20% bonuses to Order characters gaining both experience and renown.
Turnabout Prosecutor AKA Gyakuten Kenji, is Capcom’s latest single player adventure game in development for the Nintendo DS. The spin-off game to the Ace Attorney series will take the series out of the courtroom and to the crime scenes to collect evidence, thus it will be more point-and-click style.
It’ll be released in Japan in spring 2009. No word yet on whether or not it will be released outside the country or if it includes an English language option like previous games in the Ace Attorney series.
The star characters in this game are Miles Edgeworth and Dick Gumshoe and takes place around the time of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations. Edgeworth’s rival will be a new prosecutor called Makoto Yuuki.
The game thrusts players into a shadowy world of chaos and terror with atmospheric graphics and an original storyline that sheds new light on the desolate, fog-shrouded town of Silent Hill. Silent Hill: Homecoming follows Alex Shepherd, a war veteran returning home from an overseas tour of duty to investigate the mysterious disappearance of his younger brother, Joshua. His travels lead him through the small, insular community of Shepherd’s Glen and eventually through the hauntingly empty streets of Silent Hill.
Building upon the series’ trademark foundations of atmosphere, adventure and storytelling, Silent Hill: Homecoming introduces players to a frightening new experience. When confronted by the perverse incarnations of evil that roam Silent Hill and Shepherd’s Glen, players are able to utilize an enhanced combat system and execute a number of offensive and defensive maneuvers as they experience every terrifying encounter with the game’s numerous nightmarish creatures. Players also have to solve a variety of puzzles as they progress through the highly atmospheric game world, using cues from the environment to unlock Silent Hill’s darkest secrets. Continuing the series’ tradition of standout music and sound design, Silent Hill: Homecoming features an original soundtrack by famed composer Akira Yamaoka.
Is this next-gen trip to Silent Hill as scary as its predecessors? Find out in this Silent Hill: Homecoming video review.
To quote the video review: “Silent Hill’s road to re-emergence is filled with its share of bumps, but Homecoming still delivers a solid follow-up worthy of its lineage. And that’s also the problem. The development team has played it safe, delivering a game that maintains the status quo. It will make fans giddy, but those without preconceived notions will find it to be a bit clunky and growing long in the tooth.”
Out of the complete Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World cast of over 40 playable characters (not including transformations), so far 25 characters have been revealed like Goku and Cell. So we thought it was time to list the DBZ characters below that have been confirmed for the PlayStation 2 versus fighting game that will be released in America on November 4th and in Europe on December 5th, 2008.
When you click on each DBZ character’s name below, a window will pop up with a picture or video of him/her.
The list of playable characters in alphabetical order:
1. Android #16
2. Android #17
3. Android #18
4. Android #19
5. Buu
6. Captain Ginyu
7. Cell (Semi-Perfect Form)
8. Dodoria
9. Frieza (First, Second & Third Forms)
10. Gohan (Young)
11. Goku (Normal and Super Saiyan)
12. Janemba
13. Krillin
14. Nappa
15. Piccolo
16. Pikkon
17. Raditz
18. Recoome (rest of the The Ginyu Force to follow)
19. Super 17
20. Tien
21. Trunks (Normal and Super Saiyan)
22. Vegeta (Normal and Super Saiyan)
23. Yajirobe
24. Yamcha
25. Zarbon
It’s unclear if some of the more passive DBZ characters shown in the game’s artwork will be playable in the game or just give tips. These include: Bulma, Chiaotzu, Chi Chi, Dende, Hercule, King Kai, Master Roshi, Mr. Popo, Ox-King and Puar.
What other characters do you think will join the fight?
This list gets updated as more characters are confirmed.
