Dragon Blade: A promising Wii Exclusive nobodies ever heard of

IGN had some hands-on time with a brand new Wii exclusive from the guys who brought you Panzer Dragoon. The game takes place in an ancient asian region- presumably Japan and promises some intense motion based action.

Hit the jump to see some highlights from IGNs report.

Sam Guilloud, product manager for D3 Publisher of America spoke on the team's influence for Dragon Blade, stating that, "We really want the player to have an arcade experience by just getting involved in the game. We want them to feel like they're the ones kicking ass, rather than spending too much time looking for 'jars of honey,' playing mini-games, or doing side quests. It's about getting them involved in the game, and letting them really take it to the enemies. There's really not a lot of content on the Wii that's actually 'action-oriented.' There's a ton of family games and casual games, a lot of sports titles and first-person shooters, but there isn't really a good hack-'n-slash game that lets people go nuts and really kick ass."

Sam Guilloud, product manager for D3 Publisher of America spoke on the team's influence for Dragon Blade, stating that, "We really want the player to have an arcade experience by just getting involved in the game. We want them to feel like they're the ones kicking ass, rather than spending too much time looking for 'jars of honey,' playing mini-games, or doing side quests. It's about getting them involved in the game, and letting them really take it to the enemies. There's really not a lot of content on the Wii that's actually 'action-oriented.' There's a ton of family games and casual games, a lot of sports titles and first-person shooters, but there isn't really a good hack-'n-slash game that lets people go nuts and really kick ass."

Game seems like it could be a really solid God of War clone- I'll take it!

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Tomb Raider: Anniversary (ps2) review

Unlike Perri when I write a review I will try and make it as short as I can, but also giving you my opinion and information to weather it’s even worth renting or worth buying. Today the review is Tomb Raider Anniversary for the PS2: a remake of one of the most popular games that started a well known series.
Read on. To view my review!

Aesthetics. 4/5

I never played a Tomb Raider game before, not even when I had ps1 but I wanted to play this game very badly when I herd it was coming out, so I rented it. The graphics in Tomb Raider for the PS2 are very good. The environments look nice, there’s a lot of detail, which is great because the first level takes place in the ruins of an ancient city. Keeping in mind this game does not look as good as God Of War 2, but I mean HEY! Nether does MGS3. Lara Croft as compared to the environments looks…well ok; she doesn’t have as much detail as her environments that she wonders around in. You can really notice this when you move the camera around so it’s close to her. This leads to another thing; the camera can be a pain in the ass. Sometimes you are not able to see where you are able to jump too when you go from white block to white block. I do like how the game looks, you have to get used to the camera and once your passed that its all smiles from there. I like the controls too, they use the ps2 controller well everything is pretty easy to get used too, its very user friendly.

Sound. 5/5

I really like the sound track, its suitable and its goes great with the game. The roars and barks for the animals are helpful too, for example. Before you were to fight a wolf you would hear a howl and then the thing would run out from behind a corner. This gives you time to aim and get ready to unload 2 mags on him. The raptors are great to shoot!

Game play. 5/5

The game play is fine, it controls like a 3rd person shooter should. There is a new game play mechanic in Tomb Raider; it’s kind of like the matrix. Whenever an enemy charges at you it goes into this slow-mo mini game where when it shows you on the bottom right of the screen you dodge left or right using the “O” button and the left analog stick. Then when you dive out of the way you have the chance to do an instant kill once your aimer is aligned with the head of the animal. HEEEEAD SHOOT!(UR:T announcer voice) This is helpful when you fight the T-Rex, that’s pretty much how you beat your first boss battle. Also there are interactive cut-scenes which are pretty kool, its not as intense as some in Resident Evil 4, but they fit into the game nicely, its doesn’t seem forced.

Immersion. 5/5

I didn’t want to put it down. I really enjoyed this game and I kept it 3 days passed the due date from Rodgers. The puzzles are great, keeps you thinking and frustrated. They basically consist of figuring out how you get from point A to point B by climbing and jumping, etc. Tomb Raider keeps you on edge and your always asking questions ever time you turn a corner. I’ve only completed 25% of the game, but like I said. I didn’t want to stop playing it, so I bought it yesterday morning.

Recommendations.

Hmmm. Well any Tomb Raider game, Prince of Persia (1 & 3), I’m sure there’s more I just cant think of any.

Bottom Line.

This game may be on ps2 but its one of the best out right now.

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Buy this Game! Zack & Wiki

I have to admit that I was never really excited about this game, not even the screenshots won me over. Yes, this is the game formerly known as Project Tresure Island Z nobody thought the name could get any worse, yet somehow- it did. Zack & Wiki: The Search for Barbaros' Treasure is a mouthful, yes - but it looks fantastic! Nice to see some polish coming to the Wii, the animation is beautiful and the style is great. Over at IGN Matt and Bozon (Wii editors) have a little campaign going. They want people to buy this game, they've been playing it and say it is a must have! The last Eternal Darkness on the Cube, not many bought it but it is an amazing game. I'm thinking this will be added to my library eventually, how about you?

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Beautiful Katamari a 360 Exclusive?

Is Microsoft bringing another PS exclusive to the 360??? Is Beautiful Katamari even coming out for the Playstation 3?! What's this about a Namcom-Bandai/Microsoft exclusivity agreement? Read on gamers.


So from when it was first announced, back in March by way of a cell phone image we knew that Katamari was coming to the 360. There were listings for both a Wii and Playstation 3 verison. However, about a month later Namco-Bandai was found comfirming Katamari for the 360 and PS3, omitting the Wii copy. At the same time they also confirmed the rumoured name: Beautiful Katamari, this was back in April.

Well, as of yesterday (June 15th), N'Gai Croal from Newsweek's video game blog has claimed an exclusivity deal between MS and Namco Bandai is very close to happening with an announcement more then likely to be made during the E3 event. To back up these allegations, Croal notes that Namco Bandai have already started a 360 exclusive trend what with; Ridge Racer 6, Eternal Sonata and Ace Combat 6 coming solely to the 360 console. Adding to this list is: Mobile Ops: The One Year War, Culdcept Saga and a Japanese only game Zegapain XOR.

It seems Namco Bandai has an exlusive deal on other platforms, PS3's Tekken 6 and Ridge Racer 7, so they aren't swearing allegiance to one console or another and with Soul Caliber IV on the the way cross platform games are still coming. This exclusivity deal is just a rumour, for now....what seems to be happening is Microsoft reaching out to the Japanese market

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You thought the rivalry ended with the fall of the Dreamcast!

This is a little fucked up, to say the least. An article on Kotaku.com which takes quotes from the Vice President of Marketing for SEGA America, Scott Steinberg is actually talkin "smack" about the Wii. He proclaims that it will be out dated in 2-5 years time in graphics and in motion controls. He is also very much favouring the PS3 and 360 saying developers will get more value from them, due to there processing power and better graphics they can provide. Hmmmmm as of right now i dont think its the best idea to start stirring up the shit with Nintendo, maybe once the PS3 is leading in sales, then that may be a good time....when ever that may be.

Maybe Scott is still sour about seeing our lovable/badass blue hedge hog on a nintendo system! GOD! I wish they would make a GOOD sonic game! just bring it back to 2D! :(

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Zelda: Phantom Hourglass site goes live

The title really says all you need to know, check it out.
The DS games just keep looking better, and better!

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Time Crisis at home on your PS3

Well this is kool news, Namco has made it official that one of the greatest arcade shooters is coming to the PS3. It will include a new version of the light gun, one that will work with LCD screens and according to IGN there will be a new game play feature where you can look left and right. That's really awsome, i cant wait to see how it will look :)

I was just watching the F1 Montreal race on speed channel today, its a re-airing of the event and i just saw this crash, its one of the most insane things Ive ever seen!

here's another angel

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Yet another Indie game hoping to get inside your Wii - Capucine

It would seem the Wii as become somewhat of a haven for indie developers that make big promises and then fade into obscurity...Anyways, with the surfacing of Pollen Sonata, and an actual gameplay video I suppose a new bar has been set. If you say your making a game, prove it. Simple right? Well, thats exactly what the French developers who created Capucine have done. They actually have a ton of media over at their site, check it out - keep in mind this is likely very early footage, but I still find it impressive. Graphics are decent, will undoubtedly be worked on, but I see a lot of potential. Hit up the site for the interesting plot and unique gameplay info!

via Dtoid

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Ubisoft tapping into the power of the DS with Brothers in Arms

It would seem that Ubisoft has really gotten comfy with Nintendo's behemoth of a handheld, and has found out how to get the most out of it's visuals. It begs the question though, where was this Ubisoft at the Wii launch? This game honestly looks better than Call of Duty 3 on the Wii. I didn't think I'd ever see destructable environments on the DS, but it happened. Aaron Linde at Destructoid points out that the game looks like it belongs on the PSP and states that Wii games will eventually start looking good- lets hope.

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DOXOfeature: Dyack at IASC, The 8th Art.

This past week I had the pleasure of attending the 'Immersive Worlds' conference at Brock University. There were many interesting Game related lectures going on, my most anticipated? Dennis Dyack. He spoke of many things, Too human, Gaming as Art, the future of gaming and revealed little more about his new SEGA game to me. (very little)

Full report, and the 'one question exclusive interview' after the jump!


Dennis kicked off his speech by showing us a real time cinematic of Too Human, it’s the same build he showed us last time, still looks great. He then went on to introduce his colleague Barry Grant who happens to be a professor of Film studies at Brock University, but also belongs to the Silicon Knights team. He spoke a great deal about the history of film and the uphill battle film makers faced when trying to convince the masses that moving pictures deserved to be taken seriously as an art form, and not strictly as entertainment. He draws many parallels to the gaming industry, sharing the same mentality that Dyack himself has expressed many times before; Games are moving away from a past of strictly entertaining people and moving into a future where they are held in much higher regard. An interesting comparison he shared was that early film, much like gaming, found its popularity in spectacle- something that lost it’s appeal overtime. As film matured though, the evolution of characters, and story telling was able to create compelling pieces of art that held more than ones eyes- they made you think. This is where Silicon Knights believes gaming is going, more accurately, it is where Dyack and Co. want to take it.

At that point Dennis took the stage again and recollected a talk he had with Hideo Kojima. During the production of Twin Snakes Dyack asked Kojima what they could have done to make a bigger impact with Eternal Darkness. Kojima gave him a simple answer:

You need to erase the lines between cinematic an gameplay.

This was the sole inspiration for the ‘controllable cut scenes’ in Too Human. He brought up the fact that there are standards for cinematography that should not be ignored in gaming and that even limitations of film are being emulated in games in order to achieve the same sense of immersion. He gave us an example. In film, the background of a scene is often out of focus, minimalizing distraction for viewers. This was originally a limitation of primitive cameras, but has carried on because it is a technique that works. In this current generation of gaming we are seeing more and more depth of field being created through atmospheric perspective (essentially- sharper in the front, blurry in the back) which is something that games are not limited too, in fact it’s quite the opposite. Gaming hardware needed to get more advanced to pull off this ’restriction’. Dyack then went into another direction, he spoke about how we have reached a point where technology does not drive the industry, and that it was backwards thinking to say otherwise. He calls out for more creativity, and more academia in gaming. Rich stories, and deep character design, he calls for a Renaissance 2.0. He states that the art will drive the industry, the science - just as it did in the day of Michelangelo. I have to admit it was a pretty inspiring little segment. He explained how the mentality of some developers is like that of a stereotypical high school student, his example; Rockstar. He believes that if you ask somebody at Rockstar what makes their game fun, they don’t have satisfying answers, and will simply say something like, ‘Hey it’s a cool game, because I’m cool, and I made it. I’m a Rockstar.’ Again questioning the maturity of the industry, but also questioning sales.

He expressed that he was a bit dissatisfied with sales of Eternal Darkness, especially after the success of Legacy of Kain (which he blamed partly on platform). This caused him to think hard about a games marketability and what it is that people want to play. He stated that he believed graphics played a huge part in this, using Gears of War as an example (as he did last time I saw him speak) he said that it was one of the most beautiful games he had ever seen but that the play mechanics were average at best, and that the story would have been better had it not existed. He actually downplayed the importance of gameplay a little bit, stating that a lot of games that have ‘the play’ and not ‘the look’ tend to attract less gamers. He continued, saying that games like Mario and Zelda are often successful (not to mention over 20 years old) due to this synthesis. He then spoke of the engagement theory. Dyack claims, that games sell based on the level of engagement offered to the player and that different attributes hold certain weight.

Engagement = Art +Audio + Content + Gameplay

Controversially, he believes in this as a sort of hierarchy, placing gameplay at the bottom. I would assume that each attribute doesn’t hold much more weight than the next, but Silicon Knights does seem more concerned with telling a story.

I came out of the presentation rather impressed with Silicon Knight’s vision and commitment to that vision. Judging from what I’ve seen of the game so far it seems that they’re making large strides towards their goal and it’s really exciting to see as a gamer. After wards I approached Dennis who actually recognized me. I told him I didn’t want to ask him another question he couldn’t answer, at least not in front of everybody. So I asked him a few in private. He wouldn’t elaborate much on the SEGA project (which he revealed to me months ago, as a multiplatform title), but continued to ask him about it:

Me: I know SEGA has been reviving a bunch of their old franchises lately, like Alien Syndrome, is this another attempt at that?

Dyack: No no, this is something that we’re building- something brand new.

That’s all he would say about that, I’ll admit it’s more exciting a prospect than an old IP coming back , look forward to it- just not anytime soon.


Hit this to see our report from SKHQ where the first tidbit about the SEGA game was revealed to me

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