Split Your Lungs with Blood and Thunder

Continuing my Halloween/Horror-themed game playing to be season-appropriate that started with Sleeping Dogs' Nightmare in North Point, I put my PS3 to the test yesterday and found out whether or not it could just...you know, download the 3.1 Gig download that is inFamous 2:  Festival of Blood, which I had purchased last year for a cheap Halloween sale but couldn't play because reasons.  Reasons that include not being able to leave my old PS3 on for the fifteen hours that was required   Reasons that have since been resolved and thankfully so, because I honestly didn't know what I was missing from my life by not having played Festival of Blood and now that I have fixed that little error, things seem that much better.  Brighter and sunnier, even.  Just nicer all around.

Much like Sleeping Dogs, inFamous 2 was just an absolute joy to play and that still holds true to this day, having gone back into it for the first time in months and picking it all back up rather easily and happily.  That means that inFamous 2's fluidity and enjoyment translate well into FoB at base, not even counting the fun little bits that FoB adds, and does it ever add a doozy.  And much like Nightmare in North Point, Festival of Blood changes things aesthetically for the most part, but leaves the bulk of the main gameplay in standard.  Your amp is replaced with a cross from a coffin that still has a bit of pointy wood left on it and that does change the animations - to finish vampires, you need to stake them with the pointy wood, obviously, and it is satisfying.  But the bulk of Cole's moves are still in play here, or at least the main suite of them - Zapping, repulsing, grenades, rockets and gliding are all present and accounted for and they're your bread and butter powers anyway.

The funny thing is that inFamous 2 got a lot of praise (from me, at least) for having the best system for freedom of movement I've played, and that's up to current standards, but Festival of Blood even manages to one-up it there.  Admittedly, it cheats a little to do this, however.  One of the first vampire powers you get (if not -the- first) is the Bat Swarm ability which allows you to turn into....well, a swam of bats and actually fly.  No gliding, no hovering or anything like that - actual sustained flight.  It's fast flight too!  You zip around the city pretty wildly with it....which is why there's a fairly drastic timer set on it.  You see, in addition to your Electricity Gauge, you have a 'blood pool' or what have you, which fuel your Vampire Powers, obviously.  Flight drains it rather quickly and you only have so much to start with, though you can collect upgrades (think blast shards, but in the form of blood jars) that extend your maximum blood pool which gives you more flight time.  It is definitely worth it to track them down (100 of 'em) once you're able to, and it's made trivial if you find glyphs that unlock your Advanced Vampire Sense, since that will point them out on the map while you're in bat form.

The only issue that I have with Festival of Blood is that...it is rather short, unfortunately.  I started it sometime around 2:30 PM this afternoon and had nearly 100% completed it in under six hours.  All I have left to do for all the trophies is completing some User Generated Content missions which will unlock what I imagine is the final power that I don't have, triggering both trophy unlocks in a single stroke.  (One for doing the required amount of UGCs, one for getting all the powers)  It was a hell of a ride while it lasted, and granted, the game is still just fun to toy around with, flying about (literally now) and such, but I only have so much time for games and far too many games for that little bit of time, so I'm afraid I'll have to be moving along as soon as I mop up the last little bit here.  I can't help but feel as if there's a little disproportionate return on it as, while I got it for cheap (I think it was honestly $3 when I bought it) it still took more than two times the length of time to download it as I'm going to put into it play-wise...which is my ISP's fault and not the fault of the game, of course.

Aside from that, one more night in inFamous 2's New Marais was an enjoyable experience all told.  I'd definitely recommend Festival of Blood if you dug inFamous 2, and if you didn't dig inFamous 2 then you just hate fun, so I don't know what to tell you.  If you're interested, it's currently $3.99 for Playstation Plus users (and will probably stay that way til November 5th, 2013) and it's definitely worth that, no questions asked.  I do however feel like I'm kind of the last person who played inFamous 2 but not Festival of Blood at this point, so it might be a bit moot anyway, but it's still always nice to put a recommendation out there.  Never know who's going to check things out, after all.  And with something as good as Festival of Blood was, you're gonna wanna make sure it's known universally.

I was just so happy when I thought of the Blood and Thunder thing, you don't even know

I Called It - Gravity Rush 2 Teased/Announced at TGS

Now, I'm not going to claim to be some sort of clairvoyant for seeing this one coming, but it needs to be said that, at every grumble about "oh no, Sony isn't committing enough First-Party to the Vita, blah blah blah", I said, without hesitation "you have no idea what you're actually talking about".  Or some variation of that, really.  And it all basically ended with "There's God of War coming in some fashion (likely beyond the HD Collection), Uncharted: Golden Abyss 2, hopefully an inFamous game and of course Gravity Rush 2.  Which will probably be announced at TGS, what with it being very Japan-focused and shit.  And Gravity Rush being a Japan-centric kind of game."  So, yes, I called it and I am going to gloat about that, because I don't even care whether or not I should gloat about it.

Anyone could see this coming, really - Gravity Rush was the title that was trotted out whenever the Vita was talked about, either because it looked amazing before it came out, or because it was amazing after it came out.  It did good numbers - it was never going to set the world on fire, given the hesitance to embrace the Vita by the community at large which is gradually shifting - but for what could have been expected of it, it did great, and being packed in for the Vita's first year of Plus made it accessible to everyone, thus ensuring it's a Vita game that's synonymous with the system.  So, a sequel was always expected, not just hoped for, and it was always going to happen.

The thing to wonder about now is just what's going to happen with it.  Absolutely nothing -about- the game was announced, just that teaser, so details could range from anything to everything.  The one thing that I almost worry about is whether or not the game is solely going to come out on the Vita.  One of the major whinging factors about Gravity Rush was that it was -only- on the Vita (because people don't understand the concept of exclusives) and were constantly clamoring for a PS3 version.  With nobody really wanting to commit anything to -one- system anymore, it seems, I worry that Gravity Rush 2 might be PS4/Vita which isn't bad per se, but it's missing the point.  Gravity Rush 1 -or- 2 doesn't need to be on a TV and I think that it might actually suffer from it, if not in the controls (the gyroscope, mainly, the touch controls I can take or leave) but for the sheer....feel of it, I guess.  It just fit perfectly on the Vita, and I worry that I might feel a sort of disconnect simply playing it on a DualShock 4 and staring at my TV.

It would also take the wind out of the sails of the announcement completely, since it would almost be confirming what everyone's griping about, with Sony "not committing" enough to the Vita.  A PS4 version would almost completely negate the Vita version in the ways that people....not 'care' about, but complain and speak smugly about, which just leads to a lot of annoyances and is completely not the point of the game or anything entirely.  It'll just mar something that could otherwise just be great personified and that irks me more than a little bit.  It all hinges on whether or not Sony wants to show a little loyalty to the Vita, versus scatter-shot release habits to 'ensure' that it's so much profit that nobody even knows what the fuck.  Which...seems like an unfortunately easy decision.  But we'll just have to see.  Not directly announcing it for the Vita with the teaser is making me just a...tad bit wary, I should say.

I still called that shit, and I want that on record, bitches

Gamescom Was a Nice Little Vita Show After All

A common worry going into Sony's Gamescome Event was that it was going to be an all-PS4 show.  That's not a far-fetched idea, given that the PS4 is the new hotness riding a wave of positive PR thanks to E3 and such, but everyone was hoping that the Vita would see some sort of acknowledgement, and we got that and then some.  We didn't get a sequel to Uncharted:  Golden Abyss announcement (unfortunately, this would've been the perfect time to announce it) or a Gravity Rush 2 announcement (which was always going to be TGS), but we got some good news nonetheless.  News that some people are prodding endlessly with a stick instead of just saying "Yeah, it's good" because we can't all agree on anything ever because why would we, but that's just the way of things.

Between the straight-up price-cut of the Vita itself and the lowered memory card prices, Sony managed to shave a very nice bit of the price off the lovely little portable.  A nice bit more than people actually realize, it seems, because they're not looking at the big picture.  The $50 price-cut of the Vita itself is steep and much nicer to think about, and each tier of the memory cards took a drop.  4 Gig dropped $5, 8 Gig dropped $10 and the 16 and 32 Gigs each dropped $20, meaning you're spending a right comparable amount of money picking up a Vita and a 16 Gig card versus a 3DSXL bundle.  My 3DS XL Bundle, the Animal Crossing one was ~$220 for the system, Animal Crossing (pre-loaded) and a 4 Gig stick (which was less than 4 gigs because Animal Crossing).  If you buy the shiny Walking Dead Vita Bundle for $200 (which comes with a 4 gig stick) and throw down $40 for a 16 gig stick, you have $240 invested in it, 4 times the storage for $20 extra.  Essentially, price parity is pretty nice and if when you throw in Playstation Plus for $50, you get a ridiculous amount of games for a year which makes the value shoot right up.  So yes, you spend a little more, but you get miles more than the money you spend unless you jump in the Wal-Mart deal, spend less and get a shitload of content.

People rail on and on that there's no reason for the proprietary cards and insane prices and, sorry, there is.  It's called the PSP.  Piracy was absolute bananas on the PSP and, unlike the DS, it actively squeezed out and over-shadowed actual purchases for the device, which is not something that Sony wanted a repeat of.  Games just didn't sell, but whenever they released, they were among the most pirated things on all the popular sites out there, so the age-old excuse of "if there were good games I -would- buy them" went right out the damn window.  Hell, Metal Gear Solid:  Peace Walker only sold 52,000 physical copies in America at launch which is ridiculous for a Metal Gear Solid game and especially as good of one as Peace Walker was.  Yet, there were far, far more people that played it than that - it's not like the DS was where a game got 23.34 Million sales (like Mario Kart DS, jesus) and got heavily pirated as well.  That's what I mean when I say that the actual buyers got squeezed out of the equation - the buyers just didn't compare at all to the people just straight-up downloading the games.  So that's why they went a more controlled route this go around.  Because you can't tell me that people would've bought games for a $250 Sony handheld if it was as easy to pirate as the PSP.

There was also the matter of games being announced for it, which is, you know, kind of important.  Borderlands 2 came out of nowhere to see a release on the Vita sometime in 2014, brought to us by Iron Galaxy Studios, the team who developed DiveKick which just released this week.  That...is certainly a get for Sony, and it was alongside several other announcements for the Vita that I will defer to Chance for because I don't want to mine in Joystiq posts and cobble together a bunch of links.  Let's take a look at the list, shall we?

• Age of Zombies (BlitWorks/Halfbrick)
• A-Men 2 (Bloober Team)
• Assault Android Cactus (Witch Beam)
• Avoid Droid (Infinite State Games)
• Broken Sword: the Serpent’s Curse (Revolution Software)
• Eufloria HD (Omni Systems)
• Fez (Polytron Corporation)
• Final Horizon (Eiconic Games)
• Flame Over (Laughing Jackal)
• Gravity Crash Ultra (Just Add Water)
• Gunslugs (Abstraction Games)
• Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number (Dennaton Games and Devolver Digital)
• Joe Danger 1 (Hello Games)
• Joe Danger 2 (Hello Games)
• Kick & Fennick (Green Hill Studios)
• Minecraft (4J Studios)
• Rogue Legacy (Cellar Door Games)
• Samurai Gunn (Teknopants)
• Starbound (Chucklefish)
• Supermagical (Tama Games)
• Switch Galaxy Ultra (Atomicom)
• Table Top Racing (Ripstone)
• The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth (Nicalis)
• Volume (Mike Bithell)
• Wasteland Kings (Vlambeer)

I had to add Minecraft and Starbound, the last of which is almost more impressive than Minecraft, because it's essentially Terraria ins Spaaaaaaaaace (one-half of the original two Terraria developers is making it), it has a ton of content, and there's absolutely no Vita Terraria sales data just yet, meaning it's a blind leap of faith and that's so appreciated.  Granted, all of those are games that are classified as "Indie", but as we've come to learn, that doesn't mean a whole hell of a lot in the grand scheme of things.  The prime gradient here is content and Minecraft, Terraria and Starbound at the very least are going to have those in spades, not to mention Rogue Legacy and The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth.  Those are just the games that I know a little about.  As you can see, there are a hell of a lot of other games on that list, and that's probably not even a complete list.  And this is all before TGS.  And before the PS4 launches and does Remote Play like a champ.

Yeah.  The Vita's gonna be just fine.

Hooray for Niche Game Announcements!

There were a few things that have been announced in recent times that I have at least a little bit of interest in, so I figured today was as good a day as any to bring them up and do a little speaking on them.  Mostly since it's a far more interesting topic of conversation than yard work, which is what a good portion of my day was spent doing.  Also because I haven't done a good ol' fashioned news dump in a while (which, I mean, format-wise is what this type of post is) or at least that's what I'm going to tell myself to ensure that it's a good time to go with it.  Just, you know, whatever works.

XSEED (Marvelous isn't changing XSEED's name, Joystiq) is releasing Ragnarok Odyssey Ace sometime this winter for not only the Vita, but the PS3 for this go around.  The game will be, unsurprisingly, a re-release of Ragnarok Odyssey for the Vita, but with all the included DLC that's since come out as well as Cross-Platform play between both versions of the game, as well as a host of other things.  New costume pieces, weapons and items are almost a given, but one of the more interesting things mentioned is that there will be a new "Tower of Yggdrasil" dungeon.  Perhaps because of the explanation of the dungeon, I cannot help but think of Tartarus in that the dungeon creates rooms in a randomized style as you traverse upwards for what I can only assume is a rather long time.  Because Yggdrasil was kind of a big tree, you know.

Most interestingly for me is the mention of an upgraded battle system, because I'm a little confused on what it's going to address.  On the one hand, Ragnarok Odyssey's battle system was rather fast-paced and enjoyable and I don't think it needs retooling, exactly.  For what it is, it works extremely well - you get around fast and you attack monsters with vigor - but there's a rather unfortunate disconnect in what you're actually doing and what the game is doing.  Really, it's not the battle system that poses the problem, but the mechanics themselves that drive it, that crunch the numbers for the uncrunchable exploits you're performing.  This is a hurdle every game must jump, of course, but I can't help but think of Ragnarok Odyssey as grazing that hurdle on the hop over, only barely skirting it.

As an Assassin character, my priority was movement.  Gotta go fast, gotta get up to things, gotta hit fast, gotta get back.  Having tested all the characters, this is the playstyle that fits -me- the best and even though I can technically replicate that with any other class because of the flexibility of the system, the Assassin was built around it, so play to its strength.  Only, I could dash around enemies and slice them in the back four times while they were swinging a paw or a weapon or what have you and dash away before they even started turning around, which you might think would be a lot of damage, all things considered.  But it wasn't.  It was functionally the same as running up to their face and hitting them like that.  And it's because it's not really about -your- character, but your gear and how far into the game you've gotten, since every chapter clear boosts your stats (which are almost superfluous given that's their only boosting time) that determines how 'good' you are at monster-slaying. 

Imagine any game where the gameplay relies on you picking up stronger weapons for stronger enemies.  Yes, I understand there are a lot, that's not the point.  Imagine that instead of being able to pick up those upgraded weapons (since they're all functionally the same), you only upgrade after every few chapters.  You start out with a pistol and your first upgrade is a magnum.  Something along those lines. You can go back to the first chapter after you've upgraded to your shotgun and everything's so much easier, or you can go back to that boss that gave you a hard time in chapter 4 once you unlock the RPG, but what's the point?  You already spent half an hour plinking away at it with a dodgy Assault Rifle because it was the only thing you could work with.  If the game is about forward progress and not getting better things, then there's no reason to go backwards when you're forward and going forward ultimately ends up becoming more and more of a challenge as you face scenarios that are inopportune for your current state.  It's why you can grind in RPGs (most of them) and why you can scavenge for ammo for any gun you can carry in most shooters.  Because there can't just be "This is what you are" at any given time, but rather "this is what you can be", and Odyssey missed that. 

Still, despite that, I'm a bit optimistic, as it can only really improve instead of dial back really.  Or even just sort of maintain, which isn't as -bad- of a thing as I may have made it out to be.  There are, of course, ways around the 'never upgrading until you do far far after you needed to' system that I simply didn't care to put much effort into since they are basically "Switch classes to something more fitting and/or play online and hope the increased difficulty is mitigated by seasoned players and with the game coming to Vita -and- PS3 with Cross-Play, you'll have that much larger of a pool of potential hunting partners to attempt missions with.  I'm not quite sure if I'll be picking up Ace as I still haven't finished Odyssey's base game and I might not anytime soon, but I would still recommend it as a game to watch, if nothing else.

The "Best of Playstation Network, Volume 1" is also something that I sorely overlooked and almost regret doing because of one very important element.  If it's not quite obvious, the Best of Playstation Network, Volume 1 is a disk-based (this is key) collection of some of Playstation's neatest, strangest and most talked about games, both in the recent past and reaching back a ways, though not in as balanced of a way as I would hope, unfortunately.  So if you're worried about a digital future, or you simply find it difficult to find space on your HDD for all of these little games that add up quite fast, then this is certainly an avenue of purchasing to investigate.

My own interest comes from the inclusion of Tokyo Jungle which is a game I have been enthused about in the past, but never got around to purchasing because of the prohibitive 2.4 gig file size the game carries.  Well, that and because I just inherently like bundles because they are amazing things, but really it's mostly the Tokyo Jungle portion of said bundle.  Especially since I already own the Fat Princess and Sound Shapes portion of it.  I mean, how can you just not want to at least -play- a game that lets you run around an area of ruined Tokyo as a baby chick who can actually grow up and fight other animals for dominance in this new, strange world for them?  How can you just not want to at least -play- a game that allows you to put construction hats on your dog character that you are playing as and then pit you against a crocodile in a fight that you can actually win?

Though I will say that I hope this yet-another-inclusion of Fat Princess in something means that they're actually going to revisit that series.  Say what you will about the "controversy" (making such big air quotes here) and what have you, the actual -game- was solid and I still say that if it had come out a year or two later when PSN was much more 'established' as a digital distribution platform as well as a multiplayer one, it would've done much, much better than it did.  It's a simple, fun, challenging multiplayer game that I actually -wanted- to play because of how much fun it was.  That is certainly saying something.  Being as simple as it is, there's really no reason why they couldn't do up a version for the Vita (there's a PSP version, even), which I would hope would be Fat Princess 2 and also on PS3 with Cross-Play.  It's Sony's IP to play with, clearly, but I do think they have to find a studio to make it as the studio that made Fat Princess has been restructured....twice now, I think?  Renamed one or both times, and I really don't know what they do anymore.  Still, it is honestly worth a shot after the PASBR inclusion and now this.

Okay, this last one isn't exactly a niche game, but taking everything into account, it just might as well be one really.  Epic Mickey 2 didn't exactly set the world on fire, nor did it even come close to stoking a modest blaze like the original, so the announcement that it's going to see a late port to the Vita is....a surprise.  We'll go with that.  Because a surprise sounds positive, right?  Right.  Let's....let's try to be positive about this because at least someone is porting a game to the Vita, even if it is a little after the fact.  More Vita games breed more Vita games, and that is the goal, of course.

Obviously, the game is based on the PS3 version of it and in lieu of using a Move ala the PS3 version, it's been tweaked to accept touchscreen (front and rear) inputs which makes so much damn sense it hurts.  (Seriously.  Capcom, pay fucking attention to this:  Okami for Vita.  Look how much fucking sense this makes.)  And really, the game is just going to be seeing all sorts of control tweaks and improvements to fit the unique offerings that the Vita has for that which is a good thing.  The game is being tailored for the system, which is precisely what developers should be doing when they port it to something.  This is something to be celebrated, if nothing else really.  Something else to be celebrated is that it's actually releasing fairly soon for just being announced recently.  June 18th is the date, and $34.99 will be the price, effectively giving that Digital Discount that only certain Vita games actually offer.  Though the game will be Digital-only for Vita which...well, I'm not complaining about five bucks off the expected MSRP.

It's always fun to hear about more games getting released, no matter the destination or the time-frame.  Even if they're re-releases, ports of games that didn't sell well, or a collection of games that seem....a little slapped together from an informed consumer's point of view.  They're all still worth your attention if you're looking at things from a certain point of view and might not get the attention of those people depending on what they get announced around.  Since this was the XBone week, well, perhaps a little extra visibility (I'm not going to pretend I offer much, if anything, really) can't hurt them.

Delsin Rowe is a Product of Players Says Second Son Director

So, inFamous:  Second Son is something that I've gone on record as being excited for and I would say it's deservedly so, if only for the pedigree of the franchise and the developers behind it.  Of course, it helps that the actual game looks quite intriguing and quite nice on its own merits, certainly.  Yet, that's sort of the rub is that it -looks- interesting, since there's still not a whole lot of information about it floating around there just yet, or at least there's not a lot of information that I've found about it even if I haven't been exactly looking.  Media blackouts and all that, only half-followed, etc.  To be sure, I haven't decided quite yet if I want to follow the development of the game feverishly, to soak up all the info on a new inFamous game until I can actually get my hands on it, or if I would prefer to go into the experience uneducated so that it springs open to me as only the best type of present does.

However, through all of it, there has been one fairly obvious area of contention:  the main character.  Delsin Rowe caught a lot of flak for a lot of things - well, most things really, including his name - but really, I think the thing that people don't like about him is that he's not our beloved Cole MacGrath.  It's innocuous enough, new game, new platform, new character, right?  Makes sense, is nice and easy, and doesn't have to be more complicated than that.  Yet, Nate Fox, the director of inFamous:  Second Son had a little to say about specifically -why- we have Delsin Rowe and not Cole MacGrath.  And the reasoning, to me is a bit....suspect, to say the least.  I only caught wind of this because Chance posted about it and I made a little comment about my thoughts on it. 

Thing is, the post, by its very nature of explaining what it does, contains major inFamous 2 spoilers and, as you all know, I try my best to keep away from spoilers or at least make it as impossible as possible for you to 'accidentally' stumble across them.  Which is why I'm going to do a post break, something I rarely do, and go a little more in-depth about the whole situation.  So, of course, after the break, there are, again, major inFamous 2 spoilers so....you know.  You've been warned, and such.

Release Dates and Reveals and Announcements, Oh My!

So I alluded to it the other night when I talked about Retro City Rampage and how it has a release date now, but on that day, a whole bunch of other stuff -also- got a release date or a reveal or -something-.  As a veritable treasure trove of information, I can't exactly pass it up, but at the same time, it's just a -lot- of stuff all at once and I don't really have an attachment to much, if any of it, to really be able to talk at length about it.  Of course, that was all before I really delved into the trailers and such for this stuff which is pretty much what I'm going to do now.  And with the magic of this all being a single post, it'll just take the distance between this paragraph and the next to make me knowledgeable, if at least a little bit more than I was about these games that I will talk about tonight.  So hopefully, I'll be able to do them a bit of justice, which they probably (definitely) deserve.

First up is the above pictured Planet In Distress which was just recently shown off at the Playstation Blog with a release window of "Very soon", so I suppose that, and the fact that it's been in development for two years and shown before this means it's not technically new but I'd not heard of it prior to now, so there.  What it seems to be is a sidescrolling Adventure/Puzzle Platformer type game with a reliance on a few tools to get around.  In the trailer that's in the blog post itself, it pretty much just shows off the thing that you throw to put out reverse tractor beams - things (pictured above) that just sort of push you in a direction slowly without offering much deviation, allowing for some nice precision.  What seemed to be the highlight of the post I linked, however, is something that seems to be a trend with platformers as of late.  The big thing seems to be about the difficulty of the game, which is a very, very delicate thing to be messing about with.

Specifically, the trailer goes to show off the vast amount of differences in layout and play-style between Normal and Hard mode.  It honestly looks like two entirely different levels even though the backgrounds are the same from Normal to Hard footage, simply because there's just so much more and different in the Hard mode videos themselves.  This is interesting, I thought, making difficulty -that- much of a difference.  I'm not quite sure how it will work in practice, but it definitely goes to show the level of dedication on the part of the developers, since they have to, essentially, put in double-time to the game - design it twice, more or less.  Once for Normal which entails trying to keep it at an acceptable level while also scaling, and then again for Hard to make sure it's, well, Harder than Normal but -also- scales nicely.  For my part I'm....not especially interested since Sidescrollers are a thing that are very hit-or-miss for me, I've learned, but I'll keep an eye out for it at least.

Next up is The Unfinished Swan, which has been given a release date of October 23rd, though Playstation Plus members will be able to purchase the game as early as the 16th.  It also has a price announced of $14.99 which is...pretty much what anyone could have expected, I would say.  That's more or less what games are kind of coming out for anyway, and nobody really wants to push up into $19.99 unless it's Capcom releasing an HD version of a mediocre-but-universally-loved shitfest of a game.  One that I'm not bitter about or anything like that.  And $9.99 apparently doesn't pay the bills unless you're really budgeting properly (which means nobody prices their game at $9.99).  $14.99 is certainly not a bad price, and certainly not for a game that looks as....well....interesting as The Unfinished Swan does.  Yet, I say this as somebody who still has absolutely no idea what the game is.

I watched some trailers.  I've read a little about it.  It is certainly a -thing-, but what that thing is, I'm still not sure I can quantify it in my head.  If I'm right, the game is about a kid who is chasing a swan into a world of white space.  You can navigate the space in a first person perspective, using paint that you throw about to understand the actual geometry of the world to be able to get around.  So you throw paint on the ground to know where there's a gap, where there's stairs, etc. etc.  Of course, that's basically just the introduction as, with the screenshot above as evidence, you'll get into areas that are plenty defined all their own, and I suspect your painting abilities will be used in another fashion.  It seems like one of those games that you have to play to absolutely understand it yourself which is fine with me, by all means.  I am definitely curious to say the least and would go so far as to suggest that I would be willing to throw 15 of my dollars at it to experience it, if just for the simple fact that I get to use my Playstation Move wand with it.  Since I kind of need to use it.

This definitely looks like the kind of game that just....needs a demo, though.  I mean, yes, it's all about being surprised and intrigued and such, but that's what makes it the perfect candidate for a demo - since you give people a taste of that, which is very addictive.  Provided you can capture just the right bits of the game in it that will effectively show off how you use this mechanic, it'll give anyone who plays it, -anyone-, reason enough to say "You know what, I can definitely buy this to see what's going on with it".  I say this because I'm really, really hoping for a demo so I can experience the game in some fashion, even though I'm not planning on getting it right off because, well, I can't really afford to.  I just bought a $20 Playstation Card I didn't need to buy Retro City Rampage and Xenogears Tuesday (I hadn't bought Xenogears yet.  I'm...terribly surprised.  But waiting to just get both at once.) and there's Ragnarok Odyssey and Assassin's Creed:  Liberation coming in this month and there's just no money to be had.  But there are also games to be had.  It's a terrible cycle.

Instead of picking out any of the remaining five games to talk about, I'm just....going to bring up the rest of the five games to get their news bits down and be done here so I can go off and do...other things.  Gaming things.  If you want to imagine that I have five note cards that I read off of and then throw off behind me unceremoniously in a semi-dismissive manner then I certainly cannot stop you, though it's not a sign of disrespect.  Just that I cannot really speak well enough for these things as I'm not really in the 'fandom' for any of them, I'll say.  This Tuesday Joe Danger 2 will be releasing like several other things and will come with some rather extensive exclusive content known as Joe Danger Gaiden.  It is....basically an entire other Joe Danger game (10+ hours) which is really, really neat and kind of a 'sorry 360 had to get this game with stuff we could never give you' gesture I suppose.  Also coming out Tuesday, October 9th is Machinarium for the PS3 at least at the $9.99 pricetag -just- to spite me for what I said earlier.  A Vita version is incoming, but at an unannounced date. 

The very last Dreamcast game ever(?), will see a Playstation 3 release later this fall as Under Defeat HD which will be a retail and digital release, both for $29.99.  People who buy a Physical version of the game get....a lot of stuff, with most of it not confirmed to also be in the digital version.  I mean, I don't see how you could put a letter from Hiroyuki Maruyama in the digital game, but the rest seems like stuff that could be included in the digital download itself.  We'll just have to see, I suppose - it might also just be free DLC outside of the game download itself.  Or paid, which would be a bad idea for the devs that would get blamed on Sony, but whatever.  Also joining the October 9th line-up is the Vita Version of Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock which has been a long time coming.  Is.....is that a pun?  I didn't mean for it to be a pun.  The wait was basically because they were implementing touch controls, Near functionality and making sure shared cloud saves with the PS3 version worked.  Presumably they do. 

And finally, the last title that was announced recently, outside of Playstation Blog's 'The Drop', is SunFlowers for the Vita, a $3.99 puzzler to get your pick-up-and-play fix sorted for folks who might be burnt out on Treasures of Montezuma Blitz.  At $4 and coming alongside a demo, the game pretty much deserves -some- of your attention, if not your dollars, so why not show them a little support?  If you're not too busy playing any one of the like twelve -other- games coming out the 9th that is.  So there it is.  There is the News Dump of announcements and reveals and release dates and such that was served up as a deluge the other night that I had to at least try and concentrate into a post to get that information out there and give me a reason to look into some of the titles that I haven't looked into otherwise.  Since you never know what you'll learn!  I learned SunFlowers was getting a demo which is really cool.  Also other things.  I learned other things.  Mostly about The Unfinished Swan.  So what I mean to say is that I think I learned things, but I really just...don't know.

Happy Trilogy Day!

That is apparently what today is, as there were two rather high-profile trilogy sets announced in roughly the same period of time, and it would only be better if there were, in fact, three trilogies announced.  Because that's...you know.  Thematic.  And fitting.  And stuff.  Anyways, the two that were announced were kind of important, so I'm going to do a little talking about them since that is sort of what I do.  And enjoy doing.  Interestingly enough, there are a few parallels between the two of them which I will point out when I get that far, but first, I suppose I need to stop stalling because I can't think of a more proper way to introduce the post and I just really like introductions in my posts, since they're supposed to set the mood, but this is setting up a scattered and terribly-done mood and oh god.  But maybe that's the point, eh?  Maybe it's some sort of commentary that I am doing to be clev-okay, it's not, I'm just bad at writing tonight.

Anyways, as you can see above, the first mentioned trilogy is the Assassin's Creed:  Ezio Trilogy which, unsurprisingly, has three games in it that star Ezio.  I say this, because it is apparently a surprise to some people and these people, I just don't know about.  In the comments for the Playstation Blog post announcing the Trilogy (as it's apparently PS3-exclusive in North America.....for a little while maybe) I saw no less than a few comments asking about, yes, you guessed it (or maybe you didn't) whether or not Assassin's Creed 1 would be included.  Now....okay.  I can kind of almost maybe sort of understand why it might be something of a thought that might perhaps cross your mind, since AC1 was included on PS3 copies of the Revelations disc because Ubisoft said "eh, why not" and thus associated it with the game.  But I am just confused, my gast has been flabbered, if you will, as to why people would assume that AC1 would be included in a disk that says very clearly Ezio Trilogy.  It literally means a Trio of Ezio.  Three Ezio.  Three games with Ezio in them.  AC1?  Altair.  Who is not Ezio.  Who is not Ezio at all.

Not only are people confused over this, people are angry over this, suggesting that the trilogy is, in fact, worthless without AC1 which continues to boggle my mind and smack my gob and other such general similar statements for being absolutely confused.  These are people whose brains I will never understand because I think that they do have a layer of stupidtanium surrounding it or -something-.  I mean, I understand very well the desire to be able to get an entire -thing- in a single purchase of a single item, but I also understand that if I am buying a box of Captain Crunch, I will not be angry and indignant when there are no corn flakes in my box.  Other complaints are only slightly more valid in that the post lists that AC2 will include the two DLC chapters, but no mention is made of Brotherhood or Revelations DLC, since well, that is more or less just trying to squeeze a little more value out of that, and there's nothing inherently wrong with that.  Regardless, I think what has been said about it is what we're going to get, and as someone who owns all three games already, I don't feel the need to rush out and get this.  Especially when it releases in November, which is -after- AC3 comes out, but I can certainly understand who this is for.

The Mass Effect Trilogy, which is something much more pertinent to my interests is pretty much exactly what it says on the tin.  Er....cardboard.  Plastic?  I don't know what the hell that box is going to end up being made of, but whatever, it says Mass Effect Trilogy and is just that - the three Mass Effect games, on disks, in a single package.  What's important about all this, you might ask yourself, since it is pretty much just a rereleasing of games that are already out and have been out for anywhere to some months to five years.  Well, it is for reasons that I have littered purposefully in the opening sentences of this paragraph.  And for one big point that I didn't mention, but is also kind of hinted at, if you know me and what I game on, thus why I would even consider this somewhat important.  So, think on it for a moment.  Really, go ahead, I've got nothing to do but listen to Deep Crimson Foe over and over again because my ears demand it.

Alright, got it sorted?  Well, alright then.  You see, the big deal is that this Trilogy pack, with all three games on disk format, is coming on November 6th for PC and 360 with, wait for it, a PS3 version to follow at an undecided date.  As in, a PS3 version of the Trilogy where Mass Effect 1, previously the only game of the series not on the console, will be on the console in playable form.  That's right, five years later those of us who have put off buying a 360 and/or a gaming PC, who haven't gotten into Mass Effect 2 or 3 because it is a very story-centric game and we'll be damned if we buy into 2/3rds of a story, all four of us, can finally have our very own chance at owning Mass Effect 1 on our console of choice.  Will it be worth it?  Almost decidedly not.  The game will probably not stand up against all the different ideas that have been implemented in the five years since its release.  It is most likely one of those nostalgia-fueled games, even at this short juncture, but the important thing is that I will be able to suffer through it with the Shepard of my choice to soldier on into Mass Effect 2 and 3.  I will be able to get the full experience, finally, and that is decidedly what matters.

Much like the Ezio Trilogy, DLC is sort of a sticking point with this collection without so much as a hint from EA and/or Bioware as to the actuality of its release.  Well, perhaps -a- hint, in that in the bullet points, no DLC is listed whatsoever, and when you consider that Mass Effect 3 is still getting DLC....it's pretty telling, I should think, but I can -hope- as well, considering that the amount of DLC spanning the three games is likely in the triple digits, money-wise, and I do not have $60 for the trilogy as well as money on top of that for after-bits, even the 'essentials'.  I can certainly -hope- that I will not get the base games for $60, but I can't say that I would feel ripped off if I did, since the Mass Effect games are touted for their all-around greatness, their length, and richness, and I am sure that I will get my moneys worth out of one game alone, and certainly twice over in the entire trilogy, but I'm sure what I -don't- have will be tantalizing, and I have not the willpower to resist.

These are some pretty neat things, whether or not I will be getting them (which, I will likely be getting the latter only), and I really wanted to bring them up.  It -would- have been nice if there was another one announced, or I suppose I could have used one of the more recent collections to talk about in contrast, but that seems a little wacky.  Still, I would like to have something to close this on, so with that in mind, I would like to formally announce that I am re-imagining Journey's Fall in LittleBigPlanet Vita and it will likely span over three levels, or in other words, be a trilogy.  Isn't that fantastic?  And topical!  Now it's just up to you to believe if I'm joking or not.  Because I could be joking.  I could very well be joking.  Or making empty promises.  I do that sometimes.  I guess we'll just have to see!

Taken 2 Is a Thing That Is Happening, Life is Wonderful

I would say that, as I do sometimes, you folks who read this at least semi-regularly know of my love for the movie Taken with Liam Neeson, but upon thinking that, I happened to realize something.  You don't.  I don't write many Popcorn On posts, which are my movie semi-reviews basically, but I've always intended to write one for Taken, but it's the oddest thing - Whenever I sit down to write one, I just end up watching the movie instead.  Because it is that good.  I do still intend to write a Popcorn On post for the movie, and I will likely accomplish it on some date, but that date is not tonight.  Though I do reserve the right to completely restate anything and everything in this post in the eventual Popcorn On post for the movie when I do eventually get around to it.  Because I suspect my ability to write rationally might be diminished, what with just being entranced with the movie and all.

With all that said, I'm sure anybody could guess my reaction upon seeing a trailer for Taken 2, having only heard vague rumors in the vein of "Boondock Saints is getting a sequel" (which happened, but.....well....) and "they're doing a live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop" (which hasn't happened and probably won't) which is to say that the movie seemed as if it was never going to happen.  A Duke Nukem Forever-scenario, but for the movies, basically.  My reaction was that of pure glee, something reaching unadulterated joy and beyond.  I admit I may - read, it says may - have even squealed as a girl being given a pony for her birthday might have upon seeing what was undeniably the trailer for a movie that certainly looked enough like Taken that it had to be a sequel for it.  What with the same main cast and everything being prominently featured throughout.  (As a note:  the above is the official trailer, not the commercial one, but it does as well)  Seeing it officially branded at the end of the video is....a feeling unlike anything I have felt for a while, but a feeling that I do believe I will be getting used to with tomorrow's acquisition of LittleBigPlanet Vita, barring any shenanigans.

The interesting thing to note of the sequel, at least from the trailer bits, is that it goes a route that I honestly never would have expected, which is the exact logical route.  Without spoiling the first movie (though the trailer does spoil a few bits) too much, you obviously get the gist of it - the daughter Neeson's character (Bryan Mills) is kidnapped and through the movie, he cuts through swaths of the gang at a time (with bullets) and Taken 2 acknowledges that and embraces it, using it as a logical basis for a sequel.  What one can infer from the trailer is that the remnants of the gang come together stronger, united with a single purpose - to get the ultimate revenge on Bryan Mills, by going after his family for retaliation of their own.  It's not innovative or fancy, nor does it need to be, and it does a damn good job of setting up another movie to bear the name.  It's simple, it's clean, and it makes sense, which likely goes against all action movie logic.

At its core, Taken was very obviously an Action movie, but it was a smart one, or at least convinced me enough to think of it as such after repeated watchings.  Which could very well be a reason that I haven't bothered to look for a little bit of masking tape to peel away, if you will, to see the movie for its core mechanics.  But honestly, that doesn't matter because Action movies are -never- known for their plots and even if the one from Taken was only marginally smarter than most other Action fare and not genuinely smart on its own merits, then I don't really care a whit.  What is important for me, in terms of Action movies, is whether or not its dumb enough to absolutely break my immersion whilst watching it, and the movie does not do that, which makes it a good action movie.  The fact that Liam Neeson stars in it makes it truly great, and I'm sure that that is no unfamiliar sentiment.

What I'm going about saying here, in essence, is that if you have not, for some reason, seen Taken, then what the hell, go watch it.  I did a search on Netflix a moment ago and it appears that it's no longer on there for streaming because Netflix is only a video streaming service so why would it have movies to stream, but if you do not mind clinging to the tangible, then you should have no issue finding it on DVD or Blu-Ray if it suits your fancy.  And it -should- suit your fancy because it is honestly a fantastic movie, if the verve it inspires in me was not an indicator otherwise.  While I am not generally a theater person, I might just have to assemble a group on October Fifth to go forth and watch this, because I am not quite sure that I'll be able to wait for DVD.  I am that excited.

Wii U Scores Bayonetta 2 As An Exclusive

Ridin' off to new platforms....or just the one, really.

So, arguably the most talked about piece of news from the entire Wii U media blitz dust-up and such is the fact that, at some point in the future, which is undetermined currently, Bayonetta 2 will debut on the console exclusively.  As in, the direct sequel to Bayonetta, the game on PS3/360 which is touted as one of the best action games ever, will only be available to anyone who goes out and buys a Wii U when it comes out.  Or, you know, at some point between when it comes out and when the actual game itself comes out, which is probably going to be a good half a year at least.  Probably more, seeing as Platinum has a lot on their collective plates as is, which is a bit of good news, at least.  This is probably the busiest they've ever been, and it's most likely going to make some good bank for them.  And good - it couldn't happen to a better studio, I should think.

That said, I still have yet to play Bayonetta.  I know, I know, I'm a filthy heretic and such, but as you all might know, I haven't had a whole lot of PS3 time in these summer months and it's only now that the temperatures are falling....sometimes....that I have been able to really turn the system on and have some fun with it.  And that said, my first task is to finish Sleeping Dogs since I absolutely adore the game and not being able to play it has been torture for me because of that.  After that, I'm not sure - it depends on what strikes my fancy.  But I can't definitely say it will be Bayonetta and it's for now two very, very clear reasons.  The original, which was the one that gave me pause to start with was that I -know- that it is a technically inferior version of the game, and that sort of thing eats at me and just really kills my enjoyment.  Even with the patch, I've seen accounts that say the 360 version is like playing a whole other game and that is not something I like to hear.  The second reason is now that I know if I actually enjoy Bayonetta and want a sequel, I'll have to shell out $400-ish to get to it in about half a year or better, provided the Wii U hasn't price-dropped by then.  (It probably won't.)

But it could always get ported, right?  I mean, that would be the sensible thing, right?  Sensible or not, it is not a game that is going to get ported and that's just simple fact right there.  There's two basic reasons floating around out there with the people discussing the game, and they have a bit of the truth in them, but neither of the reasons is -the- reason, and one of them is actually just kind of poorly thought-out.  The first, biggest reason that people don't expect a Bayonetta 2 port is because Nintendo themselves is publishing the game on Wii U.  It's actually being suggested that Nintendo is putting a little more money than just that into it, but it's hard to say if that's for sure or if Nintendo is just sort of 'guiding' the game as it's being built.  Regardless, the case generally is that if a company publishes the game, they're fronting some dough and just having that game out there to generate revenue isn't going to cut it in terms of their own benefits for doing so, so generally some exclusivity is guaranteed to make it so that you're the only place someone can go for this particular game.  Everybody does it and there are very well-documented cases of it out there, but there are also many, many cases showing that Publishing a game doesn't mean it can't stray elsewhere.

Publishing contracts are just sort of a nebulous thing that generally infers -some- expectation of exclusivity, but really, just how much of that is never assured.  XBLA exclusivity with promotions like Summer of Arcade and the like, where Microsoft -does- publish the game seems to last something like a year, after which the developer is free to take their game to whatever else platform they desire using whatever the hell means they want, basically.  And even on-disk publishing isn't an exact guaranteed 100% exclusive thing, as Ninja Gaiden 2 showed us all, releasing on PS3 a year (again) after the 360 release as a self-published game from Tecmo KOEI (then Tecmo).  So for anyone saying "Nintendo's publishing it, which means end of story", that really is not completely true, as history has proven.  It solely depends on just what sort of contract they have with Platinum Studios (and Sega by proxy) regarding the exclusivity, which is likely determined by just how much Nintendo is doing to help fund it and/or what additional resources they're putting into the game (actual development time or even just marketing).

The other reason that I've seen for why the game simply 'cannot' be ported to PS3/360 is because, and I am probably directly quoting someone with this, "it just won't work because the Wii U is just so much more powerful" which is...well I won't say patently ridiculous as I wanted to, but it's not an accurate comparison.  Firstly because we don't -really- know what kind of power the Wii U is pushing, as in the CPU/GPU, and we probably will not learn this for some time, but it's not going to be -miles ahead- or anything.  All we do know is that the Wii U apparently has an entire gig of (console) RAM (which is different than Computer RAM) dedicated to the games, where the other gig that it has is dedicated to running the OS and such.  This is not an uncommon practice.  None of it is indicative of the Wii U being 'so much more powerful' than the PS3 or 360 that you can't put Wii U games on those consoles, and made much more a silly notion when you consider just how many friggin' PS3/360 ports are scheduled to release on the Wii U.

Despite all that, the core of the matter is that, while it's not going to be a launch window title, Bayonetta 2 is slated to release fairly early into the console's lifespan and unless Nintendo are stepping in to show Platinum just how to make the game sparkle and shine with technical wizardry, it -likely- won't be making full use of whatever power the console has to offer.  Which means that power is honestly not much of a variable to bet on in this whole situation.  Nor how little 'power' actually means in down-porting which is, as we know, still a fairly common practice and if you're really looking to make some extra sales, you're going to do it right.  In such a case, I'm sure Platinum -would- do it right, but I'm not quite sure who would publish it which is, honestly the issue here.  This is precisely the reason why Bayonetta 2 is likely going to stay exclusive to the Wii U, if there is any.

As we all know, Sega, not Platinum Games, is the owner/holder of the Bayonetta 2 IP which means any game in the series has to be done with their blessing.  Platinum Studios was the developer of that game as per a four-game deal they signed with Sega (the other three games in the deal being MadWorld, Vanquish and Infinite Space) but that and the fact that they're working on Bayonetta 2 doesn't mean they hold reign over the Bayonetta series.  Being the IP holder, Sega could arrange for just about any other studio out there to make a Bayonetta game, and that's where the problem is.  Sega has themselves convinced that they just can't afford to pay attention to games beyond their basic top-selling series and has basically pulled the plug on any sort of Western releases of anything beyond those series.  (Which, unfortunately leaves Yakuza up in the air for now, but that's another issue entirely)  It could likely be inferred that Bayonetta 2 is only a thing that exists because Nintendo fronted the cash they did, which means for the game to show up on any other platform, in theory, Sony and/or Microsoft would probably have to front the same amount of cash to make it happen.

Worldwide, between the two platforms Bayonetta released on, the game sold somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.3 million copies.  Again, worldwide.  It didn't set the world on fire with sales, is basically what I'm saying, as generally a good-selling game could break or come close to a million in a single region.  So it's already a hard sell to Sega because of that, and then you have to consider just what you're looking at in costs otherwise.  Nintendo's already fronted for Bayonetta 2 so Sega has that money and they likely don't care anymore beyond that.  But to convince them that they need to work out a publishing deal with -somebody else- to take Bayonetta 2 to PS3/360 would require that they can prove there's reason to.  And this is where it gets tricky because this is where splitting your fanbase really, -really- comes around to bite you in the ass in the end.  Or, at least it should in theory.

What I mean by that is that even if we're not all heavy in somebody's corner, we're likely going to follow series rather than platforms.  Platforms grow by featuring certain series to them exclusively or at least in a way that makes it the place you want to get it on so that when the next iteration of the platform comes along, you can bring along those people by continuing the series.  It's pretty simple really and to use something as an example, we'll go with Yakuza.  The first two were on the PS2 and the second two on the PS3.  This is just a basic progression, as it's not that much of a stretch to think if you bought a PS2, you might buy a PS3.  It's linear logic in a vacuum, basically as it doesn't account for anything beyond that, but you'll be hard-pressed to tell me how it doesn't make sense on some level.  You lose that when you try to say "Because you bought a PS3, you'll buy a Wii U" or "Because you bought a DS, you'll buy a Vita".  The actual words to quantify what I'm getting at escape me at the moment, but using 'something like linear logic' as a vague indicator will probably work, as I'm sure you're all understanding where I'm coming from.

What -that- all means is that those 1.3 million copies sold on PS3/360 for Bayonetta does not, in any way, shape or form, guarantee 1.3 million copies sold on Wii U.  Generally speaking, even if the majority of games are bought as a series by the same people (meaning people who buy game 1 buy game 2 and 3 when they come out), not all of them are, as you have to account for people who didn't care for the first and thus don't buy the second as well as people who buy the second without caring about the first existing.  So, by that logic, Bayonetta 2 could really out-sell its predecessor if a lot of people who didn't play the first buy it, but if you're trying to market the game -to- the people who bought the first, and counting on them jumping ship as it were, you are definitely not going to get all of those people.  Even in a straight console progression, you don't get all those people, so that much less for abstract console progression.

So -basically- what I've danced around saying without just getting to it is that the real reason Bayonetta 2 won't see a PS3/360 port is that the game probably just isn't going to sell well enough to justify it to any one party.  For a Bayonetta 2 port you're going to have to A) Make it worth it to Sega (which will be hard enough) and then B) Hope Platinum can port it.  Point A pretty much entirely depends on Bayonetta 2 selling well on the Wii U which is an entire gamble in itself as for that to happen you have to assume that everyone who bought the first buys this, as well as many, many more people, which would entice Sony and/or Microsoft to approach Sega to do it.  I say it's this way simply because of Nintendo's involvement as Sega was clearly ready to step away from the series entirely for the time being before Nintendo threw some money at them.  And in all reality, Bayonetta 2 selling really well on Wii U would signify that your potential buyers elsewhere have already bought it.  It's a vicious circle, really.

A lot of people, including myself, don't really like it, but that's pretty much how it is.  For my part, I only dislike it because I just don't like abstract console progression since I like following series...es, and when I cannot without throwing down cash beyond the game itself, I lose interest rapidly.  That's why I never bought into Dead Rising 2, as the first is never going to come to the console I want to play 2 on, so I simply wouldn't enjoy it.  Dead Rising isn't the best example, of course, as it's not particularly story heavy, but it doesn't really -matter- to me; if I have to cross platform lines to play a whole series that is linear, then it has to be damn well worth it, and I'm not convinced a whole lot of games are.  Of course it becomes a lot more palatable if I have both consoles that the series is on, but not entirely so because I am picky like that.  Again, this is just with the sort of crazy jumps across platforms and not the natural progressions.  And I suspect I'm not alone in this, but I do like to think that I'm at least a bit more rational about it.  I really don't hold any ill-will to Platinum, Sega or Nintendo over this whole Bayonetta ordeal, but I suspect it might be because I don't have an attachment to the series yet.  Still, if it tickles my fancy enough, I suppose I'll have to weigh it against the other prospects of owning a Wii U, since I don't expect Bayonetta 2 to stray anywhere else from there.

And the Next Dreamcast HD Title Is...

...Sonic Adventure 2.  Obviously.  On the one hand, I am completely surprised, because there had been several hints and leaks and such in the past that painted the game following Jet Grind Radio HD to be Shenmue (which was from a reliable source, even!) which I honestly would have really liked.  On the other hand, I am completely -not- surprised, since in all honesty this is a little late as-is, considering Sonic Adventure 1's port was released last year and it's not like it took an entire year to port it.  It also likely would have been a much stronger start to the string of four Dreamcast releases Sega is more or less expected to come out with.  Yes, Jet Set Radio HD is certainly nicer to have, and ultimately something to be more excited about than SA2, but everybody knows what Sonic Adventure 2 is.  I will never understand the methods with which companies and such decide to do this sort of thing, and as I will likely always be on the consumer side of dealings, it's not like it matters since it seems like a matter of eventuality rather than anything else.  Which is a good thing, all said.

This is a little bit more interesting than what it is on the surface, however, since it highlights a few things that I can't decide if they're worrying or just strange.  At the end of the video embedded in the Joystiq link above, the logos denoted as the platforms it's coming out on are simply ones that suggest Playstation Network (PS3) and XBox Live Arcade (360) with nothing suggesting the PC at all.  So if you'll just play along with me for a moment, let's look at the last three ports that Sega has announced, along with the platforms suggested for them.  Jet Set Radio is set to release on PS3, 360, Vita and PC through Steam.  Nights Into Dreams (from the Saturn) is set for release on PS3, 360 and PC through Steam.  And now Sonic Adventure 2, as already stated, is simply set to release on PS3 and 360.  So it seems like with each successive announcement, they lose a system.  This sort of gives me the mental image that Sega is simply using what little manpower remains to pump out all of these ports at the exact same time, meaning that every new thing gets less and less of the attention that it deserves.  Which could very well just translate over the entirety of all three remasters.

Of course, the fact that all three games are set to release in the "Fall" does sort of help tip one off of the fact that maybe they're stretching themselves too thin.  Just....potentially.  I imagine the thought process is that, if they release everything so close together, they'll make a steady stream of money through the season and be able to go into the new year flirting with what lies above the red line.  Regardless, I wouldn't be surprised if a PC version of SA2 was simply overlooked, as Sonic Adventure 1 was released through Steam, and it would be rather odd if the sequel skipped that avenue, especially considering how vocal the Steam community seems to be about Sega in general.  I'm not too optimistic, however, on the games announced to reach to systems they're not otherwise announced on which does sort of crush my dreams of continued Sega support through their Dreamcast re-release library this go around.  At this rate, 'Volume 2' as it were, will be Jet Set Radio, Sonic Adventure 2, ??? (theoretically Shenmue, but I'm not holding my breath on it currently) and possibly Seaman to round us up around the Holidays.  Not bad, of course, especially if the third game -does- end up being Shenmue, which would elevate it from "Not Bad" to "Yaaaaaay!".  With any luck, a Disc-based Collection won't be exclusive to Non-PS3 this time around.

I can't say that I have especially fond memories of Sonic Adventure 2 as I barely remember the lot of it, if we're being simply honest.  I don't even own it, having only been exposed to playing the game by borrowing a friend's copy of it.  I think.  I might've rented it.  Regardless, the point is that I don't remember.  Except I do remember that while I was playing it, I also had to do a Science Fair experiment which I did in between sessions of playing as Rouge since playing as the bad guys was so new and awesome even though, looking back, they were....fairly sub-par.  Character-wise, that is.  Again, the memory, she is not so great.  I do remember the Chao Garden, of course, which I will likely enjoy the hell out of whenever I get around to playing the game.  Because I will, you see.  Regardless of what systems it is and isn't released on, this is Sega, and I've given in to the fact that I will simply play all of the Sega games.  Sometime.  Eventually.  On something.

I can only hope that Sega at least releases one or two of these games before the next announcement comes around.  Even if it's Shenmue, because I would hate to think and worry that the Shenmue HD port might be 'tainted' by lack of focus.  I doubt there'll be a problem with the way any of these turn out; I don't recall there being any issues commonly stated for the last year's versions, but at the same time, one could assume that Sega was doing at least a little better last year.  With any luck, however, these remasters, fired off in quick succession as well as a hopefully present Yakuza Collection (that will come out in the states on-disc, I'm still holding out hope considering it'll cost me a lot of cash if it does) will bring in some serious cash for Sega, alongside Phantasy Star Online 2.  More money for them means more greatness for us, after all, so long as you're not buying a new Sonic game.  Though, after Generations....well, still maybe hold out for reviews, if such a thing were to happen.

Gearbox Wants Borderlands 2 on Vita

So, Randy Pitchford, President of Gearbox Software who own the Borderlands franchise and are generally in charge of everything to do with it has expressed something that I think we all want, and not just him.  He says that he wants Borderlands 2 on the Vita which is a rather admirable goal, of course, since the system has poised itself to be a potential portable FPS machine (on top of its other merits).  Of course there....is just a little bit of a rub to it.  "We're too busy to develop it ourselves", he says, which I could believe wholeheartedly.  After all, the game is set to come out in September, which is only a few months away, and saying that they 'want' the game on the system means that they, er, haven't made any strides towards it.  And it's not like porting a game simply takes an afternoon to do, much less when you barely have the resources to do so.

However, he did present a solution to it, however far-fetched it might seem at first.  "Perhaps some of you folks can convince Sony to start that,"..."But I know there are a lot of talented developers who could take our code, our source and our content and perhaps create something like that."  So, if by some reason that isn't clear enough, the proposal he's putting on the table here is that he'll front the coding and such of Borderlands 2 if Sony is willing to pony up a studio to tool it to the Vita (which is a specialized task at this point, considering the device hasn't been out for half a year yet) and publish it.  It is a very potentially lucrative option for Sony, as if they could make Cross-play with the PS3 version work, it'd sync right in with their PS3/Vita plan, and you cannot tell me that Borderlands 2 Vita isn't a very, very tempting prospect to a lot of people.  Aside from that, if Sony were to publish the game (through the developer they have code it or what have you) that'd net in a little more cash for them than it would otherwise.

For my part, and I say this every time that something like this comes up, a potential Vita version has definitely turned my interest in Borderlands 2 from "Not at all" to "Quite", as I have to admit I followed the original from afar, never going so far as to simply purchasing and playing it.  It's one of those games where I always intended to, of course, but just never got around to it yet, as there is not really something of a shelf life against it or anything.  A Vita version of 2 could certainly tempt me into pulling the trigger on it (pun intended) in short order, if just so I could enjoy the rather unique art style the games bring to the table.  Though, I'm told that the original game is good fun and such and there is that, but seriously, just take a look at some screenshots for the game.  Like the one at the top of the post.  As well as other ones that you'll have to look for yourselves.  Little homework never hurt anyone.

I do find it a bit odd that I can't really talk on the game based on the fact that I know....well, less than most about it.  I understand that the driving force of the first game was its rather surprisingly Diablo-esque approach to loot drops, in the form of all sorts of firearms being found here and there with special properties decided at random.  Much as one could expect to search a dungeon for a randomly generated enchanted blade, you'll similarly find that same feeling of exploration in Borderlands.  I imagine the sequel will carry over and improve that in ways I cannot begin to fathom at this point.  I also figure that, based on the screenshot above, there's a certain skill system in place, making it so that you can customize whichever of the characters you decide to assume the role of, meaning no two versions of the character will be the same insomuch as from-the-box, as it were.  Aside from the focus on party-play, there's not a whole lot else I can contribute to discussions on the game.

Regardless, the point of doing this post was to make sure the idea was out there as much as it can be, as much as I can do.  So all....three of the people who read this blog semi-faithfully are now totally informed.  (I'm kidding, I'm kidding.  Kind of.)  They say that the best way to spread news like this, though, is simply to just disperse it like this, make sure everyone does their part, no matter how big or small it might be.  Whether or not I think it really works like that is a bit up in the air, but hey, I am sort of telling of something fairly news-worthy that someone else told of based on something they were told directly from the source, so already this is like three degrees of separation.  So maybe there is some logic to it after all.  But the important thing is less getting it known as a possibility, and more that people who -know- about the possibility try and, you know, push things in that direction.  So, hey, all three people that read this, go push!

Metal Gear Solid HD Collection for Vita Has a Release Date

So, another sort of weird title in the future of the Vita officially has a release date and, unsurprisingly, it's the date that was leaked a little bit ago:  June 12th.  And also unsurprisingly, nobody is going to acknowledge that it's a fairly big boon for the system for several reasons, the most of which being that it's just a Vita title and anywhere you look will have you believe that they simply don't exist, because that gets in the way of the doom-saying and rhetoric and all.  Of course, there are a few valid points of contention to have with the Vita version of the Port which I'll get to eventually.  I will say, however, right up that the MGS HD Collection for the Vita is simply not a game that I'm going to invest money into this year.  It's rather unfortunate since I have, actually, been looking forward to the prospect of re-familiarizing myself with Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 in portable form, mostly for the convenience factor of course, but, well, therein lies the problem with the game:  It's only Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3.

"Only" is a pretty misleading word, of course, as both titles are the 'enhanced' versions of themselves, meaning Metal Gear Solid 2 is a game and a half with VR missions and Snake Tales, and Metal Gear Solid 3 is actually three games with Snake Eater as well as Metal Gear 1 and 2 - The 'good' versions, even.  I mean, any way you look at it, the game is full to the brim with content, but the problem here is comparative envy.  As we all know, the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection's appearance on the Vita is not its first - it first appeared on the Playstation 3 and XBox 360 with the content outlined above as well as Metal Gear Solid:  Peace Walker, the port of a portable game, remastered in HD.  And therein lies the rub; the portable port of a collection of ports does not have the portable port ported in the collection of ports.  (Ports)  It boggles my mind in bad ways that you could release a collection of Metal Gear Solid games for a portable console and exclude the game that was made explicitly for portable gaming.

So, knowing that there is an entire game missing, one has to go on and wonder -why- and the answer is....well, pretty sloppy, really.  The 'fan' answer is that there's probably not enough room on a Vita cart because that's not actually a bad idea, and from my little digging, I don't know the min-max space of a Vita cart.  But in that case, you could just throw in a voucher code for Peace Walker and call it a day, right?  You still get all three games for your $40 (which, s'far as we can tell, is how much MGS HD Vita is going to cost, the exact same as the PS3/360 versions) and everything's all spiffy.  Of course, that's not the official response, as the official response is:  'Why port it? It's already on the PSN for download, and the Vita touches it up already'.  Which is...uh....well, first off, that's a less-than-friendly way about it, and second off, it's not.  I have my Vita right in front of me and I cannot look up Peace Walker for purchase nor download.  Yes, you can get it on the PS3 and transfer it over, but that's not the point at all.

Maybe they assume the people who want to play Peace Walker on Vita already have the HD Collection on PS3 (since everyone who owns a Vita owns a PS3, clearly) which came with a download code for Peace Walker's PSP version to make use of the Transfarring feature.  So they want to pay another $40 for two of the games on the go because clearly in the -months- that the Collection's been out on the PS3 and 360, they haven't beaten it yet and they really really need that 'on-the-go' factor.  So they figure "Hey, they have Peace Walker HD on PS3 already, and a code for Peace Walker on PSP, they'll download it to their Vita and go and be awesome."  Which is....where the second problem comes in.  The second problem being that Peace Walker can't Transfar to the Vita.  So if you follow everything as is, buy both versions of the Collection and play the PSP version of Peace Walker on the Vita 'as intended' (to prevent from using resources that are so vital elsewhere) you don't get to enjoy the -one- feature that is -most- important for the Portable game that isn't in the portable collection.

This is some pretty gigantic fumbling going on here, unfortunately.  Fumbling enough that's it's dutifully pushed the game off my radar which seemed pretty impossible honestly.  On one hand, I'm pretty relieved by that, since that's $40 that I can spend elsewhere, but on the other hand, I really wanted to play Metal Gear Solid 3 on my Vita sometime soon.  I still will -someday-, but I can only hope that E3 brings about some happy Vita news from Konami to kind of make up for this.  Since it's just a bad look no matter which way you go at it.  Regardless, someone without access to a PS3 or 360 would probably be best served picking the game up if they desire; like I said, it's not exactly lacking for content, so much as it's simply lacking for the content of its big brother version.

Just Cause 2 is Just Bottomless

After playing Just Cause 2 for hours upon hours at a clip, jumping from location to location and not leaving any until I have 100% complete of that area, I'm hesitant to believe that this will ever, in fact, end.  This is despite direct knowledge that it will - it simply feels that way because no matter what I do, it's simply a drop in the ocean.  Strangely enough, it does not discourage, but encourage further playing, since I do realize that it adds up and I do know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  Still, it's quite an imposing thing, having as big a map as the one in Just Cause 2 with as much to -do- in it, since it is far and beyond what other games would logically have.  I suppose I could say this as a positive and a negative thing, whereas some other aspects of the game unfortunately come across as merely negative.

One of these aspects is the rather lop-sided reaction of the Panauan Army, which I have come to loathe tremendously through my experiences with location hopping, as it directly interferes with my ability to do so in an enjoyable fashion.  You see, to explain my circumstances, I feel I have to explain the game a little, so allow me to do that really quickly.  The locales of the game can be categorized pretty easily:  you have (Military) Communication Stations, Military Bases, (Military) Harbors, (Military) Airports, Cities and Towns.  (I might be forgetting something, but if I am, it's not important right now.)  Now, as you might realize, they're fairly differentiated by what you would expect the most military resistance from and what you wouldn't expect a lot from.  As in, if I were going to storm a Military Base to blow stuff up, or run into a town and blow up a solitary Propaganda Truck, I would expect the former to be the more difficult task.

Just Cause 2 thinks otherwise.

I can storm a Military Base and spend ten to twenty minutes looking for everything contained within, and not have so much as a call for reinforcements come across the radio.  Even as I'm shooting guard after guard in the face with my Super Shotgun and blowing up giant tanks of gas and shit, nobody thinks I'm causing enough of a problem that they can't handle it themselves.  Or....something along those lines I guess.  The point is, from start to finish, I can 100% a Military Base with no problem, getting, at most, Level 3 Heat for my troubles.  I guess, on its own, this isn't too surprising, nor is it something to seriously consider or worry about.  After all, level 3 in a 5(?) level system is pretty high after all, and the upper tiers are likely reserved for story purposes and times when you just do not stop causing chaos.  At least, that's what you might think.

The problem comes in when I see a Propaganda Truck in a town or a city.  It is a problem because they are usually flanked by a couple of soldiers which, on their own, isn't too bad, or barely any resistance if you have a fully upgraded shotgun.  However, approaching said truck invokes a reaction that confuses and infuriates me, as I can literally watch the Heat Gauge go from one to two to three before I even throw a grenade inside of the truck and when I do and it explodes, I have level Five Heat out of fucking nowhere.  Because I brazenly blew up a truck that was spewing a recording of the President to the townsfolk who, by all accounts, have probably learned how to tune it out, what with having to live with it and all. 

From this moment after the truck detonates, the game harkens back to the days of yore, the days of Grand Theft Auto III, when the commonplace was to cause chaos until you had a five or six star wanted level and make a dramatic last stand because there was no fucking way you were surviving that.  While not quite that impossible, Level 5 Heat has afforded me plenty of experience in hijacking helicopters (one session giving me nine hijackings, on top of the likely half a dozen helicopters I simply shot down from my own copters) simply because they will not stop fucking sending them after me and the whole while I am simply left in shock of the fact that I am getting shot at by three military helicopters at the same time because I blew up a truck.  There is something wrong with this.

As you might imagine, this exercise in frustration has given me pause when it comes to completing Villages as locations as, if there is a Truck present, I simply have to destroy it, and of course in doing so, it means that I will then be stuck spending the next fifteen or so minutes fighting and evading my way out of a level five heat so that I may continue playing the game without having helicopters trying to examine my head with rockets.  Conversely, I exhale a sigh of relief every time the next undiscovered location turns out to be anything else, as it means that I will simply not have to deal with that awfulness, but rather, I look forward to the eventual cat-and-mouse game that surfaces at 92-97% completion, wherein that last piece of something beckons me from its hiding spot, as if some perverse game of Hide-And-Seek, wherein the goal is to find and consume or destroy, depending on that which is sought.

Still, the important part is that Just Cause 2 is fun, even after all these hours I've put into it.  I may have, in anger, once exclaimed at my television, "THIS.  SHIT LIKE THIS IS WHY YOU'RE TWENTY DOLLARS!", but I do consider it a success for gaming if just because it has raised the bar in crafting an open world that is truly that, as well as giving you the means to explore every inch of it in a way that is both enjoyable and interesting.  While the world isn't bursting with life, it has its own quirks and it has raw size if nothing else to make it feel like something worth celebrating in this particular way.  In many ways, I look at Just Cause 2 as something to show off potential more than anything else, since where the game isn't tight enough for me to consider it 'great', it's good enough to be quite fun, and it offers me plenty of times to say "Man, if only someone who churns out top-shelf quality could get a hold of this", to drool at the possibility therein.  If only, indeed.

Pokemon Black and White 2 Official Trailer

So, I hate to do two Japanese Trailers in a row, especially when I had another post in mind, but, I mean, this is kind of important.  As you know, I was absolutely flabbergasted by the possibility that Pokemon Black and White 2 (Officially Pokemon Black 2 and Pokemon White 2, as in two separate games) were actually -sequels-, direct ones, to Pokemon Black and White, and eventually came to the position that, well, maybe they're not sequels.  Since the above trailer is in Japanese and thus I cannot glean anything from it, I'm going to rely on Siliconera here who has some good info which paints a pretty clear picture for the games being, yes, direct sequels.  Also breaking my heart.

If you've already watched the above video (you probably should if you haven't, that is the point), then you'll notice that there are two new protagonists; a boy who doesn't understand how hair works, and a girl who suffers similarly, but in a much less visually annoying way.  If they're not upstart trainers learning the ropes under the wing of the new professor researcher (Akuroma), I may just go out and buy a hat just so I can eat it.  Also as you might have suspected, the only other person featured in a clearly-not-a-gym-leader-way is the new rival who also suffers from "What the fuck is hair", a terrible terrible affliction.  I -know- it's a slippery slope to start pointing out a 'formula' for one game series and decrying it as a bad thing, but come on, this is blatant Checkbox-ing if I've ever seen it.  The only thing this is all missing is showing off the "Team" of the game which will probably be the clueless remnants of Team Plasma ala Team Rocket in Gold/Silver.  Because it's not going to be the first thing re-purposed from the older games.

From what I've read, the setting of the sequels seems to be that, two years after the events of Black and White, your protagonist, whomever you pick, starts their pokemon journey in a dumpy little town (called a city but apparently there's not a lot there) that has apparently magic'd into existence in those two years.  Also, half the region has gotten really cold and wintery for some reason.  Which isn't directly taken from Pokemon Platinum or anything, no sirree.  Regardless, that's about all we know, but if I were to make something up, add my own little conjecture, I think it would go something like this:  The professor researcher Akuroma (he will probably get a better name in English) tasks the player to go out and explore the world to register the 300 types of pokemon that are in the Unova region, citing that the sudden climate shifts and some other weirdness has caused more species to relocate to the region.  As it has been for a decade or better, thirteen to fifteen year old kids make better data collectors than adults because hell, the kids are gonna run around the nation anyways right?  Again, purely conjecture here.  Just...going out on a limb.

I know I'm being a bit overly critical here, but it's only because I have some real strong feelings about what's going on with this, as you might be able to tell.  While a 'direct sequel' is not exactly new for Pokemon, as in all reality, Gold and Silver (and Crystal) were direct sequels to Red and Blue, since they carried the same plot over and worked at it.  The Team Rocket angle, what with it being disbanded yet some members not knowing that, meeting up with Ash Red, hell, just going back to the region in Red and Blue after some years, it was definitely a sequel.  To my knowledge, Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald and Diamond/Pearl/Platinum didn't carry this on, but in a sense, that's kind of the point I'm making here.  At least Gold and Silver, being a sequel, was wrapped up in being a Pokemon game as well, in that there was a whole other region, and that it was just enough content to be its own game as well as having the sequel hook.  In some ways, the sequel aspect might have been understated and not explored fully enough.  Whereas Black and White 2 offer the same region (with new locales) and seems built around being a sequel that also happens to be a pokemon game, since it follows the formula checklist.  It's partly semantics that I'm playing at here, but I'm sure you get what I mean.

In most cases, this would be the point where I say, "Despite all that, I know I'm going to buy it because I'm a whore" but you know what?  I'm not sure.  There is a good chance that I won't really care about this enough to pick it up, especially with, as I keep mentioning, the wealth of games 2012 is already offering.  Thinking about it, I have never owned a copy of Pokemon Platinum and, considering it never went down in price, there's a good chance I never will unless it's far, far down the road as a digital title on the 3DSi XL or whatever will end the 3DS line (or start the line after it), provided Nintendo goes with an online venture like that which, as everyone has proven, isn't fool-proof and isn't always easy money.  So unless something really wows me between now and its release, I may just go ahead and skip Black and White 2, hoping that something else will come out that will actually innovate the franchise.  Only time will tell if that's going to happen, though!