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.

New The Last of Us Trailer Out

I do so hate that I don't have a whole lot to talk about tonight, but I can't really make news out of pretty much nothing at all.  On top of that, I'm having a particularly bad night in terms of allergies and stress, so there's not a bunch I can even come up with since my mind is in quite the fog.  Thankfully, however, we have Youtube for nights like these, and with Youtube comes videos of things that are enjoyable.  Like new trailers for awesome looking games that you can't wait for unless it's going to come out in 2012 in which case woah now, slow down alright?  Which, The Last of Us will -probably- come out 'Holiday' 2012 or just before it as per Uncharted, so that puts me at a probable eleven games that I want between now and the start of 2013.  Sigh.  I'd hate it if it wasn't so glorious at the same time.

It has been quite a while since we had any information about The Last Of Us, which is a little unfortunate, but this bit of a tasty morsel in trailer form is more than welcome for reasons other than that.  Were the bits about the game a deluge, each bit would be fantastic on its own merits as this little bit is, I'm sure.  I mean, just look at that friggin' trailer alright?  Maybe about a minute, tops, cutting out all the ESRB and Sony stuff, with just the game it's only that much.  But it's friggin' -fantastic- and not even just because of the graphics, but of the complete understanding of human exhibition on the part of emotional and thoughtful response.  Just look at Joel as he's contemplating just what to do -should he take the off-ramp or turn around? - and, well, just look at him.  You can pretty much -see- the thoughts going through his head and that, to me, is friggin' amazing.

Something else to the credit of the trailer is that it reminds all the naysayers that the game actually isn't just about 'zombies', which was pretty evident from the first trailer, though there was a creature in it so, hey, screw logic.  With nary a lost soul to be found other than the meaning of 'vagrant', this trailer reinforces that Ellie and Joel will contend with dangers of all types, wherein a good portion of them will be classified as 'living' and 'sentient' in spades.  Though, I do have to wonder how they've lasted in the conditions they have - is it just strength in numbers, or is the 'infection' pretty much a rarity?  Or some other reasoning to it, perhaps?  There's a lot of The Last Of Us' universe that's still a mystery to us, but for the type of game that it is, I think that's for the best, really.

I can't help but find it pretty amazing at how realized the world in The Last of Us seems from what little bit of it we've seen.  It -looks- like a city, has all the same architecture that you might expect, which is brilliantly shown off as they drive through a neighborhood just before they come across the 'wounded' man.  Things are where they are for a -purpose- and they look wonderful where they are, thanks to the wizardry that only Naughty Dog can work.  There's not a whole lot else to say about the trailer, unfortunately, so I do think that's about it.  I imagine I'll watch it about a half a dozen more times and then head off to bed for a nice, relaxing slumber.  Hopefully.

Vita's PSP/Minis Compatibility Sees An Update

Over at the Playstation Blog, there was a post just today about the expanding list of PSP/Minis Compatibility for the Vita and, of course, people are never happy.  I could surmise that if the post said "ALL PSP GAMES WORK ON IT, EVEN ONES NOT ON THE STORE BECAUSE THEY ARE NOW BY MAGIC", there would still be people to complain about it, if just for the fact that people will whine that they actually have to buy games.  Regardless, people aren't happy with the list, of course, because it doesn't feature a lot of games that, well, aren't on the Playstation Store to begin with.  Which is clearly Sony's fault, as there's no such thing as licensing issues or anything like that that are to be handled by Developer and Publisher.  Certainly not, everything is up to the single company that releases a product that several other people make things for.  If Angry Birds didn't work on someone's iPad, it's obviously Apple's fault, you see.

Snarkiness aside, I should go ahead and throw down the list now before I get into it anymore.  Point of reference and all.

Available Today

PSP Titles:
Cho Aniki Zero (Aksys Games Localization, Inc.)
Strikers 1945 Plus (PM Studios, Inc.)
Tom Clancy’S Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 (UbiSoft, Inc.)
Tom Clancy’S Rainbow Six: Vegas (UbiSoft, Inc.)
Valhalla Knights 2: Battle Stance (XSEED JKS, Inc.)
Ys: I & II Chronicles Digital (XSEED JKS, Inc.)

PSP minis:
Aero Racer (Halfbrick Studios)
Age Of Zombies (Halfbrick Studios)
Blast Off (Halfbrick Studios)
Dynogems (StormBasic)
Echoes (Halfbrick Studios)
Me Monstar: Hear Me Roar (Cohort Studios)
Vempire (Impressionware Srl)

Coming Soon

PSP Titles:
3D Twist & Match (Sanuk Games)
Aedis Eclipse: Generation Of Chaos Legacy (NIS America, Inc.)
Bejeweled 2 (Sony Online Entertainment LLC)
Beta Bloc (D3 Publisher of America)
Brain Challenge (Gameloft)
Dead Head Fred (D3 Publisher of America)
Field Commander (Sony Online Entertainment LLC)
Gods Eater Burst (D3 Publisher of America)
Groovin’ Blocks (Sony Online Entertainment LLC)
King Of Pool (Nordcurrent UAB)
Luxor: Pharaoh’S Challenge Umd Legacy (Mumbo Jumbo)
Major League Baseball 2K10 (2KGames)
Mercury Meltdown (Ignition Entertainment)
Mx Vs Atv Untamed (THQ, Inc.)
Peggle (Sony Online Entertainment LLC)
Prehistoric Isle (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
Puzzle Quest: Challenge Of The Warlords (D3 Publisher of America)
Reel Fishing: The Great Outdoors Legacy (Natsume, Inc.)
Split Second (Disney Interactive Studios)
Super Pocket Tennis (D3 Publisher of America)
The Red Star (XS Games, LLC)
Unbound Saga (Vogster Entertainment, LLC)
Undead Knights Digital (Tecmo Koei America Corporation)
Uno (Gameloft)
Untold Legends: Brotherhood Of The Blade (Sony Online Entertainment LLC)
Untold Legends: The Warrior’S Code French (Sony Online Entertainment LLC)
Work Time Fun (D3 Publisher of America)
WWE All Stars (THQ, Inc.)
WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2010 (THQ, Inc.)

PSP minis:
5 In 1 Solitaire (Digital Leisure)
Alien Zombie Death (PomPom Games)
Arcade Air Hockey & Bowling (Icon Games)
Babel: The King Of The Blocks (StormBasic)
Bashi Blocks (Icon Games)
Bermuda Triangle (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
Breakquest (Beatshapers)
Bubble Trubble (Creat Studios)
Card Shark (Laughing Jackal Ltd)
Carnivores: Ice Age (Beatshapers)
Cohort Chess (Cohort Studios)
Doodle Fit (Gamelion)
Doodle Pool (Big Head Games)
Duael Invaders (Laughing Jackal Ltd)
Enigmo (Beatshapers)
Family Games (Icon Games)
Farm Frenzy (Alawar Entertainment, Inc.)
Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain (Laughing Jackal Ltd)
Fly Fu (Invictus Games LTD.)
Galcon Labs (Beatshapers)
Gamocracy One : Legend Of Robot (AYEWARE / Bearded Ladies Consulting)
Gold Medalist (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
Guerrilla War (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
Hal 21 (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
Hero Of Sparta (Gameloft)
Hysteria Project 2 (Sanuk Games)
Ikari Warriors (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
Ikari Warriors Ii: Victory Road (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
Jelly Pops (PomPom Games)
Karimogi (StormBasic)
Labyrinth (Bigben Interactive, S.A.)
Let’S Golf (Gameloft)
Marvin’S Maze (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
Mecho Wars (Creat Studios)
Omg-Z! (Laughing Jackal Ltd)
One Epic Game (Grip Digital)
Ozma Wars (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
P.O.W. – Prisoners Of War (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
Pipe Madness (AYEWARE / Bearded Ladies Consulting)
Pix N Love Rush (Sanuk Games)
Psycho Soldier (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
Red Bull X-Fighters (Xendex)
Rumble Trucks (Playerthree Ltd)
Street Smart (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
The 2D Adventures Of Rotating Octopus Character (Dakko Dakko Ltd.)
The Impossible Game (Grip Digital)
The Marbians (Nordisk Film Distribution A/S)
Twin Blades (Sanuk Games)
Vanguard Ii (SNK PLAYMORE CORPORATION)
Wackylands Boss (Creat Studios)
Yetisports (Xendex)
Zombie Racers (Big Head Games)

So as you can see there is -quite a bit- that's on the list, though the bulk of them are Minis which, let's face it:  They're important too.  I don't really care for them from the little bit I've been exposed to them (Young Thor, Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess), but they are every bit representative of developer effort as everything else, and the fact that they have to get ESRB rated, thus raising their price a little is unfortunate, but not something exactly controllable.  Regardless, more content on the Vita Store is just that, and it's always welcome, I'm sure we can all agree.  Even if you might not personally care for what that content is, since as we know, content you don't personally care about is useless.

Now, if you take a look at the lists of PSP games, both available today and soon, you might start noticing that there's kind of a little pattern in the publishers in that most of the games have that in common.  There are a couple of publishers that only have one game in the overall list, but it -might- make sense that this is something that Sony has to work directly with the Developer/Publisher over, meaning that batches of entire back-catalogs get moved through in a clip to be added to a list as the one above.  You know, just maybe that's how it works instead of the veritable monkey house that everyone thinks it is apparently.  It isn't that outlandish to suspect that there might be unseen organization to matters like this.

Of course, if I'm correct about the Publishers/Developers link to the whole situation, then that would possibly explain why some notables, namely Sega, Squeenix and Konami, aren't really up there, but at the same time, there's a good chance that there are other reasons compounding that.  Sega, as you know, is kind of in the middle of nearly going kaput in such a fashion that they've had to pretty much gut their American and European branches in the name of 'restructuring' for the future of 'focusing on digital releases', meaning something like licensing disputes or registrations (if it's something as small as that keeping their games like Phantasy Star Portable 2 and Valkyria Chronicles 2 off the store proper) might not be high up to get attention right now, despite it ultimately leading towards making money.  Squeenix, as we all know, has a real aversion towards digital things and have only recently started to lighten up on that and Konami.....well, hell, I dunno about that.  Maybe they're next up, or their games are still being worked on.

As we all know, however, it's kind of hard to trust a list for this sort of thing, no matter what company it is representing it.  So good money is on the list changing in some form before it's all filled out on the store (I imagine games will be uploaded in batches over the next couple of weeks), but which way is hard to know.  The easier bet is on games being removed from it rather than anything else being added, but there have been several surprises before and, remember, the list is only for games that will be fully, officially compatible, as in available directly from the Vita store itself.  Currently, there's games like, well, Valkyria Chronicles 2, that aren't available from the Vita storefront, but are playable on it if you use your PS3 as a bridge to get it on there and then put it on your Vita.  With any luck, some of the games we all want might even be made available by this method that currently aren't.  But either way, it's obvious that it's getting worked on, at least, which is reassuring.

'Dark' Looks Good, Is 360/PC Exclusive

In yet another one of those moments that make you go "Well -that- figures.", Joystiq ran a post today sort of introducing 'Dark' after a press release from the publisher, Kalypso Media, went out today.  The press release is a fairly good read, since it gives a little insight to the game that I've only known of for just over a week (Nothing really new from then, however), but it also sheds a little light (haha, no I'm not proud of that) on something a little unfortunate for me:  The game is only in development for PC and 360.  As you might see, I was actually pretty hopeful for Dark at first sight and was all-aboard, but this little hurdle means that I can probably comfortably drop it off my radar completely.  I'm interested in its development and how the end product turns out, of course, but not too much so; I won't be able to experience it unless I buy into a 360 at some point in the future which honestly is not in the cards.

Now, this is a bit annoying for me as it was just a couple months ago that I was saying what the industry really needed right now were games just like this.  Or if not what the industry needs, then certainly what I want, because, without rehashing my argument from the linked post, there just aren't enough actual supernatural games right about now.  It's all futury and high-tech or super fantasy with not a whole lot in between, the lot of them shooters or isometric romps.  On top of being a modern day attempt at vampire lore (without trying to put too much of their own 'stamp' on it, in the vein of Twilight sparkle, True Blood's brand of awful, etc. that I can see) trying to take it at least somewhat seriously, it's also a third-person stealth affair which I'm sure we'll all agree there are far too few of.  (Hitman and Thief rank here.)

What also stings is that the game looks really good in that it just has a lot of things that make it sound tantalizing.  Which is the point, clearly, and it requires on the actual execution of it to see just how it works out, but it is set up to succeed currently.  The cel-shaded graphics, as you see above are quite nice if a bit overly green (though it will give it a certain identity at least), but they'll likely have to be seen in motion to appreciate fully.  The RPG elements will likely allow you to give the main character 'your' own spin on him, depending on how you decide to grow him and what you focus on ala Deus Ex or Alpha Protocol.  I imagine as such, we could possibly expect the story to branch a little depending on how you handle matters, but that sort of remains to be seen.

Something I am curious to, as I'm curious with every sort of vampire piece is how they suggest the vampires blend in with society.  The bulk of the time, it's as simple as that; simply slipping into situations where they don't have to be out in the daylight, generally working the underworld and such.  It does seem like that may be the way it goes here in Dark as well, given the scenes shown.  Lots of indoor places, lots of artificial lighting, not a speck of sunlight to be seen around.  From what I can tell, our main character is freshly bitten as well, so that might weigh in on the gameplay some as well, in more ways than being a blank slate and/or at 'level suck' as it were.  Like, perhaps he's sensitive to even regularly lit areas to start with, thus necessitating the stealth in a big way at the start to ease you into making good use of it.

Whether or not the game will ever see a Playstation 3 release is iffy, but I'd be more than willing to imagine that it won't, unfortunately.  Unless it's a smash hit, of course, and the developers only omitted a PS3 version because of lack of funding, considering I imagine making a PC and 360 version of a game are fairly similar processes, where the PS3 is a whole other matter entirely.  So unfortunately, there's a good chance that I'll just be interested in the game without being able to do a whole lot about it.  It wouldn't be the first time, and I can only hope that it won't be the only thing to attempt something full-heartedly supernatural in the coming months, where I'll be able to partake in the others, but we'll just have to see.  If not, well, it's not like I'm hurting for games now or in the future to buy and play.

Music! Persona 3 Edition, Part 2

Even though I've put Persona 3 Portable down for now, despite really wanting to get along in both my NG+ and Girl Mode games (The former because I missed one thing which prevents me from getting a series of capstone personas, the latter because I hate getting 'strong' again), Persona 3 (and Portable) has been on my mind.  Especially in the soundtrack area as I'm not sure the soundtrack for Trails in the Sky is hitting me quite so profoundly.  It's a tall order of course, as I am fairly picky with Video Game Music, but it doesn't hurt to hope that any and every game will have some music that you can't help but find yourself listening to, humming or thinking about.  Unrealistic, of course, but when we think of those games that have managed the task, well, I'm sure you get where I'm coming from here.  But regardless, Persona 3 continues to impress, even if I stray off into songs that I don't have on disk.

Today, I'm featuring a few songs from the Persona 3 Portable soundtrack which is actually just geared towards the Female Protagonist, considering the Male Protagonist storyline is mostly a combination of Vanilla Persona 3 and FES.  Despite Girl Mode, as I call it, not specifically being geared towards female players, but rather veterans of P3 looking for a new spin on the same old scenarios they're familiar with, it -is- fairly girly and the soundtrack does reflect this in a way.  This isn't a bad thing and it's not very overt, nor does it overtake the mood of the music in the game which I'm happy to say is still fairly groovy, but it is noticeable and quite different.  What better place to start with this, then, than at the beginning.  The song below, "Soul Phrase" is the introduction song for Persona 3 Portable in particular.  (Oddly enough, if you wait long enough, you can see Persona 3's intro movie, possibly FES' as well, at the start of P3P.  This is how I got confused last time, thinking Burn My Dread was still the opening song for P3P.)

It's a little more subdued than Burn My Dread, but it's more fitting to the game as a whole, I'd say.  It has a somber nature around it, yet is striking throughout which is rather appropriate.  I can't really make sense of the lyrics just by sound, but I suppose that's neither a strike against the song or the game, as it's less what they say and more how it sounds that really matters.  On top of all that, it's just a fairly nice song - there's a nice blend of the vocals and the electric guitar that carries through the song, providing those hard-hitting moments that resonate with the game proper.  It simply does a very nice job of getting you prepared for it, I say, since it's not upbeat enough for you to expect something rather action-packed, but it's stimulating enough that you realize the game, in its portable form, is more than the 'visual novel' nature might lead you to think it is.

Mirroring the last post a little more, the next song I'm sharing is Persona 3 Portable's answer to Mass Destruction in the form of a little song called "Wiping All Out".  As I said, the songs, from what I've heard, seem to really try to capture the same spirit of Persona 3, albeit in a different way considering the different protagonist.  Admittedly, the song is, as I said earlier, a bit girlier in its composition and sound, but it's very much a very different version of Mass Destruction, which is all one could hope for, really.  Aside from the original song.  Or some of the real fun jazzy vocalizations that you can't help but mouth out or even sing to yourself despite having played the game for more than 100 hours.

It's still very much music to kill things to, especially Shadows, and the sentiment remains unspoiled.  "Wiping All Out" is very much Mass Destruction in theme, just on the naming of it.  It also has the same rapping that Mass Destruction has (admittedly with different lyrics) and plays during battle as Mass Destruction did.  While it's not as upbeat, I will say that Wiping All Out is enjoyable in its own right, as it manages to keep the jazzy feel, the general flow that goes through the rest of the songs (as did Persona 3's original soundtrack) and the fun in it.  It helps, I suppose, that the female vocalist is quite enjoyable to listen to as well, but that's clearly just my opinion.  Though it's one that I'm sure I'm not at all alone in having, as the soundtrack seems pretty liked from what I can tell.

The last song I want to feature sort of exemplifies just what I've been saying with the other two, in terms of keeping the general theme of the original game's soundtrack while adding a different spin on it for a very different scenario.  Again, while girly, the last song here, "A Way of Life" is the general overworld theme, s'far as I know, which means it's what will play as you're out and about at the station or Pawlonia Mall (I think, at least) and it's only after I've listened to it here that I really sort of get the song.  It's...just really a delightful song; not overly fantastic, not something that makes you want to get up and do something big, but it's something I'd definitely want to listen to while relaxing somewhere or, perhaps while walking around leisurely as I'm sure is the intention with the game.  (At least, I've always considered the soundtrack in the game to be what the main character listens to when appropriate since regardless of male or female, they love their headphones)

Like I said already, it's just a nice, enjoyable little song.  It's not anything more than it tries to be, nor is it anything more than it simply -is-, but it doesn't need to be.  Despite not having any real jazzy influences (mostly the rockin' sax from other songs on the soundtrack) it's still decidedly part of the soundtrack by sound because it very much carries the same mood as the rest of the songs.  And it really ties them together I think, by being just....well, 'funky', as I've said of the other songs.    It's fun which is something that, as the sole descriptor of a song, means a whole lot more than I could hope to cover, so it will have to suffice along with my assurance that you know what I mean when I say that.  It's clearly evident upon listening to it, especially if you're really intent on just listening to it and relaxing with it.

I'm sure that, depending on how my time with Trails in the Sky goes, I might just be ready to hop back into the world of P3P afterwards.  Unless I have Resistance:  Burning Skies at that point, in which, well, I'm playing that.  I can't wait to see just what the Vita's first real first person shooter has to offer, though perhaps not as a direct representation of 'the bar' as it were.  Since it is still early software and all.  Though, I'm sure all the while til then, I'll be enjoying the smooth sounds of the Persona 3 extended OST (through Portable, I mean) because it simply stands out more in my head lately.  And with good reason, I should suggest.

I Pre-Ordered Five Games Today

In the extended campaign of assaulting a rotting horse, I am once again going to stake just how goddamn confused and worried I am about 2012.  Last night, knowing that I would be heading into GameStop today, I put pencil to post-it to leave a little reminder for myself on what games I'm looking out for that come out this year.  That list comprised of seven games, and that fact still does not fail to amaze me because of how most years go for me, as you might know if you read this blog fairly regularly.  It's not that I am very very picky, it's just that I usually narrow the games that are coming out to things I absolutely want, since the rest can usually be picked up later for less (even as a New product, which I try to buy when I can).  So, come Game of the Year tally time, I end up scraping my purchases together to produce a list of ten or twelve games that I bought that year to rate, rather than being games that I could hand-pick from my acquisitions and rate.  I'm not sure that I'll have that option this year.

The list, for those of you who are curious (though you might know it already) is:  Sleeping Dogs, Lollipop Chainsaw, Resistance:  Burning Skies, Gravity Rush (pre-ordered before today, hence why it's not on the receipt), LittleBigPlanet Vita, LittleBigPlanet Karting, and Persona 4: Golden.  You might notice Sleeping Dogs and LittleBigPlanet Karting are absent from my pre-order receipt and this is both so that I didn't spend $35 in one swing just pre-ordering games, and because I don't know if I'll have $60 to throw down both times for the games when they come out.  Make no mistake:  I crave them, but slightly less than the other games, which means that they rest on the precipice of purchasing, rather than falling from it to my waiting arms.  If I can swing it, there is no doubt that they will be mine, especially Sleeping Dogs, since as you might know I am kind of excited for it.

Now, the more observant of you might also notice that the above receipt contains a game that was not on the list I wrote up before heading to GameStop.  Ragnarok Odyssey, which I have also expressed desire for was pretty far from my mind when I was thinking up this list, purely because I am only now familiarizing myself with the idea of being able to buy it.  Yet, while going down my laundry list of pre-orders for the Vita, I asked "Can you take pre-orders for Persona 4: Golden yet?" to which the clerk, Leo, replied "Oh yeah, I got you covered there."  He then went on to say, "We're also taking pre-orders for Ragnarok Odyssey, if you're interested in that." to which I said, "Oh, Leo you're killing me.  Yes, put money on it, please."  Suddenly, my list had eight games on it, and then something flashed through my head, letting a chill of dread climb down through my spine.  "Do you have a release date for Metal Gear Rising:  Revengeance yet?", I inquired.  "Yeah...let's see.  Actually exactly a month from now."

Ffffuuu-  I grit my teeth against the news and as he asked if I had anything else to pre-order, perhaps Revengeance after all, I heaved a heavy little sigh and shook my head.  "No Leo, that's all for today.  I'm already cutting games off my list and I didn't even remember those two before now."  After I pre-ordered the five games only (knowing that Gravity Rush, already ordered, made six), I shared the rest of the games with him and he chuckled a little, saying "Yeah, this year is just brutal in releases."  It's only about now that I can wonder just how people who have a 360, Wii, and/or 3DS as well keep up with it all since it's all I can to to keep up with my Vita and PS3, both monetarily and where it concerns time.  God help us all if one of Sony's E3 reveals is a, no -the- firmware update that allows PSOne Emulation because with Final Fantasy 7, 8 and Xenogears already on my account, plus a desire to jump into those, I will be fucked.  In a way, I hope they do that since it'll quiet a lot of complaints and be a big deal (always a nice buzz generated when you get to say "Presto!  New functionality right now!  For free!") for the Vita and Sony both, but I dread such a time terribly.

I've pretty much run out of words at this point.  Between what I've bought already, and the nine games that I will get, provided I have the scratch to do so, I'm already ready for Game of the Year time; my list will be no challenge in filling up.  (Ordering yes, but still)  And yet, this is only for games that I know about.  Games that have been announced and are in my mind at least semi-regularly.  I shudder to think that there are other games that I for-Goddamnit, Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale is slated for the Holiday season.  Ten.  Ten goddamn games.  And yet, through it all, even as I, someone who barely buys a lot of games, pre-ordered four Vita games (with a fifth one done already) that will likely be out sooner rather than later (LBP, Gravity Rush in June, P4G in the 'Fall', likely with Ragnarok, Resistance this month), and in fact, turned down pre-ordering others (Warrior's Lair for instance) people continue to smugly state that the Vita has nothing coming out for it and is totally doomed despite being out for only three months.  Some fuckin' people, I tell you.

Sleeping Dogs Gets a Combat Trailer

So as we know, I have been very eagerly awaiting more and more information on a lot of games, but one of the higher priorities, after the last couple trailers and bits of information anyway, has been Sleeping Dogs.  After recently learning that it got a lot of influence from The Protector, the game shot way up on my 'want' list and I've been gnashing my teeth hungrily for some proof of this, some actual showing of the influence that can be taken from The Protector.  And I gotta say, the trailer doesn't deliver a lot on that front, but it does deliver -some-, but what's more important is that it looks awesome.  Mostly.  I mean, let's face it, that footage isn't near final product or at least it shouldn't be, and as such, I look at it more as an indication of the spirit rather than the end result.  And the spirit is really hitting on the buttons that I want it to hit on.

Let me first direct you to "The Protector Moment" as I saw it about thirty seconds into the video, and this is very clearly from the movie and I don't care what anyone says otherwise.  If you've seen The Protector, you know that the fighting style used by the main character is basically "Capture and Destroy" which is exactly what's going on there.  I'd wager to say that it was a move directly used -in- the movie, honestly, but that's beside the point.  That right there is -awesome- and I want more of it.  There's a couple more instances of this style of thought, specifically a disarm and one of the counters, but that knee stomp is classic capture and destroy, it's what drove the movie, and it's what I want to do all the time.

The thing I like about the trailer is that it sort of is pretty basic in the combat, showing off things you'd expect - Roundhouse kicks, takedowns, the classic judo flip and the like.  Then it reminds you that weapons are a part of the game and will likely be a big part in some fights.  If I can extrapolate a little information, it looks like you can specifically finish off opponents with melee weapons as opposed to basic slices and the like.  I mean, that's just what I'm guessing based on the guy jumping up in the air and slamming a butcher's cleaver down across a guy's head.  Then also bringing one down on the neck of a guy laying on the ground all defenseless.  It's quite brutal, as the developers promised and it's rather glorious in that aspect of it I must say.  Still, I would've liked to see more than just knives used to show off the weapon system.  (Yes, there was a flash of a lead pipe, but you get my point.)

Then after all that fairly basic stuff, we get to the fifty-five second mark to see a guy get impaled on a fucking pipe.  Read that again.  Our protagonist, an undercover cop, picks up a guy and slams him down onto a pipe that impales him through the fucking midsection.  This was about the moment that I said "Holy shit!" and flailed my arms around in the air as would an excited little girl do.  The next ten seconds were nothing short of awesome (barring a few animation things) and did more than any live-action trailer with pretty good music could do in terms of hype.  This is what I want, game developers.  I want to be able to slam guys into meathooks.  I want to be able to turn a table saw into an impromptu brain surgeon.  I want to set a guys head on fire with a stove.  This sort of visceral environmental interactivity was something I only dare dream of back when the only trailer was a live action one and to see it given form and life is more than I could hope for.

At a certain point, I do remember that this is a combat system for an open world game, and I start to realize that that does mean there will have to be a few things given up.  So I can look at the animations and the effects in a softer light, but at the same time, if we've seen anything it's that games can offer us fairly decent animations in an open-world environment.  One only needs to look as far as inFamous 2 to realize that, and especially so, given that the original game was oft-criticized in that department.  (with good reason, unfortunately)  At the same time, I enjoyed the hell out of inFamous 1 despite the stiff NPCs and the like and I can imagine that if the above trailer, in the unlikely event that it is close to the final look, I will enjoy it regardless.  But I can't help but hope for a little more, I suppose, since I really want this to succeed.  So here's hoping for just a little bit of tightening before release!