Finally!

Mojang has finally confirmed the Release Date Month for Minecraft on the Vita, which will be August, the same month that the XBone and PS4 editions will be released on their respective platforms.  It's actually kind of a big deal because of the way that it all works out.  The details of it are as such:

• Minecraft: Playstation 3 + Vita Edition will be available on the PSN in August.
• It will include all the features from the most recent Playstation 3 version, including online play on Vita.
• This means everyone who has bought Minecraft: Playstation 3 Edition from PSN will get it on Vita for free. Those fluent in Sony-speak might refer to the deal as “Cross-buy.”
• We are working closely with Sony Computer Entertainment to look into ways to enable upgrade from the Blu-ray disc version of Minecraft: Playstation 3 Edition to Minecraft: Playstation 3 and Vita. We’ll have more info on this closer to release.
• Minecraft: Playstation 3 + Vita Edition will cost $19.99.
• It doesn’t matter if you buy for PS3 or Vita first, you own the game for both platforms.
• Saves are transferrable between the Playstation 3 and Vita versions of Minecraft. You will be able to craft at home on your Playstation 3, then continue on the bus/toilet with your Playstation Vita.
• All of the DLC you’ve purchased for Minecraft: Playstation 3 Edition will work on Playstation 3 + Vita Edition.

So, basically, the Vita version of Minecraft is the PS3 version, except on the Vita.  I personally think they could have based the game on the PS4 version as, yes, I know it's a very technical game technically, but I don't think it's so much that the Vita could not handle the PS4 version.  However, I suppose the PS3+Vita deal is the sweeter end of it, because of the way the PS4 version is set up.

• Minecraft: Playstation 4 Edition will be released on the PSN in August. It brings significantly bigger worlds and a greater draw distance than Playstation 3 + Vita Edition.
• It will include all the features from the most recent Playstation 3 version.
• Minecraft: Playstation 4 Edition will cost $19.99.
• If you’ve bought Playstation 3 Edition from the Playstation Network you will be able to upgrade for $4.99.
• You will be able to upgrade for a minimum of a year after the release date.
• We are working closely with Sony Computer Entertainment to look into ways to enable upgrade from the Blu-ray disc version of Minecraft: Playstation 3 Edition to Minecraft: Playstation 4 Edition. We’ll have more info on this closer to release.
• Players with Playstation 3 Edition or Playstation 3 + Vita Edition saves will be able to import their worlds to Playstation 4. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to transfer your saves from Playstation 4 to Playstation 3/Vita. There are technical reasons for this; we can make worlds bigger without too much stress, but shrinking them causes all kinds of problems.
• Cross-platform play will not be possible between Playstation 3 + Vita Edition and Playstation 4 Edition.
• Many, but not all, of the DLC skins and texture packs you’ve purchased for Playstation 3 Edition will be available for use in Playstation 4 Edition. We’d like to say all your DLC would transfer but some of the items are trapped in licensing deals that are too boring to get into here. We’ll have more on this soon.

So if you buy the PS4 version as an upgrade, you can pull your files over to it, but then they are locked to your PS4 copy of the game since you can't send them back.  Again, I think the Vita version could have been the PS4 version, but then you miss out on the cross-play/Cross-buy with the millions of people (yeah, millions) who have already bought it on PS3.  I'm personally trying to remember if Minecraft has ever been on sale, because if it has and I didn't buy it because I was waiting for the Vita version, I will be momentarily upset with myself, but then recall that "who the hell thought it would be Cross-Buy" was my thinking, and justifiably so.  It's a pretty great move regardless.

In any case, it's goddamn Minecraft on my Vita.  I have literally been waiting for this for years, and it's finally becoming a reality in a scant few months.  I'll finally be able to build shit whenever I want to and enjoy the Lego Box that is the game, when I have completely and totally lacked the ability to do so until now.

Now, here's just hoping that the PS3 version of the game isn't stuck on, like....the Adventure Update.

good lord, that update was a while ago and there's so much more stuff in it and hnnng this is why I'll never be satisfied

So, Whoops

That I didn't manage to pull myself away from Drakengard 3 last night to post is pretty much a solid indicator of just how happy I am with the game.  That I can barely even do anything -tonight- is just all the more of that, and I think what we should take away from all of this is that when I can finally talk about Drakengard 3, I will be very, very enthusiastic about it.  Until then, you will have to settle with this one quote from me:

It's fucking awesome.

-Me, in Regards to Drakengard 3

Someone can print that.

Anyway, if you'll allow me one more sojourn into the vast pleasures of the game, to fully savor what it has to offer me, I swear to you that I will eventually condense my enjoyment into text on this screen for you to imbibe, that you might live even a little bit vicariously through it.  In the meantime, I will share with you possibly my favorite song from the game thus far, which I have linked above.  It's called "Prevolt/Amaros" just in case the video gets taken down (or rather, -when- it does) so you'll be able to search it for yourself.  It's a really fast-paced, action-oriented song, which is fair because it's a boss theme, and I just really, really love it.  It gets me pumped and not since, well, probably REVENGEANCE's soundtrack has that happened, and NieR's before it.

Now, if you'll excuse me, once more I go into the beyond!

can you tell I'm excited?  Because I am, because the game is just so good you guys

You guys, You guys!

So, this showed up today.  I'll do impressions and such tomorrow night, but tonight has been and will continue to be celebrating the release of Drakengard 3.  I chalk it up to fate and the universe owing me more than a little bit for me receiving my Collector's Edition a day early.

Take care of yourselves and goodnight!

okay seriously?  Zero's VA is so good

All Sorts of Excited for Tearaway

How long have I been waiting for Tearaway?  Well, only since August of 2012 when it was announced with a reveal trailer that I saw and could only wonder at just how magical and charming it looked.  And here on the night before the game comes out, I can only think about how true that still rings, and just how desperately I need that right now.  Not only in a general sense, because whimsy and magic is always appreciated and I -can- get that from LittleBigPlanet Vita and I intend to again someday, I'm just worried about my save file getting corrupt.  Again.  But also in the specific sense in that this week has been absolutely trying and miserable on all counts and all I want to do is play something that makes me genuinely smile and feel a little flutter in my heart.  Tearaway seems like it's the perfect game to do just that.

What's especially lucky about the situation is that I seem well within my rights to be excited for the game, as it's receiving very positive reviews across the board for the most part - with only Game Revolution, "Hardcore Gamer Magazine" whatever that is, and Joystiq (who can safely be ignored) giving the game reviews I could call 'tepid', with Joystiq's at the lowest at 3 out of 5 stars or a 60 out of 100.  As we know, however, 60 or 6 for short-hand -is- one of the forbidden numbers as it's not 10, so when a game gets something that is not a 10, people assume bad things.  However, on a proper scale, 6 out of 10 is still good!  It means above average.  If we could trust Joystiq to be a proper review-site, then it would still be okay!  But we don't, so the whole thing is moot; the other two 'middling' reviews were solid 70s or 7s which is acceptable even for those of you who believe 8 is the lowest number acceptable for a score.

While it's a shame that the game just so happened to come out on the exact same day as The Legend of Zelda:  A Link Between Worlds and a little niche product called the XBox One, I still have a feeling that it's going to grow a pair of legs for itself.  I know I'll likely be singing its praises from the highest mountaintops, and I won't be the only one to do so.  With the PS4 out and making the Vita all that more tempting to pick up with Remote Play, since it apparently works fantastically, it's almost a no-brainer to pick one up and a game that everyone says is great.  In the case of the Vita, there are actually quite a few titles that can claim that honor - Persona 4 Golden, Gravity Rush and Muramasa Rebirth among them - which might surprise a few people.  Still, adding one more title to that pile helps, and I'm certainly glad that Media Molecule looks to have another critical hit on their hands.  They certainly deserve it.

it's going to be so much fuuuuuun you guys