Tetsuya Nomura Punches Kingdom Hearts Fans in the Stomach.

That’s how I look at it anyway. As each day passes, I feel the overwhelming excitement that awaits in the promised Kingdom Hearts announcements for this year. I’m a fanboy for the series. So when the games director Tetsuya Nomura talks, I listen for any mention of my beloved Kingdom Hearts. It’s 2007 after all. There are announcements promised, and it’s been like 2 years since KH2. It’s reasonable for me to be excited. There was only a 3 year gap between KH1, and KH2 release dates. And today we have news.

Flame War ADVANCE writes: …It doesn’t just stop here, though. Nomura goes on to talk a little about Kingdom Hearts 3, saying that it is impossible for him to concentrate on two games at once. He plans to complete development of Versus XIII first, so he can incorporate elements of the game in KH3. Also, it seems Versus will be the last Final Fantasy that Nomura-san will be directing, as he wishes to concentrate on the Kingdom Hearts franchise in the future.

So if it’s being worked on right now, it’s in very early pre-production, because Final Fantasy XII is due out in 2008. So I’m expecting maybe an announcement this year for KH3, and a release around 2009-10!  Sure the extra time means that the game will be it’s best, but it seems like a very long wait. I expect a game to come out on portables to bridge the gap between KH2 and 3, similar to what Chain of Memories (GBA) did. They need a way to explain Haley Joel Osment’s voice change from 14 (Kingdom Hearts 1) to 17 (Kingdom Hearts 2) to 21-2 (Kingdom Hearts 3?) in this time we wait.

Excuse my rant. I’ll quietly sob in a corner to my Utada Hikari mp3s.

…sigh…

KLind

Assault Rifle from Halo replica!

I didn’t make this!

Creators Site

Amazing.

KLind

European PS3 Gets Tough Cut

Readers, let it be known that I am not anti-PS3 as the rest of the world is.  But, for lack of better news, I have this to report.

First, some back story.  In the past, Japan and the U.S. have had no problems buying Sony products such as the PS2.  Europe, however, has always been a little slow.  Sales were made, but they are just not as excited about their gaming over there.  So here comes the PS3.  Now we all know, no matter how much I would like to deny, that they have had a rough start.  Stores are stocked full of the next gen beauty and it does not look like it will change with any of the upcomming games.

Now for the news.  It turns out that, for European buyers, the PS3 will not have PS2 compatability.  So games will work, just not most of them.  Wether PS1 games will work is still up to Sony’s Europe branch.

So lets do some more math.

Already unexcited European buyers + Slow PS3 takeoff + Hardly no backwards compatability =

 For Sony in Europe.

EggyMc

Sony Parody: “How to Kill a Brand”

Tee Hee

KLind

Nintendo Power April 2007 Get! (Now with MySims details at bottom).

Been a while since I did a [insert magazine title] GET! But here we go.

First: There’s a cool Spectrobes poster included with the magazine itself (not inside the issue).

There’s a Prince of Persia Rival Swords ad. Tagline is “Ancient Enemies. New ways to conquer them.” It should be “Same game. Tacked on controls!”.

Previews of DDR Hottest party. Konami has licensed music from 70s, 80s, 90s, and today.

Preview of Rune Factory, and “Samurai Slash [working title]“, Dewys Adventure, Touch the Dead, Naruto, And wait…what’s this? Brothers in Arms DS! Here’s the rundown:

-3 Campaigns

-16 missions

-Starts in North America, Continues through Normandy.

-Top screen has a 3D view of the battlefield (‘pushes the boundries of graphic quality on the DS’), Touch screen let’s you do your real time weapon changing, or touch controlled aiming. Grenades you touch the screen and swipe upward. Bazookas, Sniper Rifles included. Operable vehicles include jeep, and Sherman Tank. Coming this summer.

While I read the cover story, and other long ones, here’s a quick run through of whats in this issue.

-MySims (Wii) Cover story

-You & Mii (Mii feature)

-Super Paper Mario feature

-Alien Syndrome Feature

-Godfather Wii feature

-SNK vs. Capcom Card Fighters feature

-Sonic and the Secret Rings strategy

-Pokemon Diamond and Pearl “7 big aspects” article.

-Final Fantasy: Chocobo Tales feature

Along with Previews for:

-DDR Hottest Party (Wii)

-Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon (DS)

-Samurai Slash [working title] (Wii)

-Dewy’s Adventure (Wii)

-Touch the Dead (DS)

-Brothers in Arms (DS)

-Naruto: Clash of Ninja (Wii)

-Cookie and Cream (DS)

-Time Ace (DS)

-Wing Island (Wii)

-Kororinpa: Marble Mania (Wii)

-Honeycomb Beat (DS)

-Heroes of Mana (DS)

-Cooking Mama: Cook Off (Wii)

-Mortal Kombat Armageddon (Wii)

-TMNT (Wii)

-Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (Wii)

-Escape from Bug Island (Wii)

-Mercury Meltdown: Revolution (Wii)

And Reviews for:

-Sonic and the Secret Rings (Wii) (8.5/10)

-Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits (DS) (7.5/10)

-Rayman Raving Rabbids (DS) (7.0/10)

-Meteos: Disney Magic (7.5/10)

-Steel Horizon (DS) (4.5/10)

-Spectrobes (DS) (8.0/10)

-Wario: Master of Disguise (DS) (6.5/10)

-TMNT (GBA) (7.0/10)

-TMNT (DS) (5.5/10)

-Quickspot (DS) (5.5/10)

Here’s some random pictures:

Sorry for the lack of updates. Enjoying the splendor of upgrading PC’s. Here’s the info on MySims.

“When people think of the Sims, they picture real grown-up people doing real grown-up things,” said game designer Robin Hunicke. But this time around the Sims sport a new look. It’s not that the characters are kids, but there is a youthfulness to the character design.

-Story is that you move to the town where your grandparents live.

-Nunchuk used for “direct movement”. Remote Pointing for for object building.

-”If we were making this for all the different next-gen consoles, it would have a very different look. We have a lot of reverence for what Nintendo stands for; their style of games and their approachability. That’s how we ended up with these characters.

-Another reason for the characters is for world-wide appeal. Sims games have sold well in the US, and Europe regions, but not really in Japan.

-One inspiration for the team has been the Sesame Street song “Who Are the People in your neighborhood?” Robin Hunicke explains, “One day maybe they would meet the mailman [on the show]. He would stop by and he’d have a big moustache and say something like ‘I’m the mailman. I deliver the mail. Mail is important for all these reasons.’ I’m like whoa! That’s so cool. So for a long time I’ve been thinking, well, who are the people in my neighborhood? If you look at the characters in the game, they should inspire you to explore and find out who they are, discover who lives in your town.“

-The town will have a chef, florist, hair-dresser, mad scientist, and a magician.

-From the description of building buildings it sounds very similar to building with Legos. You customize interior and exterior of buildings.

-You are given different goals by towns folk to build them certain things. Like for instance the chef will ask you to build him an oven.

-The town is kinda run-down and the mayor asks you to help fix it up.

It’s unclear if you actually have control of the character you make, or you just watch the Sims walk around town (AKA traditional Sims). It sounds like Animal Crossing, with the ability to build stuff with Legos which is awesome.

MySims DS info:

-A DS version of MySims is also in the works. Whereas the Wii title takes place in a small town on the rise, the setting for the DS game is a vacation resort that needs your help to bring in visitors. In addition to socializing with other characters and performing tasks that work toward your tourist-attracting goals, you’re invited to participate in a collection of mini-games that utilize the touch screen and microphone. The one diversion that the team is ready to talk about is a fishing game, and the others will center on similar leisure time activities. In the main game, the lower screen displays the environment while the upper screen shows the day of the week and time of the day. Nintendo Power hints at Wi-Fi functionality.

DS graphics look very Animal Crossing Wild World-esque. It looks pretty good though.

Blurry Pics:

The Super Paper Mario wasn’t really all that new. There are some new screens, but the info isn’t new.

KLind

Nintendo Stops Production on Gamecube.

Nintendo has stopped according to Perrin Kaplan (Vice President, Marketing & Corporate Affairs, Nintendo of America) in a recent interview with GameDaily. “Are we producing any more GameCubes? No”.

It’s a sad day for those who supported it. Gamecube was my first console of last-gen. I loved it so much, and find myself replaying some Cube games on the Wii. That could be a reason as to why this happened. Gamecube compatibility on Wii.

We’ll miss you purple lunchbox. I still have a lot of games I need to play on you though…

UPDATE: It looks like Perrin is wrong. Eurogamer has the story:

“I can confirm that globally, Nintendo is still continuing production of GameCube hardware and GameCube software,” a spokesperson for Nintendo UK told us.”

So, back to the lunchroom I guess!

KLind

PS2, PC, and 360, join PS3 in a World of Flames (Mercenaries 2)

Press Release:

EA AND PANDEMIC STUDIOS ANNOUNCE DEVELOPMENT OF MERCENARIES 2: WORLD IN FLAMES ON FOUR PLATFORMS
Blockbuster Title Shipping Holiday 2007 on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2, in Addition to Previously Announced PlayStation 3 Version

Redwood City, Calif. – February 22, 2007 – Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS), the world’s leading interactive entertainment company and Pandemic Studios, one of the world’s leading independent game developers, today announced that Mercenaries 2: World in Flames™, will ship simultaneously on four platforms worldwide – the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and PC – in holiday 2007.

“Mercenaries 2: World in Flames delivers the next evolution in explosive open world gameplay – regardless of the system you play it on,” said Pandemic Studios CEO Andrew Goldman. “All four platforms are incredible gaming machines, and from the beginning we designed an experience that accentuates their individual strengths and delivers the interactive freedom and explosive action Mercenaries fans demand.”

“EA Partners is proud to team up with Pandemic Studios to help execute a seamless, simultaneous global release for Mercenaries 2: World in Flames on four platforms,” said EA Partners vice president and general manager, David DeMartini. “The team at Pandemic Studios is building an incredible game that will blow away gamers in all regions of the world.”

I loved the first one, and as long as they keep the Star Wars unlockables I’m game. Also…PS3 has lost another exclusive…

KLind

Wort Wort Wort for Halo 3 Laser Tag!

Press Release

Jasman Toys Announces Halo 3 Licensing Agreement With Microsoft and Bungie

Toy manufacturer Jasman to produce licensed Halo 3 Laser Command laser tag game targeted to fans of the popular franchise

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire/ — Jasman Toys, a growing toy designer and manufacturer announces a new licensing partnership with Microsoft Corporation and Bungie Studios. Under the agreement, Jasman will produce a line of Halo 3(TM) Laser Command products. Highlighting the line is a laser tag-style set that features an infrared-light laser gun and sensors. Targeted to core Halo fans, Jasman’s Halo 3 Laser Command products will be available later in 2007.

“We are extremely excited to announce this licensing partnership with Microsoft,” said Brian Bonnett, executive vice president of Jasman Toys. “The Halo franchise is one of the most-recognized brands in the industry; the anticipation surrounding Halo 3 and our innovative product should prove to be extremely successful for Jasman and Microsoft.”

Jasman’s Halo 3 Laser Command builds on the success of the most sought-after video game brand with an exciting laser tag-style game. With the upcoming release of Halo 3, this is a must-have product for any Halo fan. Weapons will include the Covenant’s Plasma Rifle, Plasma Pistol and Energy Sword. These alien laser weapons emit a harmless infrared beam and sensors are worn by players to register hits. Engage in capture the flag, team battles, free-for-alls … the possibilities for gameplay are endless!

This is so awesome! Even if you have no friends to play with, you could still pick them up to have the weapon replicas. I can’t wait for the Tonka Warthog Drive-n-go!

KLind

Video Game Movies (and why they suck).

Ever since the release of the “Super Mario Bros.” movie in 1993 (based on the video game of the same name), video game movies have been stinking up the silver screen. Game after game has been described by many as “box office bombs” and “deviations from the game…to anger fans”. Sure, we got a break with mediocre movie “Doom” and slightly better film “Mortal Kombat”, but the cons far outweigh the pros in this genre.

Now for the kicker. The movies in development are, in my opinion, shaping up to be worse then their predecessors. I mean, I LOVE Halo, but do we really need a movie to show us some more Master Chief? World of Warcraft, Prince of Persia, Gears of War, these are all amazing games but what the directors down in Hollywood land do not realize is that all these movies will do is anger the fanboys and turn off potential buyers to the franchise. They are setting themselves up to try and jump a bar that can go no higher and in the end, they will just end up on the floor with guts of failure splattered all over. Sure, I will not be totally negative. I will give them Resident Evil and Tomb Raider. Those are great movies and great games. But I am done with the Hollywood types cranking out meaningless game movies that only hurt the consumer and ultimately the video game developers. Well that’s my opinion. Feel free to share yours.

EggyMc

(Counterpoint from KLind)

I have to agree that there have been a lot of failed attempts at adapting Video Game’s to Movies. But they aren’t all bad. I agree that the decision to take Mario out of the Mushroom Kingdom, and have him travel to a gritty realistic underground Koopa Land to fight trenchcoat clad goombas, and one angry Dennis Hopper, is not the best idea. But as stand alone movies certain ones could work. I had never played a Silent Hill game before, but after seeing the movie, I began to play them. After seeing the Doom movie, I decided to get Doom 3.

I don’t see a problem if video game movies are made. My problem is when directors don’t understand the property they are working with. Take Silent Hill for example. It was a good adaptation because the director was not only a huge fan of the games, but he also brought some of the minds behind the game to assist on the film. A bad example would be something along the lines of Alone in the Dark, or Bloodrayne.  You probably know that those are works of art from the director Uwe Boll. When things get out of hand like that is when you have problems.

But looking on to the future, there are some pretty great ones coming. Metal Gear Solid was just announced. Your first instinct tells you that it could end up horribly. Then you hear that Hideo Kojima is the Executive Producer. Then it’s okay. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. It was the best game in the Sands trilogy, and PoP creator Jordan Mechner is on board. Halo: Sure there is the budget issues (that will hopefully be worked out), but Bungie holds creative control, and Peter Jackson and WETA are both on board. Halo has always been very cinematic, and there’s no fan that can tell you that they don’t want to see real functioning Warthogs.

What I think we should realize is that all video game movies are not bad by default, well other than Uwe Boll’s .  It seems that more of these movies are enlisting the games creators to make sure they don’t mess things up. I actually look forward to seeing some of these projects succeed, and break the rule that all video game movies have to suck.

KLind

Halo 3… FALL 2007!!!!

In the Bungie Weekly Update, they introduce the idea of the Halo 3 maketing.

Even though we showed Halo 3 for the first time last May, the official marketing campaign for the game is just now starting to begin. With this kickoff comes the first phase of visual identity – what is creatively being referred to as the “teaser piece.” While it may not be anything new for fans who have been following Halo 3 all along, it’s still very cool, very iconic and evokes a sense of mystery and intrigue. It teases you if you will. Although, it does contain ONE very important piece of information. Cough. 

They posted this picture:

Here’s the full pic in link form (because it’s HUGE):

On the bottom of the linked image you see this:

So, probably November!

Finish the Fight, this Fall!
KLind (iknowyouyourpastyourfuture)