The Top Ten dormant frachises that deserve a next-gen reboot...

As much as people love seeing new IP in new generations, we seem to love seeing old favorites even more, especially if it's been awhile. We've seen that this generation, with series like XCom and Fallout come back in big ways. They are already bringing back Thief and just recently announced the return of Wolfenstein for next-gen systems. I'm psyched about new IP but I'd love to see some classic franchises return as well. Here are 10 I think deserve a new lease on life in the next generation:

10. Mutant League: I really wish the Mutant League franchise wasn't owned  by EA, because this would be a perfect way to make fun of the annual EA Madden juggernaut or just providing a fun solid alternative to the boring stale same football year after year. If EA were able to laugh at themselves this might have a chance but I seriously doubt it. That being said I would be pretty psyched to see a new update.

9. Killer Instinct: This generation saw a pretty good revival of the once nearly dead fighting genre with well-received new entries in both the Street Fighter and MK franchises (along with the surprisingly good recent release of Injustice) and Killer Instinct was a really fun over the top fighter that I'd love to see get another go.

8. Crimson Skies:  Flight combat games are pretty damn rare. Good console exclusive flight combat games are virtually non-existent. I'm not sure why it's so hard to nail down a successful formula, but Crimson Skies made it look easy, as it was some of the most fun I ever had on the original Xbox. Why it's never seen a follow-up is a mystery, and with Microsoft seriously lacking IP coming into next gen, I'm hopeful we'll see a next-gen version of this.

7. Zombies Ate My Neighbors: We are pretty oversaturated with zombies at this point. Movies, TV and videogames all seem to have a neverending horde of the things, and it's all extremely serious. Someone needs to have some more fun with the premise, which is where a ridiculous franchise like ZAMN would come in. I think a modern update with a good sense of humor that skews the whole zombie genre would be pretty awesome.

6. Myst: I am not actually a fan of Myst. That is to say I actively hate Myst because it's more an interactive virtual tour rather thane a real game. But it was a victim of the times. I think a modern update with tight graphics and a bigger emphasis on adventure while still keeping exploration an element would work incredibly well.

5. Earthworm Jim: I seriously just want Insomniac do an Earthworm Jim game. Their great sense of humor and awesome future weapons and gadgets would fit right in with the wacky franchise. Add the Pixar-esque style of the Ratchet & Clank games and you've got a winner.

4.Rogue Galaxy: My favorite PS2 rpg by a longshot. I just loved the world and the characters and it's one of the few PS2 games I've held onto. Level 5 is a great developer and I'd love to see them do an all new adventure with mostly the same cast.

3. Wing Commander: I'm kinda bummed that EA is going to be pretty much focused on Star Wars for the forseeable future, because that makes any chance of a Wing Commander revival pretty slim when they could just make a new Tie Fighter and it would probably sell better. And Bioware would be a great developer to make a long overdue follow-up.Keep the great space combat, add in ground combat, combine the moral choices that Bioware is known for with Wing Commander's history of mission results having lasting repercussions and you'd have one hell of a game.

2. Star Fox: This is beyond obviously overdue for a revival, but it still deserves mention. We've been without a proper Star Fox title since the N64 (the less said about the truly awful Star Fox Adventures the better). It's a revered franchise that has been chomping at the bit for a new entry. Getting Star Fox 64 on the 3DS was pretty cool, but with the Wii U really lacking in software their could not be a better time for a full blown console follow-up. Make it happen Nintendo.

1. Shining Force: Turn-based strategy rpgs have always been a pretty niche market but a few still manage to make it every generation, but they are a personal favorite of mine, and with Xcom really exploding last year and Fire Emblem having it's most successful entry yet I'm hopeful more studios will give the genre a chance. Shining Force is one of my favorite all time series, with II being a particular highlight I still play every now and again. We haven't seen a proper entry since the Saturn, but I would love even a next gen arcade/psn release or something like that.

Ok that's the list. Not much else to say except I'll probably have another post up on Wednesday.

The Medium Entertainment Iron Man 3 review...

So Iron Man 3 had a ton to live up to. Although it's not really a follow-up to Avengers, the biggest movie ever, it is the next Marvel movie after it so expectations are high. It also really needed to rebound for the kind of clunky mess that was Iron Man 2. How does it do that? By being a smart self-contained film filled with the great action and fantastic humor you'd expect from director Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang). It's hard to say it's a better movie than Avengers since Avengers has the nigh impossible task of balancing so many heroes and this film pretty much is just Iron Man & Iron Patriot. On that point I think Don Cheadle really gets a handle on the role of James Rhodes in this installment, whereas he felt sort of clumsily shoved into it in Iron Man 2 (though that probably wasn't his fault). The whole cast is pretty much fantastic and immensely entertaining though more in a smart action movie way than in a comic book way. In fact I think comic book fans will probably have a couple big complaints about this movie, and they are completely valid. I will discuss them but be aware that these are some fairly big spoilers so you have been warned:

Ok the biggest beef any fan familiar with the Iron Man comics will have is the treatment of the Mandarin. He is pretty much Iron Man's biggest foe, a genius martial artist scientist with ten rings giving him various powers and occasionally having a big ass dragon named Fin Fang Foom. He's a pretty solid foil, but also a really complicated one. Maybe, just maybe if they had spent the last two movies building him up they could've properly done him in the third film. But there's just no way you can randomly introduce him in one film and do him justice. Maybe that's the fault of the producers for not having enough foresight but whatever. So what is he in this film? A phony actor to cover for the real villain. It's a brilliant twist and it's pretty funny. But I can easily see how this would annoy comic book fans, I mean imagine if the Joker was reduced to such a role?

And aside from amusing post credits clip, there isn't much connection to the rest of the established Marvel movie-verse. I get that you can't have the Avengers show up again, but it was implied that Stark and Banner would have some sort of working relationship. It probably would not have been hard to just have CGI Hulk show up at the climax instead of the Iron Man army...

 

But after the last movie got blasted for being too much of a bridge to Avengers, I understand making this as stand alone as possible.



There is a distinct possibility of this being the last stand alone Iron Man film we see Robert Downey Jr. in. He's a virtual lock for Avengers 2, but they are moving on to other heroes and sequels and it would be a long time before they got around to an Iron Man 4 if it happens. I think that might put enough distance that somebody talented could certainly take on the role (I think Armie Hammer would actually be a pretty good fit) and people wouldn't necessarily protest because it's not Downey. That being said, I also wouldn't mind if this is pretty much all Downey did for next decade or so...

That's really all I got for today, I will probably put in another post tomorrow or Tuesday. Until then, here's your VGM (video game music)  of the week: The Ultimate Video Game Medley

10 things to expect from from the May 21st Xbox event...

The future of gaming will be unveiled on the 21st. Well, according to Microsoft anyways, since they were pretty much the console of choice for core gamers this generation. But regardless of whether it represents the next big step forward in gaming or not, Microsoft's new console will definitely be unveiled in just under three weeks. The question is with E3 just a little bit after that, what will they show at this unveiling, and what will they hold back for E3? My guess will be that you'll see plenty because this is an even where they will have everyone's attention and won't have to compete with anybody. They'll probably hold back some high profile games for E3, but the biggest news about the next Xbox will pretty much be known after this event. Here's 10 things you can virtually count on to see/find out on the 21st.

1. The Name: It wasn't really a question, or surprising that the next Sony system is called the PS4. The next Xbox's name however has been a subject of huge speculation. I highly doubt it'll be 720, even though that's what it's been called the most. It has been mentioned it might simply be called "Xbox" but given how hard it's been to market Wii U to the average consumer, I doubt that either. Xbox Infinity has been mentioned, which is a strong possibility, as well as Xbox Fusion, which would work as Microsoft has always seen the Xbox as pretty much all your home entertainment fused together in one cohesive box. Either way, we'll definitely know what to call it after the 21st.

2. The Hardware: Sony was called out by many for not showing the actual hardware at their PS4 unveiling, but of particular note was Major Nelson calling them out on it. If Microsoft doesn't show the hardware, he'd look pretty stupid, so expect to see it.

3. Destiny: We know Destiny is a multi-platform game, hell it might be coming to the Wii U. But given that it's Bungee and their history with Microsoft it was a bit jarring to see it at Sony's press conference. I think Microsoft will want to remind people that Destiny is on the new Xbox as well, and odds are they shelled out some major cash for exclusive content, which they will talk about at the event.

4. Kinect will be a focus: Everyone is so concerned about whether or not the next Xbox will always be online and whether it will play used games, they've kind of forgotten about the horror that is Kinect that will be shoved down our throats. Already uselessly shoehorned into otherwise solid titles and responsible for atrocities like this:



I don't expect the "improved" Kinect to be much better frankly. Improved detection doesn't mean better games. But it still sold well to the non-gamer masses so expect it to be in every Xbox and forced onto every game possible. That might be reason enough for me to never buy a multi-platform game on a Microsoft console ever again.

5. It will be always online, but probably not how we think: I really don't think Xbox will require you to be online if you just want to play a game, but "always online" is almost more of a marketing thing. Nearly everything we do in gaming these days has some kind of online component to it, not just multi-player. And that goes for most apps as well. I think that's really all it will boil down to, that's it's pretty much always online because Adam Orth was right, so are we. He was just a being a dick about it which caused his downfall.

6. You won't see Halo: Don't get me wrong, I'm sure they'll at least mention Halo, but if there is one big gun they are holding back for E3, which supposedly ill be more focused on their game line-up, it'll be this one. Quite possibly because it's the only worthwhile original IP they have at this point, which is sad.

7. Illumiroom will be mentioned: Illumiroom might be the first real step towards actual Holodecks, which is pretty damn awesome. Integrating with the next Xbox probably won't happen for years, but I think they will at least mention this as a thing that will happen at some point. Every press conference for new hardware is usually filled with promises of things that take years to come to fruition if they ever even happen, this fits right in that category.

8. They won't talk about price: Odds are we know the price, there have just been too many independent reports pegging the stand-alone console at $500 and a subscription model at $300 with monthly payments. But nobody talks about price when unveiling new hardware, the idea is to get you so excited you don't care what the price is. I wouldn't be completely surprised if they announce pricing at E3, but it's not highly likely there either. Expect an announcement when they are only a few months from release.

9. It will integrate with/take over your cable box: I'm pretty sure Cable & Satellite companies know they are doomed with more people cutting the cord every day in favor of cheaper streaming options. I've been pretty happy with a much cheaper combo of Hulu+ & Netflix for years. One way to stave off this impending doom is teaming up with someone like Microsoft who has always looked at the Xbox as way to completely take over your living room. You can bet it will work with or even replace your clunky box and function pretty efficiently with it.

10. There won't be a lot of games: Did I say not a lot? I'd be surprised if there were more than a handful. In fact even though I earlier said Destiny would be shown, it wouldn't be completely shocking to me if no actual games were shown. Why? Because Microsoft barely considers the Xbox a gaming machine anymore. It something that plays games, sure. But it's more a media center for you to watch Netflix or HBOGO and order pizza with a wave of your hand and to bring you targeted advertising. They may save their entire game slate for E3, which I'm hoping will be great and full of stuff we haven't already seen, but I kinda doubt it to be honest.

Ok, that's all for today, I should have another post up Sunday. It probably won't be an Iron Man 3 review, but I do plan on seeing that by Monday so I'll post thoughts on it soon after.

And Injustice for All...

Is it wrong to say that the storyline in Injustice is almost too good for a damn fighting game? I mean, it's not one of the greatest stories ever, and is in fact downright goofy at certain points. But it is really entertaining, has a couple a truly shocking moments and is bursting with fan service. A fighting game really doesn't need this, but it certainly enhances a surprisingly awesome package. And this coming from someone who is admittedly not a huge fan of fighting games. I'm pretty sure the last one I seriously got into was Smash Bros. Melee. I just don't have the aptitude (or dedication) to seriously learn fighters, so once I get through the Story mode, there isn't a whole lot of meat for me personally. I do wish the story mode was longer, as it clocks in at under 4 hours, but that's not the focus here. It's an easy recommendation for anyone looking for a fighting game, especially on the Wii U which is gasping for games a the moment unless you a whiling away the days in Monster Hunter.

Star Trek The Video Game on the other hand is an unmitigated disappointing mess. Granted, we shouldn't expect much from a direct movie tie-in at this point, but this is a game that's been in development for quite awhile (like Aliens), looked good at previews (like Aliens) and was given extra time for polish even after it was supposedly pretty much ready (like Aliens). We should've gotten a decent Mass Effect clone or even Uncharted in space because they were clearly aiming for that, instead we get an ugly boring buggy piece of dreck that not even most dastardly Ferengi (can't wait to see JJ Abrams interpretation of them BTW) would try to sell. You are much better off going to back to any of the Mass Effect games for a Star Trek-esque experience.

Wii Music U will save Nintendo!!!

Barely a day after posting my thoughts on what Nintendo needs to do at their big E3 press conference, Nintendo says screw that, and they are just hosting a series of Nintendo directs leading up to E3 and then 2 small closed presentations at the event when they would normally have a big flashy press conference. I'm really of two minds about this.

One one hand, it makes a lot of business sense. Unless both Sony & Microsoft just have absolute disasters at their pressers, all eyes will be on on those two and their new hardware. No matter what cool games Nintendo has, it can't compare to the new shiny the other 2 have. So it really might be better to save money and just show the press what you have to play. The directs have been a fantastic way to reach Nintendo fans and get them excited and admittedly the last really great Nintendo presser was when the Wii was unveiled, with the last several ranging from mediocre to downright strange.

On the other hand, The Wii U is nothing short of a disaster at this point, not even meeting lowered sales expectations this past fiscal year and still facing the huge image problem of the larger casual audience not even understanding it's a new system and while the Gamepad is a great piece of tech it's not as easy a sell as the Wii remote. It needs a goddamn life injection and a big flashy press conference with Reggie getting back to the days of Reggie saying he's here to kick some ass is sorely needed for the exact reason of drawing people away from Sony & Microsoft and having say yeah that new hardware is nice, but have you fucking seen what Nintendo is doing? There is something to be said for pomp and circumstance.

I really think Nintendo will have the better game line-up because their system has been out for awhile and we know they will have big games like Mario, Smash Bros, Zelda the follow-up to Xenoblade and quite a few others while the others will have well launch games which historically only a handful are even worth talking about. Whether that would be enough to overshadow brand new hardware is a tough question though. Maybe we'll see Nintendo return to a big grand press conference next year when everyone is on more even footing.

That's really all I have for today, expect another post up Monday or Tuesday, until then I have a new feature of the week: Your weekly game music-this will be a mix of stuff-original songs about video games, 8-bit covers and tracks from music so it should be a lot of fun to listen to. To start here's an 8-bit mix of Hey Soul Sister by Train:

8 Things Nintendo needs to do at E3....

It's been a little while, but with the biggest E3 in years right around the corner, I couldn't stay silent for too long. I will try my best to get back to posting at least twice a week, and we'll see how that goes. It practically goes without saying that this is one every single console company really needs to bring their A game for. Microsoft may have handily won this round in the minds of most core gamers; but rumors of always online, still charging for Xbox live when the competition offers similar service for free and seemingly lacking in IP have put them on the defensive before their new system has even been unveiled. Sony is arguably in the best position pre-E3, with a system that gamers and devs seem excited about, but lots of pie in sky ideas that may never come to fruition (cloud gaming) and a somewhat lackluster showing of games at the unveiling (I mean really, was anyone that excited about Killzone 4, a new Infamous or Knack?) along with Sony being well... Sony makes people wonder if they can really pull off a much needed win this year.

But easily the one with the hardest road is Nintendo. The Wii U has had an incredibly rocky start, with several key titles not coming out in a timely manner, poor sales, and little to no connection to a casual audience that has probably moved on to cell phones with their fickle attention spans. I don't think they need to "win" E3, but they need to make a big splash, and remind people that they are a gaming presence to be reckoned with. Here's 8 things they can do to make that happen:

8. Ignore the 3DS: Seriously, the 3DS is fine. It's selling incredibly well, and has a slate of incredible games out just now (Luigi's Mansion is a serious dark horse GOTY contender, Fire Emblem is awesome and the best-selling title in franchise history) with some more incredible games on the way shortly (Project X Zone, Mario & Luigi : Dream Team, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Pokemon X/Y and oh yeah FREAKING LINK TO THE PAST II!!!). You can have it on the show floor, you can have some closed door conference about it, maybe briefly mention it, but it doesn't need any help here. The Wii U really needs to be Nintendo's focus here for the full conference, they got the 3DS to a good place after a similarly rocky start with a lot of hard work, they need to show they are doing the same for the Wii U.

7. Show a commitment to the Virtual Console/Eshop: Seriously guys, this isn't that hard. Nintendo has a vintage catalog like no other gaming company and is no stranger to publishing and promoting quirky indie fare, yet the virtual console/eshop on the Wii was a complete bust and the 3DS version isn't doing so hot either. Yes getting Earthbound at some point will be nice, but there is plenty of other stuff that Nintendo could release and never has. Indie darlings abound on the 360 and especially the PS3 but are barely existent for Nintendo consoles. This is not a hard thing to fix. You had a pretty solid start with stuff like Trine 2 & Little Inferno, but it's pretty much sputtered since then with little to no explanation.  A lot of the best indie games are inspired by Nintendo's early days and would feel right at home on the Wii U.Showing off a slate off quirky download only titiles would show that Nintendo is actually pretty serious about the digital future.

6. Show some new IP: Yeah we all love the old Nintendo titles, and they manage to mostly keep them fresh with lots of new ideas for each major entry. I'm excited about the new Zelda & Mario games that will reportedly be at E3 along with the new Smash Bros. But where's some new ideas in a fresh setting with new characters I've never seen before? The only new franchise I can really think of is Wonderful 101, which looks great, but is also very reminscent of Pikmin. Now, Miyamoto has claimed new IP really spring from new gameplay ideas, which is partially true, but what helps sell those ideas is new places and fresh faces. Wonderful 101 is actually a great example here-It admittedly looks a lot like Pikmin 3, but because Wonderful 101 is something new it holds a lot more appeal to me personally. Sony to their credit has tried a lot of new stuff this generation. It hasn't all panned out, but we've gotten some real gems as well, the Uncharted series key among them. Nintendo needs to show something new along with their venerable franchises.

5. Bring back asymmetrical gameplay: Yeah, remember that big buzzword? The thing the Wii U gamepad was for besides playing without a TV? It was in Nintendoland, which admittedly was a slightly mediocre showing of the technology, but that was more to show possibilities. Since then, nothing. This feature is something no other console is going to offer and Nintendo needs to make that readily apparent. There are a lot of cool possible implementations, not the least of which is shown in the above comic. Nintendo has a really terrible history of putting out some pretty incredible technology and then virtually ignoring it. They can't do that here. Sony & Microsoft are going to be much prettier looking with their more powerful hardware, but odds are most games are going to be iterations of stuff we've seen before. A lot (see Killzone 4). This is Nintendo's real chance to show that they have gameplay experiences that literally cannot be duplicated on other consoles now matter how shiny they are.

4. Show value: I don't necessarily mean a price drop, though that's certainly on the table. The biggest question mark about Sony & Microsoft is pricing. $500 wouldn't be out of the question and leave some breathing room. But $400 isn't either and suddenly Nintendo's system isn't looking too favorable at $350 (especially if Microsoft's rumored subscription model is true). Get some more varied pack-ins, maybe have a digital bundle included for download. A bunch of strong games to choose from also show value as well.

3. Show that 3rd party isn't everything: Here's something Nintendo is already doing that I'm not really seeing Sony or Microsoft do in their recent history or look to be doing in the near future: A lot of exclusives. Aside from the venerable Nintendo franchises you've got a lot of follow ups and new entries we aren't seeing anywhere else. Lego City Undercover is arguably the the best Lego title to date and it's only on Wii U. Monster Hunter 3 is an experience you only get with Nintendo. Want the hot follow-up to Bayonetta? Better get a Wii U. Nintendo has a lot of cash and muscle to use in the gaming world and if they want the Wii U to make an impact, they should get some incredibly solid exclusive titles to show off at E3 that make the system a must buy.

2. But still show that they have 3rd party support: No console is an island. Nintendo is just one company, and while it does have a couple major supporters (mainly Ubisoft), it needs 3rd party support to avoid the massive software droughts that have constantly plagued it's previous platforms and is already plaguing the Wii U even at this early stage. I'm pretty sure everyone getting a Wii U knows you probably won't be getting most next-gen 3rd party titles on it, Sony & Microsoft's systems will just have too much of a graphical edge. But that's not what I'm talking about. 3rd party support doesn't necessarily mean getting GTA V (though that would be a great thing for them) it does mean getting major companies to regularly release quality games for your system. If they can show a good mix of quality first and third-party titles are coming, I don't think people will care so much that they aren't getting the next Call of Duty title.

1. Surprise us: The one thing E3 has lacked for years is surprise. We know most of the stuff before it's going to happen. The worst offender is Microsoft, but Nintendo's last few showings haven't been too stellar either. It can be a huge price cut, a game no one some coming that looks amazing, an exclusive deal for a major franchise. Something to make our jaws drop and say we must buy a Wii U. Nintendo has the ability to make it happen, possibly moreso than any other company at E3. So please Nintendo, really give us something to talk about.

That's all for today. I'm re-evaluating my "things" of the week, but I'll probably do something soon. Expect another post up most likely Thursday with Injustice & Star Trek impressions among a few other things.

We didn't start the fire...

I love turn-based strategy rpgs. Portable ones especially are pretty much like crack to me. So it seems like I should be a long fan of a series like Fire Emblem, which has been around as a series for over 20 years. But admittedly the incredibly unforgiving difficulty and permadeath of your units. This latest entry however, finally gives the option of turning it off, and I really enjoyed the brief demo they put up on the eshop and my 3DS could certainly use something as I just haven't gotten into Sticker Star like I thought I would. Supposedly it's nearly impossible to find a hard copy but luckily it's easily available for digital download. Ah, the digital age. Anyways, I'll get around to buying it in the next couple of days and give my impressions.

Also for anyone hasn't owned a Wii or Wii U, traditional platformers have been extremely scarce. Luckily for those with a PS3 (or a vita, but no owns one of those), the first Sly Cooper game in 8 years has finally graced the PS3. Sly Cooper has always been an extremely underrated and overlooked series so hopefully this release will be at least successful enough that it won't be 8 more years til we see another. Sadly my console backlog is pretty damn full at the moment, so I am going to have to wait on this until I beat a few games because otherwise it will just sit there collecting dust. But anyone looking for a solid pltaformer and just a fun game in general would do well to pick this up.

Finally, COMMUNITY RETURNS TOMORROW NIGHT! It is most likely the final season for this little show that almost could but most shows that start out brilliant usually run out of steam after the first several seasons anyways and then just drag on til they barely resemble their original incarnation. I'll leave you with a quick look at tomorrow's premiere:

Too much of a "good" thing...

I aplogize for the lack of posts but things have been a tad nuts lately. Hopefully I'll get back into a grove this week as there is plenty to talk about. Haven't we felt a little overloaded by Resident Evil the past couple years? I mean there were no less than 4 released in the last couple of years. Granted my relationship with the series has always been a little rocky, I've only liked a few select entries (namely Code Veronica & 4). But it regardless of quality I'm pretty sure any franchise should only see one release per year at most, and even that is pushing it because it doesn't allow for a whole lot of innovation between each title.

But apparently at least one higher-up at Capcom doesn't feel this is enough, saying "I think certainly looking at the last year or two, there probably were a few too many." So if you include the HD release of Revelations for consoles, that's 5 games in three years. Even if every game was a masterpiece (and really the only one to get a solid reception was Revelations), it's a ridiculous amount of over-saturation. It's as if someone at Capcom thinks that Resident Evil as a franchise was on extremely limited borrowed time and they needed to just milk it as much as possible before time ran out. This is the very definition of pretty much running a franchise into the ground, seemingly on purpose.

I don't know what Capcom's end game is here, maybe a massive reboot like they've done with Devil May Cry? It may be sorely needed after the poorly received console entries of late. Whatever the logic, I'm pretty sure 5 games in 3 years is more than enough, and hopefully with this year being the last relevant one for current consoles, they'll take time to make something that really takes advantage of the new opportunities that offers them, rather than just throwing a bunch of stuff out there and seeing what sticks.

That's all for today, but I should certainly be back tomorrow with another post. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Would You Rather

You can't say Nintendo isn't going after the core anymore...

Not after today's extremely awesome Nintendo Direct presentation. I mean sure, you had The Wii U follow-up to Wii party, and the official announcement of the ridiculously obviously in development new Zelda, Mario Kart & 3D Mario titles. But Then there's a highly touted HD remake of Wind Waker, which I'm extremely excited for.



Not only that, but something from the team that made the best Japanese RPG of this past generation, Xenoblade Chronicles, that sure as hell looks like a follow up to Xenoblade Chronicles:



But really, you can't go more hardcore than this: Bringing together 2 franchises that have a very hardcore following: The Fire Emblem series & The Shin-Megami series:



Granted, it's little more than a teaser but you take the hardcore strategy of Fire Emblem with the quirky coolness of Shin Megami and the possibilities are damn near endless. This is core gaming at it's finest. I've always been of  the opinion that while Nintendo certainly focused on casual with the Wii, they hardly abandoned the core gamer, which is something they've constantly been accused of. But the core never showed up for Zak & Wiki  or Madworld or No More Heroes or Dead Space Extraction or other numerous titles that the core should've shown up for and didn't. Hopefully with titles such as this they will. And if they don't it'll be no one's fault but their own.

That's all for today. I should have another post up tomorrow or Friday. In the meantime, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: RED 2

My Top Ten Jrpgs of this generation...

With the end of this generation nearly at a close, one thing that has been made a big deal out of is the supposed "death" of Japanese-flavor rpgs. While it's fairly clear that they've lost some prominence with flagship titles like Final Fantasy floundering, frankly there were plenty of good ones to be found, to the point I still haven't experienced some of the more critically acclaimed ones ones (I'll get to you someday, Persona 4!). With Ni No Kuni and probably Tales of Xillia being the last Jrpgs we will see on this generation of consoles, it's a good time to reminisce about the best ones I've played these last 8 or so years:

10: Eternal Sonata: One of the earliest rpgs of this generation didn't quite strike everyone's fancy, with the characters being a tad annoying and the storyline downright depressing, but it had an incredibly solid battle system bolstered by fantastic music and top notch graphics that still hold up to today's best. Plus I liked the very different take on your usual rpg storyline.

9. Blue Dragon: This got a lot of flack for being too old school, which admittedly it was very old school with little to distinguish itself.  But given that much like Eternal Sonata it was one of the first rpgs of the new generation, what's wrong with enjoying something with an old school flavor yet new dressings? It's like video game comfort food, which there certainly wasn't a lot of at the time.

8. Tales of Graces F: Speaking of comfort food, last year's Tales game was another great helping of that. We had a great glut of modern rpgs like Mass Effect 3, Skyrim & Kingdoms of Amalur. But anyone just looking for something recent with a clasic Jrpg feel to it didn't have a whole lot to choose from. Graces filled that void nicely with it's excellent active battle system and entertaining skits with traditional but fun characters.

7. Star Ocean: The Last Hope: Similar in style to the Tales titles, but having a distinct flavor all of its own, with a much broader and epic scope along with arguably stronger characters. The battle system, while looking nearly the same on the surface, has its own little nice touches, giving it more complexity. Admittedly most Tales titles you can get through just mashing buttons. Last Hope punishes you badly if you don't learn the nuances, which really helps it establish its own great identity.

6. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story: There were a lot of really good portable rpgs this generation, but none got their claws in me like the incredibly inventive latest entry from the Mario & Luigi series. Whether it was the incredibly clever level design, the fantastic battle system, the giant tank fights or the ridiculous humor, this little rpg that could stands tall with anything on the big home consoles, and I hope it's not too long before we see a new entry, be it on the 3DS or the Wii U.

5. Valkyria Chronicles:Hopefully the recent success of Xcom means will see more of the exceedingly rare but usually excellent turn-based strategy genre in the future, and excellent titles like Valkyria Chronicles won't die a quick death despite being completely awesome. An intricate and entertaining system with incredibly challenging battles and a surprisingly deep story. It's a tad hard to find these
days but well worth your time and money.

4. Tales of Vesperia: Arguably the best representation of classic Jrpgs this generation, The characters are fantastic, the battle system is probably the best in the Tales series to date, it's incredibly lengthy and beautiful and just a lot of fun too. If you haven't tried it out it's available on the marketplace right now and is well worth the download.

3.  The Last Story: In it's last year the Wii suddenly became a sort of bastion for great Japanese rpgs with some modern twists. Last Story has great characters, a story that takes great twists on the usual rpg tropes and incredible graphics that really pushed the Wii to its limits. On top of that, the battle system hits a nice mix of modern & old school systems, making it a true gem. Really it's only downside was for an epic rpg it's a tad on the short side, easily finished in under 20 hours.

2. Disgaea 4: Bottom line, there is no rpg deeper or that can be more of a timesink this generation than Disgaea 4. The excellent tactical combat and insane humor would be enough, but that's just the tip of the iceberg with tons of incredibly deep systems to play around with. You can spend 100s hours and get nowhere near the finish, but it's still incredibly entertaining because there's just so much to do and it's all really intricate and clever.

1. Xenoblade Chronicles: I'll chime in with nearly every other reviewer and claim Xenoblade Chronicles is easily the best jrpg of this generation, and a strong contender for best overall rpg. It's stunning on every level. The battle system is one of the best out there, the voice acting and characterization is top notch, and you can spend 100 hours just beating the main quest and there is still a to left to do. Few rpgs to date are such a complete package, and this will be one they remember generations from now as it should be the standard for any modern Jrpg.

That's it for today, I'll should be back by Wednesday with more thoughts on Ni No Kuni. Until then, here's your BIG BANG OF THE WEEK:

Disney's Skylanders? Disney's Skylanders!

Well it's not surprising with the massive success of Skylanders that someone else would come along and try to do their own spin on the formula of a game supported by collectible action figures. That Disney is doing and looking like it really is it's own beast is great for a lot of reasons. The great thing about Skylanders is that while it could've been a really lazy product, it has some really solid gameplay under the hood, but the gameplay isn't all that varied and unless you really get into collecting a lot of the figures, you can easily get away with only having about 8 characters, because beyond that they don't add much to the game.

From the video and press release not only does the gameplay seem a lot more varied, but obviously the possibilities for characters and sets are almost limitless. I mean sure, you have the obvious Disney properties like the films & TV shows but things can get really crazy when you add the recently acquired Marvel & Lucas Arts properties to the mix. The fact that new "stories" apparently come with each set seems to add huge expansion possibilities and a real reason to pick up lots of new characters.

So as someone who really enjoys Skylanders I can certainly say I'm pretty excited about this and almost completely sold and excited about it. Except for one thing that may literally be a dealbreaker for me. One of the great things about Skylanders is it's light rpg elements. It's fun to level up your characters and earn upgrades through in-game money. Disney Infinity either scales back the focus on that or abandons it entirely for discs that you buy that give characters certain boosts. So this could mean a couple of things. Hopefully, they just provide some stat boosts that are hardly necessary. But if they are practically necessary and characters don't really progress otherwise in any meaningful way, this concept could lose quite a bit of its appeal. So the game could live or die on this idea of discs. I'm hopeful that it's a great product that I will spend plenty of money on. We'll see for sure as more information comes out on the next 5 or so months til its release.

That's really it for today, I'll try and get a third post for the week in tomorrow or Friday, until then here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Ray & Cooper

An android future?

Ok, so first their was Ouya, a kickstater-funded, android-basedconsole on the cheap. It seemed like a nice idea that may or may not be all it's cracked up to be, we will have to wait til it actually launches sometime this year to find out. Now that's a home console, but Nvidia at CES introduced their own dedicated portable android console, currently only known as "Project Shield". With the android/IOS market currently booming and the more hardcore console market just seeming to be in a constant state of rising costs and diminishing returns, is android the future? God I hope not. You see analysts claiming that now tablets can easily deliver the same experience as consoles. Have any of these people actually played these games? Sure Infinity Blade looks nice but it's gameplay is ridiculously simplistic. I haven't seen anything to this point that matches anything close to the best titles you see on PC or consoles or even portable systems for that matter. And it's not just about graphics, the android market is literally flooded with with a tsunami of crappy clones of the few real breakout titles, it's hard for good titles to stand out. Dedicated consoles may have reached their peak as far as mainstream success goes, but I'm pretty sure they aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

So, the first really big release of 2013, the newly rebooted Devil May Cry is out this week, and most of the reviews are pretty solid so far, but again based on what I played it doesn't really seem to outdo or even match any of the top tier action titles out there currently like Bayonetta or God of War or Darksiders. Admittedly it might be a decent enough filler title but I'm willing to bet most gamers have enough of a backlog that this is one they'll pass on.

That's really it for today, I will try and get another post in tomorrow or Thursday. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: The Call

Same as it ever was...

Well, the big Pokemon news came out, and it's a new game for the 3DS. Granted, the first Pokemon title specifically for the 3DS is big news, but it's a very safe and expected move. When the developer, Gamefreak was asked about why it wasn't a Wii U title and really the general lack of Pokemon console games, they basically responded with saying the idea of being able to take it on the go. You know, that whole cross-play thing Sony's been pushing like mad and Nintendo has been saying they'll be doing with the next Smash Bros title? It's pretty simple guys. It's hardly an insult to call them lazy at this point, but I seriously doubt a new coat of 3D paint is going to make any difference in the series at this point either.

The other newly-announced game that I probably would've been excited about a few years ago is Lego Marvel Super Heroes. The Lego games have gotten really stale to me. I've barely touched Lego Batman 2 because it's really just to much of the same. If reviews say it provides the much needed change I'll pick it up, but in the meantime I'll just keep hoping for another Ultimate Alliance game, which I'd be far more excited about.

Finally, poor THQ is going under. Another casualty of the increasingly higher-risk AAA games console business, where there doesn't seem to be room for perfectly good middle of the road titles. You either have to sell millions with a huge investment or go small, there seems to be no in-between. The only bright side is several buyes are interested in the properties, which hopefully will include Darksiders because that is a real gem franchise and I'd hate to see it. In fact, given Nintendo's recent commitment to give underperforming titles a new life on their console, I'd love to see them pick it up and give Platinum games a whack at it, making an already awesome adventure series even more incredible.

That's really it for today, hopefully I'll get another post in this weekend. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Side Effects

Sony has a new patent. EVERYBODY PANIC!!!

Patents for various technologies happen every day. A lot never even make it beyond the patent stage. But with the whole used market thing really heating up and both developers and & console makers trying to combat it in various ways with things like DRM and online passes, people seem to get ancy when any technology that might even conceivably be used to completely curb used games pops up, regardless of if that is it's purpose or if it even ever materializes. Such a patent was apparently filed by Sony in early December, leading everybody to assume that the PS4 (or whatever it will be called) won't play used titles. Hell it even caused Gamestop's stock to drop 6% (because once Gamestop's stranglehold on the used market is gone, they are pretty much done). But at least for now, considering the negative impact it would have (not just Gamestop, but places that rent games would be affected as well, and god forbid you want to borrow a game from a friend), it's a high probability that it will never actually happen. Really the best thing for all parties involved is to wait for the digital market to become the dominant way to purchase console games, much like it is now for the PC. And it will happen. It might take a decade or so, but it'll happen. In the meantime, things like this are at best stumbles in the interim that will eventually sort themselves out.

Big Pokemon news coming? Apparently in 4 days there's supposed to a "big" announcement. Much as I would love it to be an announcement for a full blown Wii U Pokemon title, these so called announcements are rarely anywhere near what they are hyped up to be. I wouldn't be surprised if it was some special edition 3DS or something, but anything really noteworthy seems like a slim chance of happening.

E3 is still about 5 months away, but Microsoft has already started a countdown clock. Hopefully this is actually something meaningful, I think unveiling their new system (although I still think it coming out this Holiday season is not happening) is the only worthwhile reason they'd be doing this. And lord knows they need an exciting E3 showing, since I'm pretty sure their last one was when the 360 launched.

That's all for today, I should have another post up tomorrow. In the meatime, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Evil Dead

I can quit anytime I want...

So I bought my first extra Skylander the other day. I guess I could've been happy with the set my wife gave me for Christmas, but it wasn't all of the classes, and while I definitely don't plan on getting a large portion of the figures, I did feel the need to expand my collection, so I picked up an Earth Giant named Crusher, which was pretty much decided on the fact that he was voiced by Hercules himself, Kevin Sorbo. My wife has also gotten into collecting though, as she got a set of 3 herself, which incuded the tech Skylander I needed to have one of each class. Theorectically, we have no reason to get anymore figures, but she would like an all female team herself, and while I'm resisting the urge for now, it's always going to be tempting if I see a cool figure in a Gamestop or Best Buy or something, especially on sale.

In those square things with words on paper news, I do actually read quite a bit, though it tends to come and go in spurts. This year, I really finally got into the Percy Jackson series & breezed through the Artemis Fowl books (though I felt it got pretty weak in the last couple books). But I was really waiting for the latest adventure of Chicago's only professional wizard, Harry Dresden, which I did finally get for Christmas and breezed through it in a few days. It goes a long way to re-establishing Harry back on somewhat familiar ground, but changes a lot too, mostly in good ways, some in potentially bad but really interesting ones. I can't wait for the next one and hope it's not too horribly long. I'm in the middle of reading Dean Koontz Odd Apocalypse, which is from another series I really enjoy, the Odd Thomas books. I'll talk more about it and the series in general when I get through with it.

That's all for today, but I should be back with a post in the new year (possibly on Tuesday). Until next time, here's your BIG BANG OF THE WEEK: