North American and European Pokemon fans are anxiously awaiting the release of the HeartGold and SoulSilver remakes for Nintendo DS, but it looks like there are even more exciting titles to look forward to — brand new Pokemon games that will be release in 2010! Well, that will be the case in Japan, anyway. The outstanding Serebii.net reported:
The official site has just updated with some details stating that a brand new Pokémon game series, perhaps a fifth generation is scheduled for release on the Nintendo DS in 2010 in Japan. Further details on this game series have yet to be announced but the site has stated that it will be an RPG and the press release hinted that new Pokémon were in it. Will this series be a brand new series or the beginning of the fifth generation?
I absolutely love the Pokemon RPGs, but haven’t cared too much about the spin-offs, with the exception of Pokemon Snap. I’m totally ready for a new Pokemon journey with new critters and further gameplay enhancements.
How about you? You ready for a new Pokemon RPG? Are you are all Pokemon-ed out?
Even though the Nintendo DS has sold a ridiculous amount of systems, a lot of analysts feel that the company should watch out for the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad. As for Apple’s newest device, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata wasn’t impressed by Steve Jobs’ latest announcement saying, “It was a bigger iPod Touch.” Well…yeah, but that doesn’t mean it won’t sell. That said, a lot of Nintendo DS owners are younger gamers that shouldn’t be messing around with a $500 tablet; I don’t think there will be a ton of overlap.
In the immortal words of Ginsu, “But wait, there’s more!” Iwata also brushed off 3D televisions in the context of gaming. A lot of mainstream outlets went nuts over 3D TV at CES 2010. Iwata doesn’t see what all the fuss is about, “I have doubts whether people will be wearing glasses to play games at home. How is that going to look to other people?” I’m totally with him here. I have no interest in donning goggles for 3D games.
What do you make of Iwata’s comments? Is he just brushing everything off because Nintendo is outselling the world? Or do you agree with his points?
In addition to handing out nifty posters for God of War III pre-orders, 7-Eleven and Sony Computer Entertainment of America will be teaming up next month for God of War “Kratos Fury” Slurpees in Kratos cups. Hopefully they don’t actually taste like Kratos. Here’s a bit from the press release:
Starting on February 1 through March 31 God of War fans can collect all four exclusive Kratos-themed cups at their local, participating 7-Eleven while quenching their thirst with Kratos Fury, a blackberry and lime-flavored Slurpee beverage created by Mountain Dew and 7-Eleven specifically for the Kratos Slurpee program. With each Slurpee purchase fans can collect codes that can be redeemed at www.Slurpee.com for God of War and Slurpee-themed content in advance of the general public release.
I rarely go to 7-Eleven, but I’m sure as hell going next week for some Kratos Fury! Who’s coming with me?!?
Where the hell did the week go?!? Between the release of excellent games like Mass Effect 2 and the official announcement of the Apple iPad, things have been nuts (in a good way)! This weekend is a great time to bring things back to normal by playing some games. Vandal Hearts is still on my playlist. I love strategy/tactical RPGs. I wish gang fights were turn-based and took place on grids. If they did that and belted out tunes from West Side Story, gang fights would be the most popular spectator sport in America.
In a bit of mixed news, I realized that my save file for Mass Effect is in a debug system somewhere in San Francisco. I’m not even sure if it would work on a retail Xbox 360 anyway. What does this mean? It means I’m going to play the first one over again before I start the sequel. This is probably not the most efficient use of my time, but this is how I need to experience these games. It’s BioWare, ergo I must.
You know the drill! Let everyone know what you’re playing this weekend.
With all the great games coming out in Q1 2010, I kind of forgot about White Knight Chronicles for PlayStation 3. The game is coming out next week, sandwiched between Mass Effect 2 and Heavy Rain. I want to play it, but I don’t think I’ll have time until (much) later. How about ladies and gents? Is it on your radar? Does this trailer make you want to pick it up?
I attended a screening of Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic on Tueday. It was full of ultra-violence, disturbing imagery, cool animation, and vagina-shaped thingies. As a standalone animated film, it was okay. As an animated film that promotes a game, it totally succeeded in making me want to play Dante’s Inferno. Here are some assorted thoughts (not a review!) on the movie.
In the first few seconds, I was impressed with the animation style and was expecting something fairly realistic. The first three minutes of the film shattered all of my expectations. It went something like this:
Minute One: Dante’s horse flies upside down. For a second I thought he was attempting to do M. Bison’s “psycho crusher” from Street Fighter.
Minute Two: Dante returns home to find the slaughtered remains of his family and servants. This was just a taste of the gore that was about to come.
Minute Three: The spirit of Dante’s beloved Beatrice Portinari goes full frontal. This was just a taste of the boobs and vaginae that were were about to come.
So yeah! The animation style was impressive and disturbing in that tentacle-porn way. Compared to Planet Hulk, an animated film I recently saw, the art style and technique were out of this world. That said, some people might not like that several different animation studios with distinct art styles contributed to this movie. One of my friends in atendance didn’t like how disjointed and inconsistent everything was. In some scenes, Dante was thin and had long hair. In other scenes he was buff and had short hair. His appearance during the flashbacks reflected whatever style a particular animation house was using.
Perhaps I’m giving the film too much credit, but I chalked it up to journeying through a spiritual realm and perception changing in the various Circles of Hell. Hmmm, after typing that thought, I’m definitely giving the film too much credit.
Oh yeah, the Nine Circles of Hell hurts and works for this movie. Starting in the real world, traveling through the Nine Circles, and having flashbacks is a lot to do in an 88-minute movie. It definitely feels rushed and sometimes forced. Death’s Scythe — one of Dante’s two major weapons — isn’t explained at all; it seems like it’s just a random object Dante finds early in the movie and keeps for the next 84 minutes. Virgil’s introduction is done in like 15 seconds, “Hey, I’m Virgil! You loved my poetry and I’ll be your guide. Try the veal!” The way it does work is that it teases each circle as a level. It made me want to see more of each level and all of the boss fights.
The violence in the movie is completely over-the-top and it can be lots of fun. Some of the fight scenes were awesome, but by the end of the film I had my fill. The impact of Dante’s showdown with Lucifer was lost on me because my brain couldn’t process any more violence. If crazy fight scenes are your thing then you’ll love this flick. It makes Kill Bill look like Bambi.
There are some people — a certain game designer with a masters in English that’s working on BioShock 2 comes to mind — that will be offended by the movie’s liberties. Sure, a lot of details were altered, but the movie (and presumably the game) had far more accuracies than I was expecting. If it gets people interested in The Divine Comedy and leads to gamers reading the books, that’s just a fantastic thing. Besides, if you were expecting a literal translation in this movie or the game then you’re just stupid.
Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic comes out on February 9, 2010 — the same week as the game. This is a mistake. It should be out now to generate more interest in the game. As a marketing tool, it excels at making people want to play on PS3 and Xbox 360. Few people are going to want to buy it after playing. It entertained me, but it’s hard to recommend it as a Blu-ray or DVD purchase. I do think it would be an excellent impulse download on PSN or Xbox Live, so long as you’re expecting tons of gratuitous violence, gallons of blood, and vagina walls.
Sony Online Entertainment has released a batch of renders and concept art for Zatanna Zatara in DC Universe Online for PC and PS3. One of the reasons I prefer DC over Marvel is its excellent secondary characters. Zatanna totally fits the bill. She’s a sexy lady in a ridiculous costumer (fishnets?!?) and her formidable powers come from saying words backwards. It’s so wacky that I love it (and her)! Hopefully her stupid alternate costumer with the dumb headpiece will be available as well.
Word on the street is that Warner Bros. is looking to reboot the Mortal Kombat movie franchise. The first movie was fun and full of unintentional comedy. The second movie was…not so good. Before I get into my reasoning for why the first movie is worth watching, here’s the word from Bloody Disgusting:
Warner Bros. Pictures has been looking to redo Mortal Kombat with Oren Uziel in talks to write. Based on Midway’s popular 1992 video game, the franchise follows the best fighters from around the globe who are summoned to an island to compete in a tournament whose outcome will determine the fate of the entire planet. Uziel’s Shimmer Lake made the 2009 black list, which features the best unproduced screenplays around Hollywood.
Okay, I will swear up and down the West Coast that the first movie is worth seeing. It has Christopher Lambert’s ridiculous accent, the sexy Talisa Soto, the future Mrs. Pete Sampras (or Veronica Vaughn from Billy Madison, if you will), a bunch of martial artists from the WMAC Masters show, and Robin Shou’s Richie Sambora-inspired hair! These components are like the Voltron lions; you add ’em up and the first MK movie becomes an unstoppable giant-robot force of a flick! I’m right about this. Don’t question me.
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Serena Williams slamming it Down Under, Neil Patrick Harris ruling American Idol, or the Brangelina breakup, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
YouTube is just a brilliant time waster. There are so many excellent clips on the service. Whether you’re looking for something interesting, stupid, violent, or moronic, YouTube surely has something that will tickle your fancy. Naturally, there’s a lot of great gaming content to be found. Here are three of my favorite gaming clips on YouTube.
#3 “Temptation of Sonata” — Ivy
This K-pop video takes its cues from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. I’m shocked at how accurately the fight scene between Tifa and Loz is recreated in this video for a goofy song. I’m a big fan of the movie and Korean women, so this totally works for me.
#2 “Wind Waker Unplugged” — Freddie25
Here’s an absolutely brilliant acoustic performance of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker’s theme. I wish the kid would forget about school and make more of these videos.
#1 Snorlax Owns
This is the only clip that’s not safe for work. It has naughty language from two idiots. Basically it’s two guys with NY accents lewdly commenting on the short movie that accompanied Pokemon the Movie 2000. While the accents remind me of home, the Pokemon knowledge of the narrator is pretty impressive (though he gets confused by the dragonair at the end). It’s just hilarious to hear two dudes cursing each other out over Pokemon. “That’s not raichu dick! That’s f*ckin’ pikachu!”
Now it’s your turn! I’d love to check out some of your favorite gaming videos on YouTube. If you have the time then please post a link and tell my why you dig your video.
and the official announcement of the Apple iPad, things have been nuts (in a good way)! This weekend is a great time to bring things back to normal by playing some games. Vandal Hearts is still on my playlist. I love strategy/tactical RPGs. I wish gang fights were turn-based and took place on grids. If they did that and belted out tunes from West Side Story, gang fights would be the most popular spectator sport in America.
for PlayStation 3. The game is coming out next week, sandwiched between Mass Effect 2 and Heavy Rain. I want to play it, but I don’t think I’ll have time until (much) later. How about ladies and gents? Is it on your radar? Does this trailer make you want to pick it up?
on Tueday. It was full of ultra-violence, disturbing imagery, cool animation, and vagina-shaped thingies. As a standalone animated film, it was okay. As an animated film that promotes a game, it totally succeeded in making me want to play 
. Here are some assorted thoughts (not a review!) on the movie.
