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Crisis Core’s Zack Fair Will be in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep

Zack Fair

Fans of Final Fantasy VII and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII will be thrilled to know that Zack Fair will be in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. Andriasang posted some details:

In Birth by Sleep, he will appear in Olympic Colosseum as a lone soldier. He’s undergoing training in order to max out his strength.

Screenshots show Zack in a faceoff with main character Tera in an Olympic Colosseum tournament. In contrast, Zack appears to be on good terms with main character Ventus.

I love it! As many of you know, Crisis Core was my favorite game of 2008. Zack’s prequel adventure was brilliant and he’s one of my favorite videogame protagonists in years. I was already geeked out for Birth by Sleep. Zack’s inclusion takes my geekdom to a new level.

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Baby Dog Time Reuniting at Umloud Charity Event — Be There!!!

To promote the Umloud! charity event, benefiting the excellent Child’s Play Charity, the organizers sound out this excellent video detailing the reunion of the fake videogame band Baby Dog Time. Here’s the backstory:

Karen (token bass girl), Joe (post-rehab drummer), Seg (voted “most likely to break up the band”), and Chris (singer, egomaniac) have been through many trials and tribulations over the years, but are setting their differences aside for one last performance to benefit a great cause. And this is a great opportunity for you to reunite your band for the same reason! Come out to Ümloud!, hosted at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco, next Wednesday, December 9, 2009! Ümloud! will feature Rock Band all night long, raffles, a silent auction, prizes and more! Sign up today at www.umloud.org.

Chris and Karen are friends of mine, so this video is hilarious to me. I’m also amused that Karen was cast as the bass player after I wrote about how much I love Ginger Reyes, D’arcy Wretzky, Paz Lenchantin, and Jen Cohen (The Fairways forever!!!). Anyway, check out the vid. I was planning to go up to SF for Umloud, but I’m injured and poor. Ha! But if you live in the Bay Area, I encourage you to attend and support this fine event.

Microsoft Launching Games on Demand for Windows

Windows Live

In a move that will make big waves in the (relatively) small PC gaming market, Microsoft has announced a games-on-demand service for Windows. The service will kick off on December 15, 2009. Here are some of the launch details:

The launch lineup will include recent hits like Resident Evil 5 (Capcom), Red Faction: Guerilla (THQ), and Battlestations: Pacific (EIDOS), as well as new exclusive Live-enabled versions of popular digital games such as World of Goo and Osmos, distributed by Microsoft Game Studios. All games can be purchased either by credit card or with Microsoft Points. Games on Demand for Windows will be available in markets that currently have the Games for Windows — Live service. Microsoft is also offering an updated Live-enabled version of Tinker, formerly an exclusive Windows Vista Ultimate Extra, as a completely free download from the Games for Windows — Live client.

Valve should be worried about this initiative. It could be a very large problem for its competing Steam service. Although Steam is more established, Microsoft obviously has the money and infrastructure to make its service immediately competitive. Then again, I wonder if MS will fully back this endeavor. It makes so much money from Xbox 360 and has clearly been pushing gamers towards its Xbox 360 console. Its recent PC gaming efforts have been half-assed.

In the past, a lot of you have told me that you’re never going back to PC games outside of Blizzard titles. Does Microsoft’s new service interest you?

Jimmy Kimmel Talks About Dragon Age’s Bi Elf Assassin

Zevran is getting some major airtime, as Jimmy Kimmel did a spot on Dragon Age: Origins‘ bisexual elf assassin. Even though the game is being used as a joke, I’m psyched that a BioWare product is getting mentioned on network television.

Coffee Talk #39: Gamer Girl Hot

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, whether the New Jersey Nets will go 0-for-December, Tiger Woods’ adventures in adultery, or whether Nokia can make Symbian competitive, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

There are certain things a woman can do that make her 20 to 30 percent more attractive than she already is. Female sportscasters are a great example of this. A cute female sportscaster will automatically be promoted to beautiful. A beautiful one elevated to goddess. (See ESPN’s Erin Andrews.) It’s called being “sportscaster hot”.

Female gamers benefit from this “gamer girl hot” phenomenon too. Is it shallow? Maybe…but I am of the opinion that elevating gamer girls is a good thing. On a practical level, it’s a common interest. For the sake of changing the image of what a gamer is, it’s fantastic to show that there are hardcore gamer women out there. In my mind, any woman that’s an avid gamer should be considered attractive because she has an awesome hobby.

Ginger Reyes

My big weakness is female bass players. I had a huge crush on D’arcy Wretzky for years — she was definitely a cutie, but playing bass made her sexy. Ginger Reyes is another beautiful woman that’s too-hot-to-walk-the-Earth because she plays bass. Paz Lenchantin is either my dream girl or too much woman for my brain to process — she plays bass and videogames!

Are there any sportscasters, gamers, bass players, actresses, or singers that you find more attractive because of what they do? Please list any gals or guys that pop in your head.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Coming Out March 18, 2010

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker

Konami has updated the official site for Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for PlayStation Portable, showing a Japanese release date of March 18, 2010. The North American release date is still “tbd”.

I know a lot of you were high on Metal Gear Solid 4 (as well you should be), but I also know that quite a few of you aren’t down with portable gaming. Will a true Metal Gear game for the PSP change that for you?

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Google’s Top 10 Videogame Search Terms for 2009

Google Zeitgeist has posted its top 10 search terms for a bunch of entertainment categories, including videogames. Here are the top 10 queries for games.

ghostbuster
ufc
saw
bakugan
batman arkham asylum
twilight
fifa 2010
modern warfare
transformers 2
resident evil 5

Ghostbusters the Videogame

The list is pretty interesting and indicative of what casual consumers search for. While a few of the titles on the list are definitely for the hardcore, a bunch of the search terms are mainstream. And then there’s Bakugan…which shocked the hell out of me at #4.

Anything on the list surprise you?

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Congrats to Shockwave562!

RPad Magnet rbee 1

The latest winner in the RPad.tv chick magnet giveaway is Shockwave562! Here’s his winning comment. Keep an eye on your email so that I can send you your prize.

Today’s pictures are from rbee90 and they’re Pinoy-tastic! A rice cooker is the most important kitchen appliance in a Filipino household (I use and recommend Zojirushi). Other pics include me next to a Filipino fast food cup and stuck on a guitar. Great stuff rbee90! Hit the break for two more photos.

Continue reading “Congrats to Shockwave562!”

EALA and Dice Team Up for New Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor box art

Electronic Arts announced details on the new Medal of Honor game. Normally, I abhor writing about game announcements (especially ones on military shooters), but there was something interesting about the new MoH — the single-player and multiplayer components are being developer by two different teams. Here’s a snippet from today’s press release:

Medal of Honor is being built with a best-in-class single-player campaign. The Medal of Honor development team at EALA has been hand-selected by the studio leadership of general nanager Sean Decker, executive producer Greg Goodrich and senior creative director Rich Farrelly. To compliment the single-player experience, EALA has enlisted the multiplayer expertise at EA DICE. This team will develop the multiplayer experience of Medal of Honor. These two studios are coming together to deliver a world-class Medal of Honor that is poised to re-set the franchise for a new generation.

It’s interesting that two big and established teams are working on different components of one game. I’m curious to see if it will be a homogeneous experience or if the game will feel incongruous.

Furthermore, I want to know how DICE will “compliment the single-player experience.” Will it say supportive and nurturing things to it? Will it say nice things about the single-player experience’s shoes and hair? I want to know!!! More importantly, I want to know if any of you are interested in this game.

EA’s Future Looks Digital

John Riccitiello

While analysts have been pounding EA’s 2009, the company is trying to maintain a hopeful facade, saying that this year was a transitional period. EA CEO John Riccitiello believes that it’s all part of moving to a digital future. Take a look at some of the things he said to Gamasutra:

My kids are still listening to music even though Tower Records is gone.

We felt that the company we want to be had 1,500 fewer jobs dedicated to packaged goods.

We’re trying to become a company that looks more like a direct-to-consumer business.

While experts continue to debate when digital distribution will be the norm (not the Norm from Cheers), there’s no doubt that it will eventually become the standard (as the excellent Chris Taylor noted). It’s certainly something that videogame publishers will have to adjust to. I’m sure EA will still be a dominant name when that time rolls around, but I wonder if it will ever be as dominant as it once was. I also wonder which kings digital distribution will dethrone and which new kings it will crown.

What are your thoughts on how digital distribution will change the videogame publisher landscape?

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