You’ve got to hand it to Koei. What Capcom does with fighting and beat-em-ups, Rockstar does with crime and controversy, and what Blizzard does with strategy, they do with education, particularly China’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Japan’s Age of Warring States eras. Weather you’re hammering out the fine points of diplomacy and foreign policy in Romance of the Three Kingdoms or simply chopping up thousands of enemy soldiers in Samurai Warriors and Bladestorm, Koei makes educational games that are so fun that you forget that you are supposed to be learning something. The original Dynasty Warriors was especially unique. It was like any other weapon’s based fighting game, except that it’s based on an actual historical event, China’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms. After a rebellion brings about the end of China’s Han dynasty, China splits off into three kingdoms: Shu, Wu, and Wei. Each kingdom has its own selection of generals, and all three are vying for complete control of China.

Dynasty Warriors contains 17 characters, each with their own weapon and fighting style. Many familiar faces from the era are present, such as Zhao Yun, Guan Yu, Cao Cao, and Lu Bu. The combat system is fairly deep, with strikes, parries, and counters. The graphics are on par with Tekken 2, and the endings include nice CG cinematics. However, it was doomed to get lost in the shuffle amongst other 3d fighters of the period. Perhaps it was because of this reason that Koei decided to switch the game to the semi-strategic hack-n-slash fest that we know today. Still, it would be nice to see another historical one-on-one fighter from the company. At the very least we can count on the fact that one day this will show up at the Playstation Network store.

Some may remember an episode of PowetToys early on that focused on the Four Horsemen’s FANtastic Exclusives for 2006. The exclusive was based on an original story premise from the Four Horsemen called The 7th Kingdom. The exclusive figure was a minotaur named Xetheus of the Animal Kingdom and had several variant figures. In the course of that episode, I looked at the logo and revealed what sections of the design represented which kingdoms from the storyline. This was not public knowedge beforehand, nor had it really been discussed before the episode’s release. The design hadn’t seen much exposure before the figures’ release. Because of this, I have been credited for this revelation.

The 7th Kingdom was so popular in the FanEx polls, it has been spun out into its own line, independent of the annual FANtastic Exclusive promotion. I thought I would take this opportunity to take a look at the logo and how I figured out what symbols went with what kingdom.

Read on for some simple reasoning, research and deduction.
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I review a butt ton of Nintendo themes candy, and give myself diabetes in the process.

In 1999, Warner Brothers and the Wachowski Brothers made a film like no other. It told the story of a future in which humans were enslaved by technology gone mad. The film’s combination of special effects and martial arts were unlike anything ever seen before. At the end of the film, fans would eagerly anticipate what would happen next. For four straight years, fans have yearned for a sequel to the film, and gamers craved a video game tie-in which would allow the to take control of all the high velocity action shown in the films. Indeed, since the film was released, many games have incorporated the Matrix’s slow-motion action into their own gameplay.

By 2003, the Matrix was set to become the new millennium’s answer to Star Wars, taking its place as the primer Sci-fi franchise. Thus, for the film’s upcoming sequel, the Wachowskis knew they had to do it big. To that end, they recruited scores of anime artists, actors, CG graphics experts, and game developer Shiny entertainment (Earthworm Jim, Messiah, MDK). Not only would we be getting a sequel, but we’d also be getting the first video game, along other cool stuff. Not only would we see the next evolution of the franchise, but we’d also see a breakthrough in storytelling across different forms of medium Or at least it would have been had the Wachowskis and the people at Shiny entertainment had the slightest clue of how to do this properly.
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As expected, the US House voted on Wednesday to move the digital TV conversion date to June 12th, so we can all breathe a sigh of relief right?

Not exactly. In fact, many stations will still shut off their analog transmitters on February 17th as planned.

This is because the language of the legislation is such that broadcasters are not required to go Digital, but merely to vacate the analog frequencies by February 17th. Even though that date has been extended four months, many stations will still stop broadcasting in analog because of the cost issues.

The legislative decision is going to cause more confusion than it aimed to solve.

(Get an in-depth explanation after the jump!)

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Weather they have you hunting down the city’s most dangerous serial killers or being stalked through hallways by a demonic little girl, Monolith knows how to pile on the scares just as good as any Silent Hill or Resident Evil title.. Bloodshot is the sequel to one of the Xbox 360’s earliest games, and it improves greatly upon its predecessor in almost every way. You once again step into the shoes of investigator Ethan Thomas. However, due to the events of the last game, you’re a mere shell of your former shelf. Having left the SCU, you drown your sorrows in the bottle until your former employers notify you of a mysterious call from Ethan Van Horn, a friend of yours who has gone missing. Soon, you once again get pulled back into a world of evil and mayhem, as it seems that Serial Killer X, who met his end at the end of the first game, has seemingly returned and has gone back to his old ways. Along the way, you’ll come to terms with your personal demons, your origin, learn the true nature of the mania that has gripped the streets, and get up close and personal to the cult that has hinted at in the last game.
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