Tekken 5 came out on PS2 last year and it wasn’t long before the arcade version got an upgrade with new characters and made the PS2 version seem obsolete.

Namco’s brilliant idea to fix this: put it out on PSP!

Boasting 35 characters and a robust customization mode, their top fighting franchise is poised to underwhelm with its continued lack of online support and even less detail than its console version.

Come on, Namco. First Soul Calibur 3 only on PS2 and now this. I know you’ve got an xbox live development kit sitting around there somewhere because Galaga and Ms Pac Man are both on Live Arcade. If you’re going to give players all these choices and customizing options, you might as well let them show off online.

official site

First4Figures has released some images of the next bust in their Beast Wars product line.

Images and more can be seen here.

Seeing Will Wright in my mailbox this week made me think of the first game of his I ever played.

Already a huge hit on the PC, Nintendo snatched up the rights to Wright’s city planning game and gave it their own spin. Controls were simple enough, using the d-pad and face buttons of the SNES controller to perform the same functions as a mouse on basically the same interface. But earning a Mario Statue for a job well done and Bowser attacks on the city insured this was more than just a direct port.

I never actually owned the game, I borrowed it from my cousin. For something like 2 years. When I’d get a new city starting, I’d work on it for a couple hours then leave it running all night to collect nothing but tax money and pray the whole place didn’t burn down while I was literally asleep. Sure, there was a code to start out with like a billion dollars, but I liked the more risky way. And of course, I used the various color coded industrial zones and residential areas to spell out naughty words on the map, something I’m apparently not alone in doing…

Nintendo also fashioned an avatar for Will Wright as “Dr Wright” who would dole out advice on how to run the city and alert you in case of an emergency. While Maxis has gone on to become one of EA’s biggest developers, Nintendo still pays tribute to the visionary creator with the occasional cameo.

While I can hardly endorse trying to dig up one of these carts when newer better versions of Sim City are all over the internets for very cheap, this was a fun way for someone like myself to play a game well before I had a PC in my home, and it deserves a tribute. PC ports are met with all kinds of disgust over controls and lack of hi-res graphics these days, but back then all I knew was this game let me build a city, and then tax it into oblivion or build the best public transit ever or just screw around. It was really the first sandbox game I can think of, and the first game I ever played where I didn’t care about killing or collecting anything. Wow, I know a guy like Will Wright doesn’t exactly need someone to stand up and call him a genius, but its a testament to his design that he could distract my demented little pre-teen mind away from MTV long enough to build a utopia.

Adrian of the Fwooshnet.com boards has posted a picture of Marvel Legends Bullseye that he has dissected. This picture is a true testament of how long a way toys have come and what great care to detail has gone into the Marvel Legends line of figures. I have uploaded the picture to this site so as not to steal bandwidth.

Not sure how I missed posting this but, He-man.org announced on February 24th, the line up of characters that will be included in the fourth wave of staction figures. The mini statues will consist of Webstor, SnakeFace, and Leech. One representative from each of the 3 ‘evil’ factions. I found a small

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Well first things first: Not having “Twilight Princess” done yet didn’t stop Nintendo from showing off a trailer for the new The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on DS. This title looks like its using the Link from Wind Waker, or at least the same cel-shaded style. The video also shows off using the DS stylus to angle your boomerang’s path and even write notes on your map!

In other Zelda news, First 4 Figures has secured the rights to single statues, mixed media statues, and VS dioramas based on the games. Sounds fantastic! Their press release make mention of Young Link, Sheik, Dark Link, and Ganondorf VS Link Diorama from Ocarina of Time. Fierce Deity Link (pictured) and Skull Kid represent Majora’s Mask, and Twilight Princess versions of Link and Zelda are also planned. Great first step, now get a killer action figure line and I’ll be happy. Oh yeah, and finish TP already!
Lots of rumors swirled that Nintendo would change the name of the Revolution, but it looks like they’re sticking with the name. The “virtual console” got a big shot in the arm when Nintendo head honcho Satoru Iwata announced that not only would you be able to download NES, SNES, and N64 games, but they’re addign support for Sega Genesis and Turbo Graphix 16! Holy moly! If they come out with emulator for the Neo-Geo MVS I may never have to buy a new game again, I could spend years downloading old ones!

sources: Kotaku’s Brian Crecente liveblogs Iwata, 4CR Keynote highlights, GI.biz

TFormers.com has posted a gallery of a few of the first wave of Titanium figures hitting store shelves for Transformers. The gallery includes pictures of Armada Unicron, War Within Optimus Prime, and Beast Wars Megatron, both in and out of the package.

Now that we finally have some clear shots of these smaller figures, I don’t know they pique my interest. I might be sticking to the 6 inch transforming figures aside from the possible exception of the 3 inch alternator figures.

Its a slow news day so far today, so I wanted to point out this excellent review of the Masters of the Universe wave 2 mini-statues also known as stactions (statue action figures). These figures were sculpted by The Four Horsemen, the creative geniuses behind the relaunched 2004 series’ character designs. The statues were produced by NECA. This line of statues continues where the now discontinued action figure line ended off. Wave 2 includes 3 more characters that never made it to the action figure line; Stinkor, Clamp Champ, and Grizzlor.