2000 was a good year for Squaresoft, particularly the summer. We got several awesome games from them, each of which was special in their own right. Some gained more accolades than others, though. Alongside Final Fantasy IX and Chrono Cross, we also got Parasite Eve 2, Vagrant Story, and this little number, Threads of Fate. Even though Threads of Fate was clearly geared towards kids, older action RPG fans who own a Playstation will enjoy this too.

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While Valve’s Source engine is no Unreal 3, it is capable of impressive graphics all on its own (as anyone whose played the Orange Box can tell you). Its software development kit is also a favorite of modders and game developers alive, as many projects, mods and independent game releases alike have made use of it. Outerlight’s The Ship is one of these projects. Originally designed as a mod of Half Life 2 (which is why its menus are similar), the developers made this game an independent release. This is probably for the best, because The Ship has many unique gameplay mechanics that help set itself apart from other first person shooter games.
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Following up the amazing news of Mega Man 9 being released in September, it appears that the folks at Capcom are starting even more hype to lead into the release. They’ve announced that the original Mega Man game will be released for the Virtual Console starting tomorrow, Monday August 4th. They also plan to re-release Mega Man 2 in early September.

Both games were originally released for the NES and Famicom in 1987 and 1988 respectively. Mega Man 2 had previously been released in Europe for the Virtual Console back in December of 2007.

Time to get back into playing the pixel goodness and reliving your childhood.

Image courtesy of Figures.com.

The other day I posted that He-man and Beastman would be the next two figures in Mattel’s new exclusive Masters Of the Universe Classics (MOUTC) line. I jumped the gun a little because I was pretty sure I had a scoop since hadn’t seen the info anywhere else. It turns out, they were on display at SDCC and a bunch of additional info was revealed and posted to He-man.org. Here’s some of the highlights:
– King Grayskull sold out on both MattyCollector.com and at SDCC
– Availability will be:

• He-Man – October 31st
• Beast Man – November 15th
• Skeletor – December 15th (was not on display at SDCC)
• Stratos – January 15th (was not on display at SDCC)
• Merman – February 15th
• Zodac – Sometime in 2009

– He-Man will have both a normal Power Sword as well as the classic toy half-sword
– From the 12 regular figures released in 2009, two will be characters who never were available as toys ever, and two will be characters who were released in the vintage line but not in the 2002 line
– Figures are limited to 3 per household
– Mattel produced two “Spirit of Grayskull” figures (blue translucent versions of King Grayskull). One was raffled off on Saturday at the con to a lucky fan. The other one will be auctioned in October for Dream Halloween 2008
– No Chase figures are planned right now (THANK GOODNESS!), but they are still a possibility
– Convention exclusives are being planned in 2009 for both NYCC and SDCC
– Some figures will have multiple heads, like Mer-Man
– Bios on the card will be based on the story arcs from the classic toy mini-comics and 200x line
– Mattel is currently looking into the possibility of including mini-comics later in the line
– BAFs (Build a figures) are only a possibility if the toyline is successful
– Mattel is exploring the possibility of a subscription plan for the toys
– Mattel is exploring the possibility of a comic book series available via mattycollectors.com
– No news about the movie; they are still in script developement

I have included some more tidbits from He-Man.org that came up from a Q&A outside of SDCC after the jump.
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Take one part Virtua Cop, one part Mission Impossible, 1/2 cup minigame elements, stir, and bake at 450 degrees for 25 minutes. After it cools down, you’ll end up Sega AM3’s (at the time doing business as Hitmaker) 2001 sleeper light gun rail shooter Confidential Mission. Playing as a secret agent (or 2 if playing 2 player), you set out to stop a terrorist organization from taking control of a satellite. You’ll travel to a museum, a train, then the terrorist headquarters. Gameplay is pretty much what you’d expect from a light gun shooter, although there are some minigames spread about. You’ll try to guide a grappling hook to it’s target, break out of a room filling with gas, and attempt to rescue a girl. Of course you can play this game with a controller, but obviously you’re going to want to play using a lightgun, as it will make the minigames much easier. Along with a replication of the arcade game, the Dreamcast home version includes an ‘Original mode’ (a mode with a different set of challenges), a training mode, and a decent amount of unlockable features. The home version extras are a good thing, as the main game only has three stages. Even with its lack of replay value, fans of light gun shooters who still hold on to their Dreamcasts will want to get this game, along with a lightgun to play it with. It may be a bit hard to find, but it will be well worth the purchase.

San Diego Comic-Con was this weekend, for those of you living in a hole in the ground, and the comics news came fast and furious. There’s a lot of chaff to sort through, so hit the jump for a rundown of the major headlines, including a million things Watchmen-related. Oh, and some other comic stuff too.
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Tomorrow at 11am PST, Mattel’s collectors’ website, MattyCollector.com will go live. They will have up for sale the exclusives offered at SDCC. Included in those is the first figure in Mattel’s new Masters Of The Universe Classics (MOTUC) line; King Grayskull, which we first mention here.

The next two figures in the line will be He-Man and Beastman. Both are listed as coming soon this Fall.

From Mattel’s collector’s site for He-Man:

The most powerful man in the universe is back as a highly detailed, fully articulated action figure in the new Masters of the Universe® Classics series. He-Man® comes complete with power vest, axe, shield, the Sword of Grayskull as both a full sword and the light half of the Power Sword®. A must have for any MOTU fan! Coming this fall only on MattyCollector.com. While supplies last!

  

Beastman:

Skeletor’s right hand, um, Beast, will soon be available as a highly detailed, fully articulated figure in the new Masters of the Universe® Classics line. Comes complete with classic armor and whip. Check back soon for availability. While supplies last!

  

Soulcalibur 4 is coming out this week, so to commemorate the return of our favorite weapon-based fighting series, we’re gonna take a look at one of the franchise’s earlier entries. Soulcalibur 2 is actually the 3rd game in Namco’s soul series, as the first game went by the name Soul Edge. The Soulcalibur games are known for adding in a boatload of special features, hidden characters, and unlockables that go beyond the standard arcade/versus modes. Soul Edge featured the ‘Edge Master’ mode, which took players on a series of character-specific quests while gaining special weapons. Soulcalibur featured a mission mode, in which players earned points to unlock hidden features. Soulcalibur 3 featured the Create-a-Soul, which gave fans the ability to craft new characters and use them in the game’s various playing modes. Soulcalibur II featured the ‘Weapon Master Mode’, which took players around the world while earning new weapons, similar to the Edge Master mode in Soul Edge. It also included an extra special touch, in which the home versions of the game received console-exclusive characters. The Xbox version got Spawn, the PS2 version of the game got Heihachi Mishima, and Gamecube owners got none other than Nintendo’s Link. The home versions of SCII also gained Necrid, who was a new character designed by Todd McFarlane. Of course most of the cast from Soulcalibur returned, along with a few new additions. Along with fan favorites such as Taki, Kilik, Nightmare, and Ivy, new characters such as Raphael, Cassandra, and Talim join the cast. Each of these characters bought their own unique styles to the game and make worthy additions to the Soulcalibur series.

By now hardcore Soulcalibur fans have played both this game and its sequel to death, and are ready to take on Yoda and Darth Vader in SCIV. However, new and longtime fans alike will want to brush up on their skills before stepping back into the ring, and there are fewer better places to do it than here. Anyone who plays this game will have very good cause to be excited over the forthcoming entry in the series.