After hyping up this new show for weeks the premiere came and went without any comment. Why, you might wonder? Well as a Canadian I do not have access to the Hub, but fear not as the “first” episode of Care Bears: Welcome to Care-a-Lot is now available for viewing online at the hub’s web site, for a limited time, to people who live in the US. I found the show decent, with some nice animation, some nice characters and a few good jokes, but ultimately probably too juvenile to find a home with adult fans.

One thing to note is that this was in fact not the first episode. This is episode 5 “Compassion — NOT!”. Why start with episode 5? I can’t pretend to understand the thought process of network executives. Perhaps this was a stronger episode they thought would hook more fans? All I know is that it not being the first episode was a bit annoying. From one of the preview clips we knew that “Care Kids” were transported to Care-a-Lot via a “Care and Share Charm”. This information would have been helpful to tell audiences in this episode, instead a girl named Penny is brought in by a rainbow and seems very unsurprised to be transported to this magical world of talking Bears who she’s meeting for the first time. Her acceptance of this incredible situation is something I can only compare to the unsurprised reaction of various characters from Megaman Upon a Star when Megaman enters the real world from the video game world. Another annoying situations is that Wonderheart Bear clearly has a belly badge, although a plot point of the first episode will obviously be her getting one.

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These are all of the trailers and demo videos without Nintendo’s presenters and executives.

Another more 3DS focused press event will be held tomorrow.

Syndicate was one EA’s most unique and controversial games. Developed by Bullfrog Productions (Populous, Dungeon Keeper), it’s one of the few games that put you in control of the fictional evil empire rather than rebelling against it. Taking place in a dystopian future controlled by corporations, you lead a team of brainwashed cyborg mercenaries committing various crimes for your corporation. These missions include kidnapping, assassination, and theft. After each mission, you collect taxes from regions under your control to purchase upgrades for your agents. Along with an assortment of weapons, you have a device called the Persuadertron which brainwashes people, converting them to your side. The game received an expansion pack entitled American Revolution, and a sequel, called Syndicate Wars. Bullfrog tried to make another sequel, however they were unsuccessful, and we wouldn’t see the franchise again until Starbreeze released an FPS reboot earlier this year. The original game is available on GOG.com for those who have yet to experience this classic.

In the waning years of the 20th century, secret codes were a common feature in games that would unlock secret content or make the challenge a bit less difficult. But now if you want those extras, you can “unlock” them for just a few dollars! Is that this a terrible shift in developer entitlement, or another example of how gamers feel like they shouldn’t have to pay more than a few dollars for a new game? Sean and Vinnk look at the things that developers do to get more money out of gamers, and what gamers do to make developers believe that they can’t get paid fairly for their work. Used games aren’t evil, but some developers want you to think they are. Developers aren’t evil, but there are gamers who… well, you know the rest. Is one side more entitled than the other?

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It looks like some more of that Warner Bros. and DC Comics synergy is coming to fruition. The studio responsible for Mortal Kombat, NetherRealm (part of WB Games) has a new game on the way and it looks like a doozy from this trailer. Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, both comic writers are penning the story and I can only hope it plays out as well as Mortal Kombat’s story did because that was the best storytelling I’ve ever seen in a fighting game. This fighter will feature a pretty great cast of characters just from the short list already announced in Superman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn and Solomon Grundy. The game is called Injustice: Gods Among Us and it really looks like the lines between hero and villain have been greatly blurred. Marvel’s had a pretty great run on fighting games for along time now, but I’m looking forward to see how far DC’s answer to those games can push the limits.

Choice quote from Ed Boon in an interview from GameSpot:

Injustice’ is our twist on the blockbuster over-the-top superhero game in a fighting game shell. We’re trying to add some major components to shake up the fighting game genre…One of the big kind of goals that we have its to is to have fighters that feel completely different from one another.

Injustice: Gods Among Us is coming in 2013 to PS3, XBOX 360 and Wii U.

Official Press release after the jump! In addition, I also embedded the interview with Ed Boon after the jump. Check it out.
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Today, we celebrate Memorial Day. A day where we commemorate the sacrifices our brave soldiers have made for this country. However, we, as nerds, must also commemorate something else: games that have been canceled and left on the cutting room floor. Bow your heads in silence before reading this article.
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The scheduled release date of GI Joe: Retaliation has been moved back nine months from June 29th, 2012 to March 13, 2013. According the Deadline, the reason is reportedly a decision to do a post-production conversion to 3D.

Choice quote:

We’re going to do a conscientious 3D job because we’ve seen how it can better box office internationally, … Jim Cameron did all of Titanic‘s 3D in post — and look how well that movie turned out.

As a fan, I’m utterly disappointed. As a business decision, I think they are foolishly ignoring the positive hype they’ve worked so hard to build around this movie. The move may allow the film to perform better, though, due to fewer blockbuster movies opening around the same time and the better performance of 3D films internationally, added to the increased cost per ticket.

I am curious to see how this year’s JoeCon will procede since it seemed pretty clearly scheduled to coincide very closely with the movie’s release. You can imagine the fan disappointment in that circle. How about Hasbro? They have an entire toy line planned for release this summer with no movie to support it for another nine months. I’m going to go ahead and call this a totally inconsiderate move by Paramount to all of its partners.

Welcome to the Powet Top 5, where we explore the top (and bottom) 5 items we think are relevant to any of a variety of topics that span the imagination. Sit back, read, and respond

Everyone knows that what Capcom and SNK are to fighting, EA is to sports, and Epic is to shooters, Squaresoft, now called Square-Enix (you know, since merging with Enix), is to RPGs. Or at least they used to be at a time. While their most recognizable title is Final Fantasy, they have created other classic RPG franchises. This article celebrates 5 of them. By the way, this list is specifically focused on Squaresoft and not Square-Enix, just in case you’re wondering why Dragon Quest or Illusion of Gaia isn’t on here.

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