OK, so Guitar Hero is going the Rock Band route and introducing drums. I wasn’t eager to see this, as I don’t think my living room needs another drum kit. But after watching this video where Travis Barker, Chad Smith, and Stewart Copeland scrutinize the set, I’m eager to at least try it out. Will Guitar Hero reclaim the crown from all the Rock Band devotees? Hard to say, but Activision isn’t fooling around.

Following the cut are the press release and debut trailer [Read the rest of this entry…]

Well, it’s been confirmed by several accounts, including Konami’s official website that Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia was indeed the game that featured screenshots that were leaked some time ago. Slated for a fall release, Order of Ecclesia features newcomer protagonist Shanoa as a member of the elusive Order, who has been trained as an agent to be used against Dracula’s forces when the Belmont family mysteriously vanishes. New tidbits featured are, as mentioned, a female main character, which is a first since IGA took over the series and eliminated Gameboy’s Castlevania Legends from canon for the same reason. The other new feature is a glyph system of fighting, which is mentioned as akin to Aria of Sorrow’s tactical-soul system.
An interview with series producer IGA maps out these new fighting systems and a few other interesting aspects of the new game, including new artwork not of the anime-genre of Dawn of Sorrow or Portrait of Ruin, but neither from series’ usual artist Ayami Kojima.

Another interesting bit of Castlevania news has been rumored as to the next Castlevania game after Ecclesia, which has been confirmed as being for a console. The title “Castlevania: Judgment” has been registered by Konami almost right on the heels of Ecclesia, and whispers from Japan hint that the console of choice very well might be the Nintendo Wii. The real reason this is interesting is because IGA had stated long ago that he was frowning at the idea of having a Castlevania on the Wii due to obvious gimmicks that would be associated with the Wiimote and a whip-weapon system. Only time will tell if these rumors, like the ones for Ecclesia, prove to be true.

It has been over TWO YEARS since I spoke about Beyond Good & Evil 2! I’d forgotten about it, and simply chalked the lack of news to it being a bad rumor.
Well creator Michel Ancel hasn’t forgotten, and according to JeuxVideo (another French site!): Beyond Good & Evil 2 en préproduction. Why hasn’t it been officially announced? Ubisoft hasn’t given it the greenlight. This cult hit from last gen didn’t make the publisher the kind of money they wanted so they’re hesitant. I think gamers are getting more savvy and a theres not reason a cult game can’t become a big hit, like Bioshock did only a year ago.

Never played the classic original? You’re in luck. GameTap has it available now, and its available on PS2, Xbox, Gamecube, and PC, so you have to be able to play it on something you’ve got there. Its an action adventure in the same mold as Zelda with great characters, puzzles, acting, gameplay variety, and art direction. Its actually better than Wind Waker.

Double Agent is the fourth entry in the Splinter Cell series and the first to hit the new generation consoles. Ubisoft Shanghai has taken some bold new steps with the formula, not the least of which is having series protagonist Sam Fisher juggle his loyalties to both Third Echelon and the terrorist organization which he is tasked to infiltrate. While there are some missteps in this new direction, Double Agent still manages to bring the series into the next generation with style.

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Trent Reznor made waves only a month ago when he released a new Four Disc Nine Inch Nails instrumental album for only $5 and gave away the first disc for free.

Now a new proper NIN record is on the way and less than 24 hours after the first single was mastered, its online. In Trent’s own words “You can download your own copy of the track RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW for free.

Of course Nine Inch Nails secrets are still yet to be revealed; the comments section on the MP3 says “Go to www.nin.com May 5.” A new album? Another single? With no record label to hold him back and digital distribution in his control, Trent Reznor can do whatever he wants.

I wish I knew how to begin this review. I usually enter with some common thing a reader can relate to, then go into my opening statements and opinions about the anime I’m reviewing. However I can’t seem to come up with anything meaningful this time around to properly describe exactly what the anime “Papuwa” is, except this:

Crack.

Pure awesome and silly crack.

[Read the rest of this entry…]

I hadn’t intended to write a review for this particular DVD, and in fact hadn’t originally sought to watch it at all. However as fate would have it, I was given the opportunity to view this exotically eye-catching anime through a sheer twist of fate, and boredom of myself and a friend.

I had no idea what to expect going into the anime, except that I’d seen commercials for the DVD release on the Sci-Fi channel whilst in-between my bouts of Ani-Monday. (which is, I can only guess, a newer version of the older Saturday Anime the channel used to show) The visuals represented by said commercial were, to say the least, incredibly pretty and were enough to pique my interests. A few weeks later, I manage to get my hands on a friend’s rental copy of the 2-disc feature, and plopped down.
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This is the sequel to Capcom’s Rival Schools: United by Fate, one of the most underrated 3-d fighting games ever. Before Bully, Rival Schools and Project Justice made use of a high school setting, risking post some serious post-Columbine controversy. Thankfully, there was no big uproar, as the game was off-beat and hilarious instead of simply being violent. It made use of the same unique gameplay as its predecessor, and its presentation made served to make it one of the most unique fighting games available.
[Read the rest of this entry…]