Posts

Damn! There’s so much going on in this 5+ minute JapaneseYakuza 4trailer that it’s almost information overload. This is a quick overview of everything you’d consider to be badass in the Sega PS3 game. Everything: setting, fighting, cast, games — all badass. Kicking delivery boxes into faces? Badass. Swinging around motorcycles to take down gang members? Badass. The second half of the video is badass in a more subdued way. It shows the pleasure side ofYakuza 4: karaoke, time wasters, hostesses and more....

Just like its cavalcade ofLIPScommercials, Microsoft is attempting to capture the “family fun” vibe of Nintendo adverts, while somehow managing to be evenmoreembarrassing. Where do theyfindthe actors for these things? There must be some secret island where humans are born and bred to be contemptible …but so very beautiful… homunculi of humiliation. Some might say it’s unfair to rip apart a video that is not intended for our demographic, and somewhat elitist or smug to look down on the kinds of people suckered in by such shallow and vapid advertising since they don’t know any better....

For today’s edition of YTMND Thursday, I thought it would be nice to only have one specific YTMND. I will admit that I had to hold back the tears from how heartbreaking this story was. The story itself originated from a poster on the IGN Forums a long time ago and an artist atThisIsGamesaw the post and made a comic out if it. It’s also timely as today is Thanksgiving, a time to be with your family and loved ones....

On Tuesday,it was announcedthat the Baseball Writers’ Association of America had chosen San Francisco Giants fireballer Tim Lincecum (that’sLIN-sih-come) as the winner of the 2008 National League Cy Young Award, an honor given annually to the best pitcher in the league. (The Cleveland Indians’ Cliff Lee was announced today as the year’s AL Cy Young winner.) In only his second season, Lincecum went 18-5 with a 2.62 ERA and a major league-best 262 strikeouts, making the NL All-Star team, even though his lowly Giants finished fourth in the NL West at 72-90....

2K Boston?Fughedaboutit. The studio formerly known as Irrational Games is now once again Irrational Games. Game Informerreports that the studio discovered that its original name carried weight with people, registered on some weird level. So, with new (old) logo andWeb sitein tow, the studio is now set to dosomethingwith that knowledge that benefits fans. We should note that the February issue ofGame Informerwill have an article that explores the history of Irrational Games — something we’re sure all of youSystem Shock 2zealots should be able to get behind....

As a kid, blast processing my way to greatness with my Sega Genesis, I was always puzzled why some games (particularly those published by Electronic Arts) were slightly larger than the standard cartridge and had the little yellow tab in the top left corner. I never lost any sleep over it, but it was a passing rumination. The only conclusion I ever came to was that EA needed the extra room in the cartridge to stuff in extra magic fairies, or joojoo beans, or whatever the hell makes videogames work....

Japan getsFinal Fantasy XIIIon December 17th, and I’ll be damned if my toes don’t curl with jealousy just thinking about it. After all, it’ll surely be quite a while since I get to play it, and my half-baked Japanese skills are not ready for the import just yet. Here’s an interesting thing for a Final Fantasy launch though: Square Enix announced that they will be publishing a web-based novelization of the events leading up to the game....

I know that you’ve often looked at your Wii and thought, “if only there were a peripheral designed explicitly for playing the many fine table tennis simulators on this home videogaming console.” I, too, have had those nights. Get ready to dust off that Wii, folks! The TT Champion Bat from Shinobii Technologies will be finding its way into retailers soon. It’s designed to be a perfect replica of a real table tennis paddle in terms of size and weight while having a Wii remote built in....

Here’s a weekend special for you, sure to be taken by tabloid media outlets like Fox News and warped into an anti-video game manifesto. In Redwood City, California, a ten-year-old boy recently came to school armed with an Airsoft gun (a pellet gun designed to look like the real thing). He put it to the head of a six-year-old school mate and demanded he hand over his Pokemon cards. Now he’s in juvenile hall....

We knew back in December that there was a good chance that RPG giantSquare-Enix would bid to buy Eidos, but this morning brought confirmation that that was indeed the case. The bid for the company is valued at GBP 84.3 million (or roughly $119.8 million, based on the current exchange rate). The Eidos Board of Directors have agreed to recommend the offer to shareholders, which could mean that Lara Croft could look like an androgynous boy by sometime next year....

Mask designs don’t defineArmy of Two: the 40th Day’sSalem and Rios. The two are their own dudes, capable of making their own bro-tacular choices. But what badass in the PMC universe doesn’t paint his steel-clad and chin-strapped hockey mask? It seems like EA Montreal and Destructoid are on the same page. You can make your own mask designs for Salem and Rios using a radical tool provided in-game and throughthis Web site....

After three-plus hours of downloading, converting, and uploading we arethrilledto bring you the aboveAssassin’s Creed 2walkthrough video. It’s from gamescom, but don’t bother screaming “old!” Instead, consider discussing the mechanics shown — in real-time no less — from the anticipated sequel. It opens with protagonist Ezio diving into a haystack and dismissing a guard while half-buried in its yellow glory. The video then shows off a bit of the new “economic system” — paying mercenaries, buying items, etc....

As someone who admittedly spends most of his time on a console, it takes something big to get me off the couch and back into the ol’ office. Apart from sayDemigod, which looks fantastic,Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IIis probably one of the only other upcoming PC games I’m genuinely excited for. Relic hasfinally dished outthe juicy requirements for the game and thankfully, they are very doable. Minimum Requirements: Recommended: For those of you anticipatingDawn of War IIas much as I am, make sure to check back at theRelic Web siteon Thursday for an update on what’s happening with the game’s multiplayer beta....