Going into Soul Calibur IV I must admit I was a tad nervous. See I’m slowly but surely realizing I’m not nearly as hardcore about some game genres as I used to be. Role playing games and fighters, specifically. So while I was head over heels in love with (and awesome at) SoulCalibur for the Dreamcast and later with part 2 on the Xbox, I’ve sort of waxed and waned on the genre since then.

But there was so much interesting here that I decided it was better to not wade back into the water but to dive headfirst into the deep end. Do I manage to stay afloat or do I end up drowned at the bottom of the pool? Continue Reading »

I know what you’re thinking — “Another Namco Museum compilation? Really? Why don’t I just shoot myself in the spine instead?” But put that itchy trigger finger to rest, because you’re going to want full use of your central nervous system for this one. In it’s umpteenth incarnation, Namco Museum has finally broken the mold and done something surprisingly different. Yes - you’re still getting classic games. nine of them to be exact.

But this time around it’s not just the same ol’ same ol’. NM mainstays Pac-Man and his old lady Ms. Pac-Man are nowhere to be seen. Sure there are Pac-titles aplenty — but this time Namco didn’t rely on ol’ faithful to cash in on the same crap with another console. Check out the list;

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It’s always a risk to bring out a game that uses something other than a standard controller. While we’re starting to be more accepting as consumers and more adventerous as developers in trying out extra peripherals (like Guitar Hero or Scene-It) they’re still for the most part stuck on the sideline.

It’s a high price point up front for a controller that will probably only operate 1 or (if you’re lucky) 2 games. But lightguns have been around in one for or another since the very beginning, all the way back to Ralph Baer’s first prototype (of course it also had a lever or two).

The technology to make them work is pretty simple, so it goes that there’s been a lightgun released for just about every system. Namco’s Time Crisis series has pretty much become the defacto gun game, with more than a few successful arcade machines and home ports. But the times they are a’changin’. You see now that we’re moving into the HD the whole idea about how the guns work needs to be re-thought. The Guncon 3 is the result of that, and while not as simple as plug and play guns of old, it’s pretty easy to set up and get going. Continue Reading »

Is your living space small but you still want your very own Pac-man arcade machine? Fear not, Brookstone has got you covered. The only problem is your going to need deep pockets, as this piece of retro love will cost you $1,995.00. High price I know but it does come with Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga also.

[Ohgizmo]

What’s in a name? In this case, everything. From the title, anyone should be able to guess that all you’re going to do is repeatedly smash two buttons in a fit of robot destruction, for hours on end. What the box doesn’t tell you is that it’s kind of a better, prettier version of Mobile Suit Gundam:Federation vs Zeon for the PS2. And for people like me, that’s a good thing.

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I’ll admit I don’t know a ton about the upcoming JRPG game, but it looks gorgeous and takes place inside the mind of musical genius Chopin. The more I see the more I want it and I can’t wait to check out the demo when I get home tonight.

The game is set for a September 21st release, full press release after the break.

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This, my dear friends, is a TON of screenshots (enough that I had to use a paginate tag, a first!). But what the hell, they look fantastic and it’s a game that by all accounts isn’t really getting any marketing love from Microsoft. All attention on the JRPG front seems to be focused on making Blue Dragon a success in the states, leaving poor Eternal Sonata out twisting in the wind.

But fear not music fans. The RPG based all around classical music (or is as far as I can tell) has both a sweet free-faceplate-for-reserving thing going on and will have a demo hitting up the Xbox Live Marketplace soon.

I played the game at E3 but how much can you tell about an RPG after playing it for 5 minutes? I tell you this though, it looks fantastic. I don’t know much about it but I’m very intrigued. I’ll be keeping an eye on this one, for sure.

Tons of screenshots after the break! Continue Reading »