An Hour With 3D Dot Game Heroes

Hyrule as you imagined it to be

Even though the word on the street is that 3D Dot Game Heroes plays just as if you had added a 3rd dimension to A Link to the Past, I have to say that I didn’t really know what to expect. I quickly discovered that it played exactly like From Software had added a 3rd dimension! That is just such a good way to think about this game because even though the graphics are a million miles from what the SNES could produce, the movement and animation absolutely capture those top down adventures.Before the adventure began I took a quick look at the character creator that lets you design your own pixelated heroes (see here for more), but starting from scratch was just so daunting I decided to leave it alone for now. Not that when you start your game there aren’t a myriad of different characters to choose from which range from the genre staples to the bizarre. How about questing as a tank or a shark?

Fallout: New Vegas Box Art Unveiled

New Californian Republic Ranger is the cover star

Just a quick one to say that this is the box art for Fallout: New Vegas, which just  happens to be our most anticipated title of 2010. With the art that’s already been published by Bethesda the final cover art isn’t a huge surprise showing a New Californian Republic Ranger. Nice to see what we’re going to get though. Remember you can send the developers your questions via Bethblog.

Do You Like Fallout? Do You Like Collector’s Editions?

Gambling paraphenalia

Of course you do. In that case you’re going to love the freshly unveiled Fallout: New Vegas Collector’s Edition. The extra-large box contains a host of Vegas inspired physical items, which depending on how full your man cave is getting will delight fans of the series.

3D Dot Game Heroes – What Hero Will You Be?

Gordon Brown leaves number 10

One of the best features of 3D Dot Game Heroes is the ability to create your own hero model.  Not only can you create your own hero, but you can then share it on the official website. Once here they can be downloaded and used within your game, so even if you don’t have any artistic ability you may still be able to use a Link looky likey. My dad, who spent many hours with graph paper making his game sprites would have been in heaven with the simple editor included in From Software’s homage to games gone by.

See below for some of those already posted.

April – Month in Review

The writing's on the wall

For most people April was a welcome relief in the release schedules finally giving gamers a chance to catch up after the best start to a year ever. Depending on your platform though it wasn’t a completely barren month and definitely had a greater number of decent games than 2009. A theme for this month is perhaps games that have been previously released on other platforms or should have been released as DLC.

Next Generation Consoles – Must Have Features

With Microsoft and Sony heralding the arrival of their motion controllers for this generation of hardware, the next generation seems like a very long way off. However, for those boffins that are beavering away in secret labs the feature set for the new consoles is probably being nailed down even as I write. What is likely to make the cut next time around?

Fallout: New Vegas – Will You be Playing Hardcore?

How hardcore are you?

When I’m playing video games, my wife often makes comments such as, “how can your health just recover?” or “why does picking up a bandage heal bullet wounds?” These conventions are part and parcel of video games and part of the compromise developers make to ensure that playing games remains fun. What would happen though if they threw away those conventions and combat was as potentially fatal as it would be in real life? That is what Obsidian are offering with Hardcore mode in Fallout: New Vegas.

Next Modern Warfare not by Infinity Ward

PC Game have posted an interesting video on You Tube showing the credits from Modern Warfare 2 minus those that have now left to perhaps join West and Zampella in thier new venture.

As you can see practically every lead from the studio has walked, making Activisions claims of a very deep bench of talent ringing slightly hollow. Sure, there were many other people contributing to the last game, but without the leads the studio will have to do a lot of work to ensure a continued flow of creativity and quality control. Therefore, its probably true to say that the Infinity Ward that made the last game won’t exist other than in name by the time their next game ships.

Michael Pachter commented earlier, “We think that recent Activision share weakness has been compounded by additional departures at Infinity Ward which accelerated this week, and we expect another 10-20 employees to depart over the next few months.”

At least Activision have at least 18 months before Infinity Ward were due to ship another game and they’ve got deep enough pockets that they couls buy in the talent.

Demon’s Souls Finally Coming to Europe

[Update]Namco Bandai have now officially announced a European release for Demon’s

New Packaging Design

Souls for 25th June. Not only that but it’ll be the deluxe edition that includes that strategy guide, art book and soundtrack CD. Get it quick though becuase it sounds like there will be limited quantities. The cover art has also been slightly tweaked.

Earlier today reports of Demon’s Souls appearing on German’s classification site USK

were hitting websites. VG247 seem to have the scoop with Namco Bandai announcing that they would announce something officially tomorrow. That’s so like announcing they are publishing, but we’ll have to wait for the details.

Originally only published in Japan, Sony decided not to bring it to the rest of the world. For lucky Americans Atlus stepped into the breach even going as far as publishing a Special Edition featuring a decent strategy guide and a soundtrack CD. Yesterday, Atlus told the world that it had done rather well selling 280,000 copies well up on their forecast of 75,000.

If you haven’t heard of this legendary game, it’s simply a must play for anyone that considers themselves a hardcore gamer, driven as it by crushing, but always fair difficulty. There aren’t many games around today that will, by design, wipeout an hours play in a sword swipe. It also features excellent use of online letting you leave messages for other adventurers advising them of how to deal with the games many challenges.

Final Fantasy IX Confirmed for PSN

Final Fantasy IX original PS1 cover

Andriasang has posted that Square have confirmed Final Fantasy IX for the Japanese PSN

store. This follows stories last week that Yoichi Wada wanted to put the installment on the store following the success of VII and VIII.

No prices and no European confirmation, but all those people selling their PS1 copies for anything from £25 to £99 on Ebay better clear their stock quickly.