No Castlevania For The Playstation 3?

In a somewhat surprising move, Castlevania creator Koji Igarashi has revealed that he's favouring the Xbox 360 for the next installment in the series.

Apparently, the US market is still the strongest for the Castlevania games, and the Xbox 360 is, of course WHIPPING (see what I did there?) the Playstation 3 in the States. The Wii is not to be completely disregarded, but Igarashi comments that he feels third party games don't fare too well on the console, compared to Nintendo's offerings. While he has a point, maybe a good third-party game WOULD actually sell, rather than the half-arsed ports that most developers are currently churning out for Nintendo's system.

Igarashi also commented on the new DS offering for the Castlevania series. It will not be a port of Dracula X, like the PSP is receiving, but hopefully a new adventure. While I'm happy about this, I also REALLY want to play Dracula X. Looks like I'll be buying that PSP Slim...

And Now Some (possibly) Good Wii News

Matt is right, we've all become a little disillusioned with the Wii and it's recent lack of good games. I like mini games for about 20 mins, and I'm sick of waving a stick as a replacement for pressing a button.

However, I will gladly take back my frustration and welcome the little whore back into my life when I can finally do the one thing that first made me realise the potential of the Wii.

I want to swing about a god damn light sabre!

And now the ace Lego Star Wars is coming out on the Wii in November with Lucasarts hinting that they are developing other Star Wiirs titles (see what I did there? I'm going to copyright that before everyone starts using it).

Deep Joy!

Still, I hope they come out with another shit bit of plastic to clip onto the end of the Wiimote to make it look like a sabre! They could bundle in some piece of shit minigame series where you go stabbing up Banthas too.

Link's Crossbow Training Sounds Shit

I HATE to write more negative stuff about Nintendo and the Wii in particular. But I just can't remain silent any longer... It's getting painful. Painfully embarrassing.

Nintendo are set to unload another double-barrelled shell of shitness on November 19th.

The new Wii Zapper, pictured, is basically a piece of plastic to slot your wiimote and nunchuk into. Nothing more. It doesn't come with a wiimote. It's just the plastic shell to put them into. And it's "only" $19.99. So probably twenty quid, then. You, obviously, don't need it, as you could just use the controllers without the zapper shell. But anyway, that's only one portion of shit.

Instead of making real games like they used to, Nintendo have decided to bundle the Wii Zapper with Link's Crossbow Training. It sound's shit already, doesn't it? I can't even by arsed to write about it. It's basically a selection of *yawn* mini games centred around the world of *yawn* Twilight Princess. You shoot *YAWN* targets and the like and it's all loads of fun. Except it probably isn't after about ten minutes. I've been playing lightgun games since the NES. It's about as revolutionary as the Game Genie.

Fuck off, Nintendo. Make some GAMES again, please. And re-packaging cancelled Gamecube games don't count. Until then, fuck off.

Call of Duty 4 Beta Registration Open!

While lucky American 360 owners have been beta testing the Call of Duty 4 multiplayer demo for a while now, us lot in the UK have had to sit tight and patiently wait.

Rumours were abound this past week that you could only get a registration code by pre-ordering the title at Game. That would be BOLLOCKS and, thankfully, isn't the case! All you need is to be registered (for free) at one of the following sites, and you just follow the instructions from there. I'm registered now and I can't wait to get playing! Call of Duty 3 is one of my all-time favourite Live games. :-)

The sites that offer registration for the Beta are...

www.gamespot.com
www.game.co.uk
www.eurogamer.net

Get on it, soldier!

Far Cry 2 Video

Taken during the Leipzig Games Convention, this THIRTEEN MINUTE demo is the most exciting thing ever.

If you don't know already, Far Cry 2 is set in the African savannah, rather than the tropical jungle of the first game. It already looks absolutely beautiful and it's not out till next spring, on PC. It'll be interesting to see how well it's accepted after Crysis, but I think it looks gorgeous in it's own right.

Watch the video and pray for that new graphics card...

Xbox Live Arcade Wednesday, 05-09-07

Today's additions to the Xbox Live Arcade are Fatal Fury Special and Cyberball 2027.

Fatal Fury is a pretty interesting game for it's time. Originally released in 1991 by SNK for Neo Geo, it was the sister game of Art of Fighting. Later, characters from both of these fighters were brought together for the King of Fighters games. These are still made today and enjoy HUGE success in arcades in Japan. Fatal Fury follows the rise of Terry and the decline of Geese, the bad guy. Terrible names aside, it's an awesome beat-em-up. It's got a fantastic art style, with weather changes and big, detailed sprites and also features the famous two-plane system, which enables fighters to jump between planes, avoiding attacks. It works really well and helps the game stand out next to the obvious Street Fighter comparisons.

The game features the obligatory Xbox Live play and achievements but doesn't feature any graphical enhancements. This isn't a criticism as it looks superb on an HD screen as it is.

If nothing else, Fatal Fury Special demonstrates a piece of gaming history that is still just as playable today. The gameplay and characters aren't clouded by nostalgia like so many other retro classics. It's only 400 Microsoft points (about £3.00) so it's easily a bargain. At least try the trial game. And don't laugh at the names. Terry is solid. And as for Geese.... :-)

The other addition today was Cyberball 2027. It's a futuristic version of American Football and, as such, I don't have a fucking clue as to what's going on. It's got robots and stuff, though. It looks a bit ropey and probably won't make sense unless you understand American things. I wouldn't bother. It's 400 Microsoft points, if you've got money to burn.

Oblivion GOTY Edition Coming Soon

If you like geeky things like magic and dragons, you should really play Oblivion. It's my favourite Xbox 360 game so far (yes I have played Gears of War and Bioshock) and it's about to get even better.

The updates and expansions have been available for a while now via the Marketplace (and as expansion discs on PC) but I've held off because of rumours of THIS bad boy coming. It's basically a re-release but with all the expansion stuff included.

I'll be buying it again because I love it that much. My game clock says fifty hours, but that doesn't include things I've done and not saved and the times I've started new quests to try out different characters. I estimate I've played it for about sixty-five hours and I still discover new things each time I pick up the pad.

Seriously, this is worth your forty quid. Even if you only get the original release (maybe buy my copy?) please, please play this game.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition is released on 14/09/07 on Xbox 360 and PC. A PS3 version is planned, although it doesn't seem to be on play.com. Hmmm.

Goatse Found in Bioshock

And if you don't know what Goatse is, you shouldn't be using the Internet.

Marvel vs. Capcom For XBLA and PSN?

THIS BETTER BE FUCKING TRUE.

Justin Lambros of Marvel has suggested the possibility of a release of classic Capcom fighter Marvel vs. Capcom on console digital download services. While nothing concrete has been discussed, the very fact that Marvel are interested in doing this makes me wet.

For the uninitiated, Marvel vs. Capcom (and it's many variations and sequels) is a 2D Capcom fighter in the Street Fighter style. It features a MASSIVE roster of characters from both the Marvel universe and from various Capcom games. This means it's not just Street Fighter characters (as seen in X-Men vs. Street Fighter) but characters from Darkstalkers, Mega Man, Resident Evil, etc.

Again, nothing solid has been said, but it is presumed that the Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network are pretty solid bets for platforms. Capcom has certainly supported the Xbox Arcade, especially with the Street Fighter series.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is my all-time favourite beat-em-up game and is the sole reason I still play my Sega Dreamcast. If Microsoft, Capcom and Marvel pull this off, I'll be pretty happy. I don't even want a HD remix or anything. Just the original game, please. I'm willing to pay up to 1200 Microsoft points for it, but I'd be happy if it was 800. Cheers.

Dutch Importastic!

As i am sure many of you saw recently, much was made over the BBFC deciding Manhunt 2 was just "a bit nasty", and should not be given a release.

Which then inevitably led to most the UK based tramps bum wad tabloids claiming computer games touch you in your sleep.

However, in a bout of pure brilliance, Rockstar have been advised by the Netherlands body of such things that they can released what ever they want, since in Clogland, they do not have a law which enables them to outright ban a game, unless it contains illegal material. Which in itself would be pretty incredible since fucking an animal in Holland in return for Euros seems pretty much a given part of a "lads weekend".

Apparently Rockstar have "no plans" to release an uncut version... since they have spent quite a while putting a smiley face on the soon to be released US version.

This will more than likely change when someone realises that people have the ability to make their own decisions.

(2 posts in 1 day? i must be off work)

I blame Marilyn Manson.

Far Cry, Prince of Persia, Ghost Recon, Raving Rabbids For Free

Hello! Ubisoft are currently offering a selection of their best games on Windows for FREE download via Fileshack. The selection is as follows...

• Far Cry
• Rayman : Raving Rabbids
• Prince of Persia : Sands of Time
• Ghost Recon
• Command and Conquer Gold

They're 'ad-enabled' which supposedly means you have to watch ads before you play. I'll update when I've finished downloading Far Cry. Maybe all the weapons will be sponsored by Nokia now?

Get downloading!

Following On...

After all the talk of Puzzle Fighter, and the fact i can feel my mind disappearing more each day that passes, i figured i would maybe look for some puzzle based action to improve my "brain age" or something equally buzzwordy.

The most eagle eyed of you will see the above image and think "ha, what a tool, he's put up the psp boxart". This however is true, i DO own a psp, im that guy.

However.

Despite cacking myself with excitment of seeing Capcom Puzzle World for less than £17 on play.com, and the fact i could picture myself playing Puzzle Fighter Turbo while having a nice relaxing poop, it does appear that the game is having compatibility issues with the latest firmware from Sony.

For those who don't know, Sony require these updates to be performed to play the latest releases, so they in turn can patch up any weaknesses that allow pretty rubbish hacks (that allow 15 year olds make their psp into a shrine for soft-core porn), or some pretty decent homebrew apps.

I figured i would do a little Sherlock, and in turn found an amazingly accurate quote from Capcom saying a fix will be released "soon".

Presumably Mr Capcom said that while rolling around naked in a big pile of yen.

*sigh*