Catwoman Playable (!) in Batman: Arkham City June 1, 2011

Batman: Arkham Asylum was likely my choice for “Game of the Year” in 2009. I loved everything about that game, and must have gotten 100+ hours out of the main storyline, the Riddler’s challenges, the combat rooms, and challenge modes. Honestly, it’s one of those games that seems like it was tailor made for my sensibilities in an action game (ha, glad you liked it though!) and I’ll continue to fire it up for years to come.

So, to say that I’m excited about Batman: Arkham City is something of an understatement. Rocksteady amped up my excitement at least two-fold and made that October 18th release date feel awfully far off today, in particular, by announcing that Catwoman will be a playable character (among other potential characters?) in the game. She won’t be just a skin, nor a mere challenger within the challenge maps, but a playable character in the stories main narrative! Catwoman is my favorite DC anti-hero/villain (do yourself a favor and check out Brubaker & Cooke’s awesome run on the character) so I’m champing at the bit to play her and see what unique mechanics (beyond the fun factor) that she’ll bring to the combat, movement through the city, et al and I’m hoping she’ll be available for challenge maps, free roaming at other points in the game.

Anyhow, here’s a little more from Rocksteady’s announcement from the Gamestop article:

As he began to maneuver the feline fatale around the city Ginn noted that one of Rocksteady’s key priorities around the character was to think on how she would uniquely interact with the city. Obviously Catwoman is a complicated lady who’s not quite a hero but not a villain on the level of a Joker. In the end she’s pretty much out for herself and sees Arkham City as the perfect chance to do what she does best, thieve like there’s no tomorrow. The chaos of Arkham City provides her plenty of opportunities to do that, which tie into her part of the narrative which is very distinct from Batman’s. The team wanted to ensure players wouldn’t feel as though they were controlling Batman with a curvier skin. As a result you can expect decidedly different ways to get around the city, examine the environment, and fight with enemies. Since she lacks a nifty cape and grapple line, Catwoman will take a much more physical approach to getting around that relies on her trusty whip, parkour-like moves, and good old fashioned climbing and jumping. The demo highlighted the nimble and graceful way Catwoman will get around, and teased what appears to be a scoring system for how she moves around. During the demo as Catwoman picked up speed and made her way across rooftops we saw point totals appear at points during her leaping. Ginn noted the points will be awarded based on a players skill for moving through the city.

Please follow the jump for the rest of the article, and be sure to check out the trailer below.

Also, pardon my enthusiasm.

Dead or Alive Dimensions (Released May 24th) May 25, 2011

Team Ninja’s 3DS title Dead or Alive Dimensions was released in the U.S. yesterday, and thankfully my copy was waiting patiently for me when I arrived home from work.

Unfortunately, it will have to be a little more patient as I don’t have the 3DS yet (2011 holiday bundles and discounts anyone?) but such is my love for the series that I wanted to pick up a launch copy and help support the success of the game (as was the case with SFIV 3D and Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars) and by all accounts I’m going to have a great DoA fighter to enjoy when I do pick up the hand-held later this year.

And now that the game has been released, and gamers will have a sense of the series so far, I’d love to hear news of a Dead or Alive 5 being in development!

Street Fighter X Tekken Trailer & Gameplay April 12, 2011

(Click to enlarge image)

Check out the official Street Fighter X Tekken trailer,  game play footage, screens, character art and other details at the Capcom-Unity blog.

So pumped.

[Content courtesy of Capcom-Unity]

What I Played this Weekend and Reactions… March 21, 2011

In an attempt to relax before a particularly stressful week at work (which is what I’m doing right now) I made sure to get in some quality “down time” with a few great games this weekend:

I jumped back into Borderlands (PS3) for awhile on Friday, which served to remind me how fun the game is, but also how difficult it is to get your bearings again once you take a break from a game —  “Where was I again, how powerful is my character, am I working on a bounty, etc? ” I do reckon the game will be worth the effort in finding my way back though. I also replayed the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World demo that afternoon and had a blast (love the Anamanaguchi chiptune soundtrack). I regret that I haven’t been able to download the full version yet, but there were several older titles that I’ve picked up recently that I wanted to get before they became unattainable, and I know this one is safe for now. Sooner rather than later though!

Let’s see, at a party Saturday night I took advantage of a chance to play the arcade version of Super Street Fighter II and was surprised to find that I wasn’t quite as terrible as I had thought I was going to be after so many years, and that I actually had some effective, controlled, counters for the button mashing attacks I was up against. There’s definitely rust there,  but it got me pumped to try out my new (and first) fight stick on Super Street Fighter IV as soon as my USB adapter arrives.

Finally, I ended up playing Pokemon White (DS) on Sunday and really enjoyed my time with that as well. I earned my first badge, had several encounters with Team Plasma, and was able to significantly level up my battle trio. I’m fairly new to the series (I was college age when Pokemon was first introduced) and was glad to find so much to enjoy.

So, all in all it was a pretty good balance over the 3-day weekend, with 6-7 hours of game play over a 72-hour period with family and friends. If only every weekend were like that! Hope to do it again this weekend to celebrate this heck of a work week being over.

MvC3 Promotional Art by Miho Mori February 28, 2011

As always, click the image to embiggen’

[Art & Interview by Miho Mori courtesy of Capcom Unity]

MvC3: Signature Series Guide On Sale [Currently $10.99] February 23, 2011

Just a heads up for Marvel vs.  Capcom 3 fans. Amazon.com currently has the MvC3 Signature Series Guide discounted to a paltry $10.99 (nearly half the retail price, and minus the tax). I’ve heard nothing but gushing praise about the depth the guide provides players thanks to the breadth of talent BradyGames was able to get to write the brick.

Shoryuken, for example, recently reviewed the guide and concluded:

What could have been a simple move-list for each character actually ended up as 397-page epic, filled with working strategies and tons of frame-data. What the four minds (including Joe Epstein and Ian Rogers) behind this guide were able to do should set a new precedent in paper-back guide publication.

I know I almost picked this up at full price at a local Game Stop last week I was so impressed with it, but I’m definitely glad I waited now! That said, be sure that you don’t hestitate too long on this deal if you’re interested in picking the guide up, these online deals don’t often last that long.

Bengus’ Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Poster (High Res.) February 18, 2011

Click image to embiggin’!

Bengus’ most recent Capcom-related piece and, no surprise, it’s a beaut!

[Source: Shoryuken]

February 2010: New Arrivals! February 16, 2011

I’ll share what I picked up collectively in the month of February a little later, but as far as new releases go I had a couple of surprises waiting for me at my doorstep when I got home last night. While I had obviously been anticipating both of these games, I didn’t expect that they would arrive on the 15th, but likely a couple of days later. I ordered the Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Collector’s Edition for the PS3 (and boy am I glad I did as prices are already shooting through the roof) and was really impressed with all of the contents.

If interested, there have been several video unboxings for the game already, but you might want to check out StephsTooDef’s unboxing on her youtube channel as her videos are often a little livelier, and certainly is in this case, then others I have seen unbox the game. I’ll include that video below.

My other arrival was Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together for the Sony PSP. This came with the illustrated tarot cards by Akihiko Yoshida as a pre-order bonus and everything from the cover art to the bonuses looks slick as all get out. I’m mulling over a way to get my hands on the European edition as well so I’ll bring you any news if I’m able to procure a copy of that down the road.

Anyhow, great surprise for a Tuesday evening!

DOA: Is Samus Far Behind? No, However… January 24, 2011

Last week Team Ninja teased an image of Samus Aran (& Nemesis Ridley) in their most recent trailer for the upcoming 3DS title Dead or Alive: Dimensions. Needless to say more than a few fans – myself included – wondered if Samus, herself, might be a playable character in the game given Team Ninja’s involvement with Metroid: Other M. Well, according to Team Ninja’s Yosuke Hayashi, Samus will not be a playable character.

However, it’s not all bad news for Metroid fans as according to Hayashi:

So talking about Samus Aran, is she playable or not? This time she’s not playable. But Samus Aran will be shown in the game. She comes to help the player. That’s the collaboration shown there [in the trailer]. But how you can unlock Samus Aran? Please find out by yourself.

This is still something I’m excited to see. I’m already a fan of the DOA series so purchasing the game was a given, but having Samus make an appearance, and even help the player, is indeed icing on the cake…disappointing as it may be that she will not be playable “this time.”

[News courtesy of Nintendo Life]

Metroid in DOA: Dimensions, Is Samus far Behind? January 19, 2011

A long time fan of the Dead or Alive franchise I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up Dead or Alive: Dimensions for the 3DS as is, but it appears that Team Ninja is trying to sweeten the deal even further with the addition of at least one Metroid-themed level, featuring none other than our friend Ridley!

What’s more, there’s even a surprise appearance at the end of the stage for those that patiently wait until the end of the video…

Is it possible that Samus is a playable character?! I hate to speculate, but that’s awful bold of them and I have to think that Team Ninja (who developed Metroid: Other M for Nintendo) would rather not deal with the ramifications of showing as much and not delivering on everyone’s favorite female bounty hunter.

Here’s hoping right? And certainly this level is awesome whatever happens in the end.