(Gamespot) – While most of the Street Fighter news these days centers on the April 27 launch of Super Street Fighter IV for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Capcom is preparing one last hurrah for the original Street Fighter IV. The publisher has announced that starting next month, a version of GameSpot’s Best Fighting Game of 2009 will be available for Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch systems.

Capcom claims the game is an “uncompromised” version of Street Fighter IV, with “a roster pulled from recent console releases, including several classic and newly introduced fighters.” The publisher did not say how many fighters would be included, and the handful of screens released for the mobile version only depicts series staples Ken, Ryu, and Guile.

Street Fighter IV for iPhone and iPod Touch will include a simplified control scheme with a virtual joystick and four attack buttons displayed on the screen. Despite the simplification, Capcom has said the game will still feature the expected assortment of fireballs and dragon punches, as well as cinematic supercombos akin to those of its console cousin.

Players will be able to customize the layout of controls, repositioning them on the screen and adjusting their transparency as needed. Beyond the standard single-player action, players will be able to enter a dojo training mode or take on friends via the system’s Bluetooth support.

Street Fighter IV is obviously ready for a follow up round. Seems kinda early for just a revamped not so ready for online new title from Capcom. We repeat, this is not a DLC add on but a ‘stand-alone revamp’.

The stand-alone game will arrive on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in the Spring of 2010 with a handful of additions, including “about eight” returning or newly created characters, new Ultra Combos for the original Street Fighter IV cast, enhanced online play, balancing tweaks, and more.

This new SFIV game will not be compatible online with its predecessor. However, Capcom has said that the game won’t be a full-priced game (huh? how does that work? so like 29.99 – unlikely), and the publisher plans to offer a special bonus to gamers who already own Street Fighter IV (now we’re down with that, hopefully some new playables that wont cause you to throw your SF Tourney Edition fight stick across the room).

[Source]

-BG Crew

I myself have been known to pick up a few action figures here and there. Ok ,maybe a lot. Well maybe I hide alot of it in my closet so that I don’t scare off new comers from my abode (but that’s not the point). Anyhow, if there is one category that always seems to get the short end of the stick it is video game characters. I’m not talking the pricey anime statues and such, I’m talking ‘put the cartridge in the damn Nintendo’ video game toys. Nearly every set of figs that come out having to do with games are always poorly done, or half ass, or have way too much articulation (that means hinged parts for you noobs). I’m not sure why they don’t hire gamers (whom are mostly in the know with toys) to pre screen these plastic turds that they try to pawn off on us for an over priced sticker.

Beyond that being said I’m here to talk about the new Street Fighter IV figures.

The Street Fighter IV Special Edition (SE) figures blew. Ryu looked awful, and Crimson Viper somehow managed to have a worse day. Now you would think Capcom wouldn’t make the same mistake twice right? Well, Capcom has unveiled the prototypes for their new line staring the SF characters we know and love. There’s Ryu, Ken, Chun Li and M. Bison (or Vega if you prefer) in their 1Player and 2Player colors. They look ok so far (the pre photos ALWAYS look better than the real deal), but some may still be plagued with the same shortcomings as their predecessors. They at least all have eyeballs this time. Ryu looks the best and Chun Li’s legs could crack a basket of walnuts, but Ken is STILL having a really bad hair day.

I don’t have too many game type action figures for this reason, they don’t know and/or don’t care enough about the end product. Which goes to say that they need ME on their team to pick the good ones, and let ME make a giant candle trash heap out of the bad ones. Cause I want vengence, for all the screwed up versons of Lara Croft figures companies have sold over the years. Take that. Yeah.

The SFIV set is coming out next month and will cost you 5500 yen for a box of 9, or just under $6.50 each. They are available for preorder at Hobby Link Japan.

[Source]

-Crutchboy Out

(Gamespot) – Unless it’s derailed by a zombie uprising straight out of Resident Evil 5, next month’s Electronic Entertainment Expo looks like a go. Today, the big three console makers reiterated their support for the event, which is looking to recreate the spectacle of E3s past with booth babes, 150-plus exhibitors, and over 40,000 estimates attendees. Reps from its organizing body, the Entertainment Software Association, have publicly promised that not even the prospect of a swine flu pandemic is slowing down its preparations.

Besides the show floor, E3 is best known for being the site of numerous game announcements. So far, only a few game companies have dropped hints of what’s in store. In recent interviews with GameSpot id software’s Todd Hollenshead promised several “surprises” and Sony Computer Entertainment’s John Koller said there would be major PSP news–rumored to be a new, UMD-drive-free version of the handheld.

Now, shortly after showing its wares at the Captivate 2009 press event, Capcom has revealed it too will have some new games to show off at E3. In a Twitter post this week, staffers from the Capcom Unity community site said that at least a pair of new titles would be revealed at the convention, which kicks off June 2 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

(EuroGamer) – Capcom R&D kingpin Keiji Inafune has confirmed that Dead Rising 2 features multiplayer after all, despite confusion at GDC earlier this year.

“We’re at a point in game history that you need to have some form of multiplayer component in a game,” Inafune told journalists at Captivate 09 in Monaco last week.

“Single-player alone is not going to cut it. So rest assured we are going to put multiplayer in the game, but I can’t go into specifics about what type of multiplayer as that directly relates to some of the game systems that we don’t want to talk about at this event. It will be online multiplayer, so keep that in mind.”

Inafune held court over an hour-long demonstration of the survival horror sequel, revealing that development partner Blue Castle Games manages to do 7,000 zombies on-screen at once – and showing us that in action.

Here’s an interesting dab of downloadable shenanigans. With Resident Evil 5 player vs. player mode available on Xbox Live today for $5 (400 MS points), it has come to surface that the content is only 2 megs worth of data. This makes us, and some others, believe that the majority of the DLC could actually already be on your disc.

So, it looks like your hard earned money that bought you Resident Evil 5 (including some of  and/or part of the new content), must now be forked over again to unlock it via Xbox Live.

Now, it could be that the 2 megs of DLC could “conceivably” contain after release info but I’m thinking not. I would hope that industry heavy weights would not use or accuse us gamers of being that naive. I mean come on, a majority of us nerds can do the math and would wonder why the download was so little to add another dimension to the game, prolonging the titles shelf life of course (in stores and the home, too).

Capcom, quotes:
“The content that is shipping in the full game exists within its own budget. The content shipping afterward (regardless of how close to release it is… because the goal IS to have it release relatively closely to the base product’s release) exists within its own budget. To try and have it release in a timeframe that is relatively close to the initial release, development starts well before the base product is on the shelves. There’s no other way to keep it within 3 to 6 weeks of the initial release (which is the goal).”

Yeah, well, I don’t know Capcom. I feel some wool being pulled. And the way games are priced, us gamers don’t want to be charged twice for content that we already have available (in data form anyhow). I’d rather wait for devs to make something new and implement at a later date, expanding and keeping the game interesting (while at the same time not tapping my pocketbook too bad).

But of course you don’t have to DL the new content for Resident Evil 5. It’s not like zombies are gonna eat you or anything… well, per se.

[Source]-Crutchboy out.

My spidey senses tell me yes, FINALLY. After a few grueling years of waiting, and taking in rumors, I was almost sure that we would NEVER see a sequel to one of my all time favorite titles, Capcom’s “Dead Rising”. An acquaintance at my local Gamestop informed me of a lawsuit initiated by George A. Romero against Capcom, claiming that the game’s setting and theme were copied from his famous horror film “Dawn of the Dead”. Now, I’m a huge fan of his films but lately, the new titles have sort of lost their charm such as Diary of the Dead. It’s okay to watch maybe once, but that’s all. This suit kind of sounded to me like he was running out of funds. I could in a rather large way see the similarity between the game and the film. However, in doing some research on 1up.com, I was pleased to see that U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard Seeborg “has not identified any similarity between Dead Rising and any protected element of Dawn of the Dead”. He goes on to explain that the few similarities the company has alleged are driven by the wholly unprotectable concept of humans battling zombies in a mall.

Months before performing the research, my source did inform me that there was a possibility of the game continuing under a different developer. I recently checked around to see how the game was coming, or if it was at all, and saw that IGN.com reported that Chris Kramer, director of public relations of Capcom Entertainment states, “There has been no official announcement of a sequel to Dead Rising, any rumors of an official announcement are erroneous”. When questioned if there would be a sequel at all, he continued to state that they have made no announcements of one…sounds fishy to me! I did some more snooping around and BADABING! DeadRising2.net!

There was a post in February stating that Capcom did in fact officially confirm that DR2 will arrive for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC. There are screenshots and trailers leaked, and in taking a look at the shots, not much is different. Which I’m relieved to see as the game IS in fact being released under a different developer by the name of Blue Castle Games, the same company to bring us “The Bigs” and “MLB 2008″. Deadrising.net states that much like the first game, “Players will once again slaughter their way through thousands upon thousands of the living dead, using a plethora of weapons to butcher them. This time, however, instead of battling zombies in a shopping mall like the original Dead Rising, Dead Rising 2 takes place in a Las Vegas-inspired city loaded with casinos and flesh eating blackjack dealers and zombified showgirls”. Showgirls! Hooray for zombie smut once again! Capcom states that DR2 will take the franchise to a “new level of zombie-killing fun with tens of thousands of zombies, and a chance to kill them in fun ways in the gaming paradise of Fortune City”.
(more…)

First Glance:
It’s the latest entry in the Resident Evil franchise. Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past 15 years, that’s ’nuff said.

The Short Story:
Capcom hits it big with the latest Resident Evil 5. Great graphics, creepy music, grisly scenery, and all of the puzzle solving, zombie shooting goodness you’ve come to expect from the series.

The Score:
High replay value and the new online play allowing you to team up with a friend against a horde of creepies scores RE5 a few points. Unfortunately, a control scheme that you have to relearn after extended absences combined with the sheer amount of story and playtime possible have us deducting a few. It scores a 3 on our scale but it’s a very fond 3.

 

Body of review:
I’m a long time fan of the Resident Evil series. I played every version I could get my hands on, read some of the books, and yes, sadly, watched all of the movies. I know some of the characters from the franchise better than I know some of my extended family. One day that will earn me a place in the Hall of Geek.

Much of the feel of the old entries is here. The distinct lack of ammo you’ll have in early stages and the horror in the pit of your gut when you hear that hollow click when the chambers empty will all seem very familiar. Then there’s the fact that the zombies are considerably faster in this “episode” and the backtracking through rooms and hallways to give yourself some space to land a headshot just ends with you stuck in a dead end with a bunch of hungry zombies.

The newer melee moves from Resident Evil 4 are back; head stomps, chest stomps, kicks, punches, and a really big knife help you feel a bit tougher when the baddies are gnawing on your ankles. Chris and Sheva can line up melee combos if you pay attention to the onscreen indicators allowing the two of them to hold their own in close quarters.

The single player mode may seem tough at first but you’ll soon notice something… Sheva isn’t a wimp. She’ll go toe to toe with the zombies, she’ll come to your aid when you’re getting your butt kicked, and she’ll heal you if she has any first aid goodies. You’ll notice a distinct lack of her cowering in a corner or running away to hide when the ghoulies round the corner. It makes for a much more interesting game.

There will be times when you’ll have to decide if you want her to run across a seemingly empty courtyard while you hold the door open while other times will see you giving her an assist across the alley from one rooftop to another and then providing covering fire. But keeping her close is always preferred since she can be the one to quickly turn the tide of a battle when you hear that “click” indicating you just burned through a clip of ammo trying to take down one baddie.

As is usual with the series, there’s a lot of game here. Linear levels make for relatively quick progression but going as fast as you can means missing out on goodies. There’s treasures you can find to sell for gold which allows you to buy bigger and better gear for your team and upgrades that you can buy for your weapons as you get them.

Fans of the series will recognize the upgrade process from RE4. And long gone are the days of the “inventory juggle”. You get nine slots on each character and for better or worse, you’ll find them quickly filled. On the plus side, guns will fit in one slot no matter how big they are. On the negative, ammo takes up one slot no matter how little of it you have and will only stack in the one slot to a certain point. Having more than 50 handgun ammo, for instance, means a second slot is required. Same goes for healing goodies, one goodie, one slot. I almost miss the inventory juggle in some ways. I was really good at squeezing every extra slot out of my backpack.

Replay value is high. Once a level is completed, you can go back in immediately to try and run it faster, gather more gear, or just straight up play a bit you really liked over again. Items, weapons, gold, and treasures are saved at the end of each level so if you pay attention and take the time to run through a level again, you can stock up on useful items while increasing your score on that particular level.

Sadly, the length of the game may find some shaking their heads. Online play allows you to team up which does add a social aspect to the game and allows for some quick matches. You’d be hard pressed to find a better game on the market if you’re a fan of the series but the overall time investment and non-intuitive controls make RE5 a shaky choice at best for the Busy Gamer.

Now if Capcom would just let us aim and move at the same time…

Gritskrieg – End of Line

Capcom’s brilliant, high-profile combat fighter continues after a long awaited return! I’ve been quite skeptical about its gameplay and how it holds up, but then after seeing all of its high ratings, I knew I had to get a copy! After playing it non-stop all weekend, it gets my approval. I’m impressed! It’s one of the most enjoyable fighting games I’ve played to date and the graphics are amazing as well!

It still has its 2D combat mode but all of the characters and fighting planes are 3D! Street Fighter IV kept all of the best components of the old school version but it’s definitely evolved for today’s gaming standards. It’s also approachable for newcomers, yet it still has all of the old references we’ve grown to love from nearly 20 years ago! When playing there are a lot of different ways to go about beating your opponent and a lot of tactic involved (if you choose).

You can fight with technique which is also something you’re rated on in the game. You have various gauge meters that go up, and can allow you to do special combo attacks. There’s the Super and Ultra meter. Once they hit their highest points and begin flashing, your character has a melee attack you can use. You can also ignore that and simply “button mash” to your heart’s content. It gets the job done as well. Whether or not you’re interest in technique, you’ll enjoy this game fully! I recommend it to everyone!

How does Street Fighter IV rate on the BusyGamer scale? Mina Rose gave it a 4 out of 5.

Thanks for reading,
Mina Rose

See and read more about Mina Rose here at her Gamette Profile!

Capcom confirmed today that in the next few weeks, just shortly after Resident Evil 5′s release (which is today by the way), you will be able to add to your game some PVP via downloadable content.

This versus mode will cost you $5 on the Playstation Network or 400 Microsoft points on Xbox Live, and once added to your version of RE5 allows players to shoot it out in a combat survival mode. We are not sure how much of the undead will participate (besides the zombish Majinis) , or other factors that will be thrown in the mix – but feel that any additional options can make this new title better! Even a co-op survival mode could add to the longevity of this title on your shelf.

Capcom states: “Versus allows up to four players to match wits in online battles across two very different game types. Slayer’s Rule is a point-based game that challenges players to kill Majinis. In Survivor’s Rule, players hunt the most dangerous game, each other! Players can begin the hunt as Chris, Sheva or other secret characters, and choose from either one-on-one or two-versus-two team matches for either of the two gameplay styles.”

The game launches today Friday 13th, so get out and grab a copy.

[Source]

-Crutchboy out