Marvel vs. Capcom Origins Hits XBLA, PSN in September

Capcom has announced Marvel vs. Capcom Origins, a mixture of two classic Capcom fighting games that will hit XBLA and PSN this September. The game includes the original Marvel vs. Capcom in addition to Marvel Super Heroes and will be available for $14.99 (or 1200 Microsoft Points).

Marvel vs. Capcom Origins will combine the fighting styles of the two games, offering either the one-on-one combat of Marvel Super Heroes or the tag-team style of Marvel vs. Capcom. Origins will also feature online multiplayer for up to eight players as well as a spectator mode, HD graphics, dynamic challenges and the ability to save replays.

Origins follows Marvel vs. Capcom 2, which Capcom offered as a download back in 2009. Capcom also released Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for iPhone earlier this year.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Rez HD Developer Behind Okami HD

Japanese studio HexaDrive is working with Capcom on the recently-announced HD remake of Okami.

And it's a studio with pedigree when it comes to porting classic games into high definition, overseeing the successful Xbox Live remastering of Rez HD back in 2008.

Take a look at its work on Rez HD in the video below:

While the Osaka-based studio might be a small, it can boast Masakazu Matsushita - a former Capcom employee and lead programmer on the likes of Lost Planet, Devil May Cry 3 and Power Stone 2 - amongst its ranks.

Okami HD is coming exclusively toPlayStation 3 this autumn for £15.99 ($19.99) and will support the Move motion controller.



Source : ign[dot]com

An E-Tank Full of Every Classic Mega Man Song

Did any classic gaming series have better music than Mega Man? Answer: no. And now, according to Andriasang, Capcom is revving up to celebrate the audio history of the Blue Bomber with a totally awesome CD collection. The cause of the celebration? Mega Man’s 25th anniversary, of course.

The collection, which will be available through e-Capcom, contains 10 discs with every track from Mega Man 1-10. For Mega Man 1-6, that includes both the original Famicom/NES versions of the songs as well as the upgraded PlayStation rerelease versions from the late ‘90s. The CDs come bundled in a steel case E-Tank replica that, unfortunately, won’t refill your health bar.

Complete soundtracks from the following games are included:

• Mega Man (NES, 1987)
• Mega Man 2 (NES, 1988)
• Mega Man 3 (NES, 1990)
• Mega Man 4 (NES, 1991)
• Mega Man 5 (NES, 1992)
• Mega Man 6 (NES, 1993)
• Mega Man 7 (SNES, 1995)
• Mega Man 8 (PSX/SAT, 1996)
• Mega Man 9 (Wii/PSN/XBLA, 2008)
• Mega Man 10 (Wii/PSN/XBLA, 2010)

The collection will be available beginning September 19th, and will cost 14,700 Yen, or roughly $180.

(Picture courtesy of Andriasang.)



Source : ign[dot]com

Resident Evil and the Hollywood Zombie Movie

Capcom's Resident Evil series has changed dramatically from 1996 to 2012, its humble beginnings as a haunted house survival horror increasingly distant in the rear-view mirror. It’s easy to look back on the original as a dusty curio now, but its influence still lingers, even if the series itself has taken an action-orientated turn.

The same goes for the Hollywood zombie movie. When Night of the Living Dead debuted in 1968, George A. Romero introduced the shambling re-animated corpse to the world and built a sense of escalating dread around it. Nowadays, the zombie movie is often a hard-edged thriller featuring fast-paced creatures – rarely is the word ‘zombie’ used anymore - or tongue-in-cheek schlock intended to be watched with a raised eyebrow through a pair of Buddy Holly glasses.

In fact, the recent drought of decent undead cinema leads us to wonder if the genre has temporarily dried up, or perhaps it's just enjoying its affair with the small screen. The Resident Evil series, however, is continuing to reinvent itself in order to stay relevant, sometimes to the chagrin of its fans.

With Resident Evil 6 on the horizon, it's time to take a look at the evolution of both the iconic game series and the zombie film, as bloody bedfellows.

This article contains minor spoilers. And we’re sticking with Resident Evils 1-5 for reasons of sanity and simplicity.

Resident Evil (1996) / Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Famously influenced by early ‘survival horror’ games such as Alone in the Dark and Sweet Home, Shinji Mikami’s Resident Evil also shares many similarities with Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. An emphasis on escape over combat and survival on limited resources is typical of both, as is the ‘shambling’ zombie. Both are eerily quiet experiences, a nervous mixture of sudden shocks and quiet dread of what could be behind the next door.

Ultimately, both impacted the genres in which they were working in irrevocably – Living Dead serving to popularize the zombie in cinema, while Resident Evil ushered survival horror into the mainstream.

Resident Evil 2 (1998) / Dawn of the Dead (1978)

While Resident Evil 2 may not have been as influential, it succeeded in perfecting its predecessor’s formula. The same can be said for Romero’s 1979 sequel, a bloodier affair with significantly more bite. By taking the scares ‘out of the house,’ Resident Evil 2 and Dawn of the Dead serve up a potent array of unique moments.  Resident Evil had ‘lickers,’ giant crocodiles and dogs in the sewers, while Dawn of the Dead had an entire mall to soak pulpy red.

Today, Resident Evil 2 and Dawn of the Dead are considered classics, their critical and commercial success cementing the longevity of their franchises. It is only in the brains department that the pair part ways – Dawn of the Dead is a successful allegory on consumerism, whereas Resident Evil 2 retains that dunderheaded charm so particular to the series.

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (1999) / Evil Dead II (1987)

Okay, this was a tough one. Resident Evil 3: Nemesis never really felt like a 'proper' sequel - perhaps because it was never intended to be. Originally pitched by Capcom as a side-quest story, Nemesis focused on Jill Valentine, leading up to the events of Resident Evil 2. It was a limited exclusivity deal with Sony that demanded the numerical title, despite the ongoing production of Resident Evil: Code Veronica, who many consider to be the purer sequel.

Sam Raimi's Evil Dead II, while not a zombie movie in the classic sense (bear with me), built upon the foundations of the original Evil Dead with only cosmetic additions. Set in the same cabin a few hours after the events of Evil Dead, number two was essentially a remake, defining itself with a schlockier tone and an upping of bloody ante. Like Nemesis, it plays like a '0.5,' bridging the gap between its predecessor and a vastly divergent sequel.

It's a stretch, but hey, it's creative.

Resident Evil 4 (2005) / Dawn of the Dead (2004)

With a new over the shoulder perspective and emphasis on fight over flight, Resident Evil 4 was a thrill to play. It did, however, remove much of what had become so typical of the series, and indeed, typical of survival horror in general.  No longer were we crippled by sluggish controls or a scarcity of bullets; new precision aiming and (relatively) plentiful ammo meant Leon Kennedy had a glut of ways in which to dispatch his foes. It was a resounding success, Pandora's box had been opened, and the genre never fully recovered.

Zack Snyder's 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake pumped similar adrenaline into the zombie genre. With its alt metal soundtrack, sprinting zombies and frenetic action, the remake hurtled zombies into, somewhat ironically, the video game era. For better or worse.

Resident Evil 5 (2009)

Diary of The Dead (2007)

While Romero’s found footage-style Diary of the Dead may not share obvious similarities with Resident Evil 5, both did one thing extremely well: divide their audience. A dedicated audience of fans will flock to anything Romero directs, but Diary’s meditative tone and lack of any real scares lead some fans to question his authoritative grasp on his own genre.

Resident Evil 5 had similar speed bumps to overcome; after the triumphant 4, it was a predictably anticlimactic entry into the series’ catalog.  Criticism was leveled at the addition of a chatty partner and the brute power of Chris Redfield, stripping the game of the tension the series was renowned for. Both Diary and Resident Evil 5 were ambitious entries - successful in many ways - yet ultimately burdened by their own legacies.

Source : http://www.ign.com

Dragon's Dogma Review

Dragon's Dogma Review:

For as much as Dragon’s Dogma is a new IP for developer/publisher Capcom, there’s a lot about it that is strikingly familiar, not that’s a bad thing. It shares a lot of Monster Hunter’s DNA especially when it comes to boss battles. Many of the game’s fast-paced combat elements are partly due to the combined experience of veteran Capcom designers who have worked on several of the company’s action franchises. And of course, there’s the western RPG influence that is quite pervasive in Dragon’s Dogma. So it’s all the more of an achievement that this game manages to carve an identity all its own especially as its release rounds off a six-month ‘role-players’ paradise’ that includes Skyrim, The Witcher II Enhanced Edition, and Diablo III.

He Stole Your Heart

The initial set-up is as traditional as a fantasy plot could be, painting the playable character as the obligatory “chosen one” world savior known as the Arisen. This humble hero naturally comes from a quiet fishing village in the land of Gransys, which ends up being terrorized by a dragon. How the Arisen was chosen is the unusual part, as the dragon literally rips out the hero’s heart to signify this designation. Then the dragon departs, as if to say, “If you want your heart back, come and catch me, but not before you rid this world of its evils.”

Being the Arisen affords many privileges, not the least of which includes having access to ‘pawns’, warriors and spellcasters that will form your party, with a maximum of three companions at any time. One of these pawns will actually be designed by the player, using the same deep character creation tools that formed your Arisen. While devoted, your primary pawn is certainly not one-dimensional. This warrior might lack the backstory and character development that JRPG fans look for with their party members, but at least he’s reliable and his significance to the story actually grows as you get closer to recovering your heart.

Dragon’s Dogma sticks to traditional action RPG combat mechanics, starting you off with simple light/heavy attacks and blocking; and it doesn’t take long to learn new abilities specific to your class. Yet a collection of new talents is only as good as the control scheme that lets the player wield these skills. 

Dragon’s Dogma has sufficiently created a system where you can assign multiple special moves and access them with ease by holding one of the bumpers. The catch is that you can only learn new skills and assign them to the controller by visiting an innkeeper.

Pawns At Play

The pawns’ unquestioning servitude makes them easy to command and rely on, provided that they’re well-leveled. Capcom manages to keep the command-issuing mechanic very simple, letting you choose between “Help!”, “Go! (toward the enemy)”, and “Follow me!”. Pawns have enough sense to be proactive whenever a monster is nearby. It can be gratifying to occasionally hang back while you let your companions do all the dirty work. How you influence your primary pawn’s behavior is very subtle, but he will perform complementary to your play style and can be honed further by engaging in brief heart to heart chats back in town.

This pawn system is also another sign of the growing interest in asynchronous multiplayer. It's a wide-reaching term that encompasses everything from the typical Facebook social game to the enhanced leaderboard challenges of competitive titles like SSX and Ridge Racer Unbounded. Dragon's Dogma's multiplayer belongs to the ‘indirect assistance’ camp, drawing comparisons to From Software’s immensely challenging Demon's Souls. Yet unlike the hint-dropping mechanic of Demon's Souls, the sense of community in Dragon's Dogma centers around the ability to share your pawn with others and in turn, borrow other players' pawns for use in your party. It should be noted that while the primary pawn you’ve crafted will level up alongside you, the other pawns won’t. So it’s in your best interest to keep updating your party with new secondary pawns that are near or at your current level.

Never Short On Advice

The pawns’ ability to jump to friends’ sessions make them very busy beings. When you’re sleeping at an inn, they’re off helping other heroes like yourself with their quests. These include missions that you may not have signed up for just yet. Even if no one in real life actually rented your pawn, this companion will at least come back from an imaginary session and bring back gift items and quest knowledge. Whatever your pawn’s new experiences, he uses that to make your own adventures run smoother. Their advice is most useful when it involves pointing out enemy weaknesses, and it’s gratifying see the instant results of targeting and hitting those soft spots.

These pawns remark with trepidation when exploring catacombs and often comment about majestic cliffside ocean views. These observations help give your companions a sense of personality yet they also end up sounding disingenuous when they repeat the same line over and over, or worse, when another pawn uses the exact same words down the line.

Capcom is erring on the idea that there's no such thing as too much information. Unfortunately this is a negative when you're in a very involving boss fight and your three pawns are talking all at once. The worst part is when one of them actually has something helpful to say, but is drowned out amid the frantic context of the battle. You can toggle on pawn subtitles even though that clutters the HUD. If there was a way to tone down or toggle off the voices, I failed to find it in the Options menu. It’s even worse if you happen to be in a group mission with equally talkative Gransys soldiers. Of course that giant griffon is “a fearsome beast”! It just took out a large chunk of the floor in its latest dive bomb! You don’t have tell me three times in the last 20 seconds!

Talkativeness aside, your pawns are helpful where it counts, chipping away at enemy health and healing you as well, provided one of your party members has a curative spell. If you're a traditionalist melee combatant, diversifying your party with at least one skilled mage adds valuable magical offense; this pawn can even add temporary elemental bonuses to your weapons.

Like A Boss, Mount A Boss

Dragon’s Dogma encourages offensive assertiveness a bit more than defense, which is why the sooner you learn how to grab, the better. Fatally tossing dazed enemies off cliffs is as satisfying the first time as much as the hundredth time. The ease in grabbing hold of a creature ten times the size of the Arisen not only draws obvious comparisons to Shadow of the Colossus, but also provides a contrast to the less substantive gargantuan boss battles of the last several years, the ones that have been way too dependent on quick time events. The only action that qualifies as a QTE in Dragon's Dogma is in shaking the left stick in order to free oneself from a monster's grasp.

For a brief moment, that spot on the back or head of a boss becomes a safe zone to simply wail on the beast. The risk comes when a bipedal creature like a cyclops manages to take its arm back and grab you for a painful squeeze. It's impressive enough the first and second time, when you witness this enemy display the presence of mind to proactively grab you. Same goes for the smaller ogres; they can get easily frustrated with your climbing ways that they'll more than likely leap up in the air and land on their backs in the hopes of rushing you. These are opponents that are to be taken seriously, not just because of their thick hides, but also due to their tactics. Each boss has at least one trick up their sleeve whether it's the drake's hypnotic ability to turn a pawn against you or a cockatrice's slow and tortuous petrification spell.

Things get dicey when boss encounters occur in the woods, which opens up a can of wyrms in questionable camera work and minor collision. It especially the case when dueling against a drake, where its wings pass through trees and its penchant for low-level flying within the wood can be a headache with the camera. Speaking of questionable camera work, the game will occasionally zoom to a close-up of a pawn if it’s about to execute a dramatic move during combat. 4 out of 5 times it’s difficult to see what the pawn is actually trying to do and it’s just as hard to tell whether their maneuver was actually successful.

Diehard fans of Monster Hunter will recognize some recycled animations when winged creatures take to the air and when particular bosses collapse. Goblins scream and shake upon seeing you, skeletons ominously rise from their pile of bones, and annoying snow harpies pick you up so they could drop you from a great height. And it’s easy to feel sorry for an immobilized saurian whose tail you just severed but its writhing animation is just so fun to watch. The Arisen and the pawns are equally animated, depending on their active skills. I’m particularly a fan of the move known as the Antler Toss, a full body upper cut so thorough that the Arisen does a 360 to complete the motion. And if you’re the type of gamer who appreciates convincing pony tail hair animation as your heroine runs, Dragon’s Dogma has you covered there too. The only minor blemish is that Capcom didn't implement any character animation when it came to some object interaction like removing coffin lids and pulling switches.

Mission Possible

The mandatory missions spare you the truly challenging boss battles for the first half of the game. And unless you're incredibly creative and thoughtful about your skill advancement, weapon enhancing, and pawn optimizing, you should be ready to grind for a solid portion of your playthrough. A variety of optional quests--many found on the notice boards in urban areas--makes for an obvious goal-oriented alternative to merely leveling up by roaming the map. There’s very little problem solving needed when trying to find the next destination or the next person to speak with in order progress in a mission; it’s a mild case of hand-holding since the game will often mark the target’s location on the minimap. The bulk of the optional assignments are either involve killing specific monsters or escorting an NPC.

The escort missions underscores one of Dragon's Dogma's few shortcomings, taking the player back to 2002 where it felt like every adventure game had escort missions and poorly implemented ones at that. These NPCs certainly need guards for multiple reasons: they can't sprint like you, they can't wield weapons, and they behave like they don't get out much. They will run right through tripwires and they won't follow you down cliffs that can be used as shortcuts no matter how short the drop. If they drop too far back, they'll simply be teleported back to town and your assignment will be classified as a failure. It’s of some small comfort that these NPCs can be healed during the journey.

An Aged Open World

The map of Gransys is reminiscent of most RPG maps where the playable land is just a modest region within a much larger continent, in a world of many continents. Capcom created more than enough ruins and other aged structures to imply a strong sense of history. The little remnants of ancient castles stand in the shadows of existing ones and there are faded gravestones near the edges of seaside cliffs that imply that many, many other adventurers have traversed this land long before you. In fact, Dragon's Dogma's prologue has you controlling a pre-made hero from a time long before the events of the game's main story.

Some will complain that there isn’t enough environmental variety especially considering the expansiveness of Gransys. Sure, the overall landscape does lack cliched areas themed on elements like fire and ice, but such omissions work to the game's benefit in providing a very convincing unified look to the entire landscape. While the majority of the land feels idyllic with its abundance of lush, overgrown grass, Gransys certainly has its share of hostile-looking environments consisting of rough terrain, dead trees, and lethal bodies of water. The studio’s artists and level designers should get a lot of credit for crafting the landscape in a way that transitioning to these many environments feels seamless and natural.

This open world will give you a lot to do beyond the countless straightforward enemy encounters. Explore in the evening and you might find yourself rescuing a captive human caged by goblins or you might come to the aid of ambushed travelers. It's an added positive that it's very easy to veer off the beaten path where enemies who are out of your league are only a couple hundred yards away.

And Gransys doesn't mess around when it comes to nighttime exploration. Unlike many other RPGs with day/night cycles, the world of Dragon's Dogma is one devoid of celestial aids like moons that are bright enough to cast shadows. It's nearly pitch black if you forget your lantern or run out of oil (if you're a masochist, you'd might as well turn off your HUD map). Those committed to grinding--especially in the interest of making the later battles more manageable--should try facing the challenges of nighttime combat. It helps break any potential monotony as new enemies come out at night, the most common being a Capcom speciality: zombies.

Another positive indicator of the breadth of an expansive RPG map is by including entire castles that can be missed depending on the choices you make. Choosing or ignoring particular missions on the notice board will have long term effects, not to mention the trivial and meaningful favors you can do for specific townsfolk. What is particularly notable is how some side missions affect how some story missions play out. One of the game’s most spectacular battles is actually missable if you happened to ignore a specific fetching quest earlier in the game. And don't be surprised to come across a number of story-based crossroads where you might have to decide the fates of key NPCs. Yes, there will also be an opportunity to romance at least one of the supporting characters.

East Makes West

The pawns’ actions and assistance in battle ultimately have more value than any exploration advice that they can give. It's just as well; even if a pawn can tell you the right way to the top of a tower, many of us who play open world RPGs look to this genre for its sense of discovery (not to mention to satisfy our compulsion to color in unexplored parts of maps). Since Dragon’s Dogma presents us with enough challenges and incentives to make us want to level up and grind, why should we take the shortest route to a boss?

Dragon’s Dogma manages the rare feat of being a Japanaese-developed game that successfully emulates many of the design sensibilities and aesthetics of Western RPGs. Both the pawn system and the tactile nature of the boss fights are the exemplary features that ensures this game defies the categorization of being derivative. This is one of those promising rough-around-the-edges experiences where you can’t help but want a sequel even before your first playthrough is complete.

Editor's Note: One word of warning for owners of plasma TVs, though - Dragon's Dogma is letterboxed, meaning there are black bars at the top and bottom of the screen during gameplay. This was likely done to save screen real estate and improve performance, but if your TV is prone to burn-in or image retention, make sure you take the proper precautions.

Also, Dragon's Dogma was reviewed using an Xbox 360 copy of the game; however, we also played the PS3 version, and found no differences. If further investigation reveals any differences between the 360 edition and the PS3 edition of the game, this review will be updated to reflect those differences. 

Source : http://www.g4tv.com

Dragon's Dogma Review

Capcom’s fantasy RPG Dragon’s Dogma has been a long time coming, and it’s looked more and more interesting every time we’ve seen it, boasting robust action-focussed gameplay and an innovative Pawn system that lets you enlist avatars created by other players to fight alongside you. It often feels like an offline MMO, with a vast, scenic and perilous world to explore and a selection of thousands of characters to choose as your companions. It’s an interesting example of genre and style-mixing within the RPG, pulling in elements of traditional Japanese role-playing and churning them together with action-RPG physicality, open-world adventuring and MMO party tactics.

Dragon’s Dogma regularly reminds you of other games. There are flashes of Dark Souls in the real-time combat, of Skyrim in its open wildernesses, and of Shadow of the Colossus in its large-scale battles. Sometimes, these associations work in Dragon’s Dogma’s favour; other times, they just remind you how short the game falls of these outstanding inspirations. It offers a lot of innovative ideas and a real sense of adventure, but it’s also rough-edged and sometimes oddly hollow.

The plot centres on the rebirth of an ancient dragon, which runs around ravaging the land. You can customise your avatar down to the tinest, most insignificant detail – no matter how carefully you adjust the sliders, though, you’ll probably end up looking a bit weird thanks to the game’s eerie character models. After you unwisely try to take the dragon down with a rusty sword after it attacks your fishing village, it plucks out your heart and eats it. (A word of warning: it turns out that watching a reasonably accurate facsimile of yourself get eviscerated by a giant dragon is rather uncomfortable.) Afterwards, you are reborn as the Arisen, and set out to get your heart back.

After that exciting start, Dragon’s Dogma’s plot pretty much disappears for the next 35 or so hours, reappearing at the end to deliver a conclusion so bonkers that it’s destined to turn up in Weirdest Endings lists for years to come. There’s also a romantic plot thread that revolves around a certain fair maiden – which, if you’re playing as a female character, makes Dragon’s Dogma an unexpectedly progressive medieval fantasy.

“The story, characters and quests are about as interesting as porridge.

But for the meat of the game, the story, characters and quests are about as interesting as porridge. Everyone talks in this faux olde-worlde way that gets really irritating (“Prithee, Arisen, there be aught to find in yonder cavern, most like.”) There’s nothing gripping about the game world, which borrows heavily from Tolkien without adding much of its own personality. The capital city is strangely deserted, and there’s not much life anywhere in the towns. All the interesting stuff is to be found out in the great outdoors, where trolls and ogres hunker in winding mountain passes and griffins nest on clifftops. Outside, Dragon’s Dogma can look gorgeous, with mist-draped scenery that stretches far into the distance.

To make up for unimaginative fiction and repetitive quest design, Dragon’s Dogma has excellent combat. You start off by picking a class from fighter, ranger or mage, but after a few hours you can start switching between them and developing hybrid classes, becoming a magic archer or an assassin. As your character levels up, you gain points to be spent on skills that liven up the combat, from nasty-looking skewering strikes for warriors to conjured orbs of magic energy that shoot lightning bolts at enemies nearby. Though your avatar levels up passively, you always have complete control over what they can do. Each class comes with benefits outside of combat, too; mages can levitate, whilst warriors can duck and roll off higher ledges.

Whenever the enemies start to get boring – and they do, especially towards the latter third of the game – you can switch up your skill set and weapons to keep things fresh. Vitally, each class is fun to play with for different reasons. As a mage you can cast walls of fire from a staff, which is pretty awesome, but as a melee character you can climb up the bodies of a really big foe and drive your sword right into its fleshy bits, hanging on for dear life as it tries to throw you off. This flexibility carries the entire game, keeping you interested in Dragon’s Dogma even when the story and quest design give you no reason to care.

Just as important as your own skills are those of your companions – your Pawns. Dragon’s Dogma gives you one permanent partner that you can customise and develop to your liking, and two others that you can hire from the Rift, a kind of netherworld whether other player’s Pawns gather. You can hire anyone you want, whenever you want, and take advantage of their battle skills and knowledge. If you’re stuck on a quest, hiring a pawn who’s already done it can really help out. If you’re not online, the game provides some standard Pawns to choose from, but playing with other people’s creations feels more personal, like picking a party for an MMO raid – except with NPCs.

The makeup of your party is vital to success in Dragon’s Dogma, because this is a difficult game. Pawns are neither enormously smart and adaptive nor face-palmingly stupid – they’ll support you in battle, but if you’re up against an ogre or a chimaera, expect to have to take the lead. Being an open-world RPG, you’re likely to find danger almost everywhere you go, especially if you venture off the path and into the forests and caves, where the gloom encroaches upon your visibility and powerful monsters wait to slice you in twain and send you right back to your last save.

It’s unforgiving, certainly – investing in the right equipment is often the difference between dying ignominiously in some cavern or coming back with spoils. But sometimes it feels as if your numerical level is more important than your skill level, which can undermine the challenge. It’s unlikely that a brave attempt to fell a monster that’s just slightly beyond what the game wants you to take on at that moment will end in success, robbing you of those joyous moments of unexpected, hard-won victory that make stories out of your experiences in games like Skyrim and Dark Souls.

“All the effort that’s gone into the combat and character development has left other elements of Dragon’s Dogma feeling unfinished.

It’s clear, unfortunately, that all the effort that’s gone into the combat and character development has left other elements of Dragon’s Dogma feeling unfinished. Graphical glitches and technical problems plague the game from the start, and never go away. There are times when you’ll run up to a quest marker on your map to find that the person you’re supposed to talk to simply isn’t there, and you have to wait five or ten seconds for them to stream in. Fights out in the open wilds lose a touch of their drama when a griffin’s head or a Cyclops’ club disappears through the scenery. Some equipment doesn’t place nice with the character models, so your character’s elbow might poke through their shield when they run.

Walking along a road, your Pawns might start going crazy over some invisible enemy that will then suddenly appear out of nowhere. Big fights cause slowdown that can freeze the screen for seconds at a time on the Xbox 360 version. Dragon’s Dogma runs much better on the PlayStation 3 than on the 360, with a smoother frame rate and fewer streaming problems; if the 360 version is your only choice, a hard disk install is mandatory to make the game playable.

These technical problems are enough to sour the experience for anyone, but if you persist with Dragon’s Dogma, it gets more rewarding the more time you put into it. Where the game really succeeds is in providing a sense of adventure. As you press further and further out from the capital city, Gran Soren, you really do begin to feel like you’re on the frontier, exploring lands that human feet have rarely trodden. When night falls, you immediately start looking around for shelter – not because you’re told to, but because night is dangerous in Dragon’s Dogma’s world, and if you don’t hole up somewhere safe you’ll almost certainly die.

This palpable sense of danger makes quests feel exciting, even when their goals are uninspiring. Health doesn’t fully regenerate after a fight, so the longer you’re outdoors for, the harder things get. Hiding out in the wilderness in an abandoned fort, waiting for the sun to rise with only your Pawns for company, is an exhilarating feeling, as is bringing down a griffin or golem through a combination of tenacity and luck. You’ll breathe a sigh of relief every single time you return safely to an inn to rest, even 30 hours into the game.

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/21/dragons-dogma-review

IGN Live Presents: Dragon's Dogma

Capcom is set to release the action RPG Dragon's Dogma On Tuesday, May 22. But you can get a good long look at it a day early during IGN's live stream from 10:00AM-Noon Pacific.

What: Dragon's Dogma Live Stream

When: Monday, May 21, 10:00AM-Noon Pacific

Where: Here in this article and on IGN's new Xbox Live app.

See you Monday!

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/18/ign-live-presents-dragons-dogma

Lost Planet Spinoff EX Troopers Revealed Ads By Google » Blog Tags Today's Most Popular Videos »

Lost Planet 3 is no longer the only upcoming game set in Capcom's sci-fi universe; it is now joined by EX Troopers, which Famitsu reveals (via Andriasang) is coming to PlayStation 3 and Nintendo 3DS. The game features an anime-inspired visual style, a marked change from the more realistic look of the core Lost Planet games.

A subsequent update from Andriasang reveals that the game follows Bren Turner, a young cadet who comes to finish his schooling at the academy on EDN-3rd. There are three bases on the planet which you'll choose from for your base of operations, with each one offering different benefits. The game also features "manga demo" cut scenes to tell the story, in a manner that is apparently similar to Gravity Rush.

That's about all there is to say on the game now, but Capcom fans in Tokyo will get to go hands-on with EX Troopers on June 30 and July 1, 2012 at the annual Capcom Summer Jam. Don't be surprised if we also hear something before then, by way of E3 2012.

Source : http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/723823/lost-planet-spinoff-ex-troopers-revealed/

Capcom 'Re-evaluating' Its On-Disc DLC Policies Ads By Google » Blog Tags Today's Most Popular Videos »

Gamers continue to express their dissatisfaction with the idea of on-disc DLC and Capcom has been specifically targeted as one of the more egregious offenders, a fact that the publisher is now setting out to take ownership of. A message from senior VP Christian Svensson on Capcom Unity (via GamePolitics) reveals that the approach taken in the past with offering bonus game content post-release is now being given a second look.

Svensson admits that Capcom has begun the process of re-evaluating how such additional game content is delivered in the future," though he asks that fans be patient since the process only just started within "the past month or so." He then goes into an explanation of the extra content that you'll be able to get when Dragon's Dogma arrives on May 22, 2012, since that stuff is apparently on the disc. 

Product pimping aside, the important takeaway here is that your complaints are being heard and considered. There are valid arguments on both sides of the on-disc DLC discussion, but the customers wield the most power in the end and it's good to see Capcom recognizing that. Now we just have to hope that the promise to give the established policies another look results in some real action, or at least a more open and frank dialogue.

Read on for the full text of Svensson's statement:

Hey guys,

We've been getting several questions, here and elsewhere about the future of on-disc DLC.

We would like to assure you that we have been listening to your comments and as such have begun the process of re-evaluating how such additional game content is delivered in the future. As this process has only just commenced in the past month or so, there will be some titles, where development began some time ago and that are scheduled for release in the coming months, for which we are unable to make changes to the way some of their post release content is delivered.

One such title is Dragon’s Dogma, where the decision to include some additional (but not all planned additional) game content for the game on disc was made at the beginning of the game’s development cycle as at the time this was determined to be the most efficient way of ensuring certain content was made available. Owners of Dragon’s Dogma will be able to further their gameplay experience with the release of additional quests, weapons and other items in the months following the game going on sale.

Dragon’s Dogma’s post-launch content will extend the lifespan of a title that already offers around 30-40 hours of gameplay by following the main story thread, but if a player was to complete all the side quests Dragon’s Dogma ships with, that increases to around 100 hours. Players will also be able to add to the stock of 100s of weapons and 1,000s of customization options to create not only their ideally equipped, but also their most elaborately designed character.

Just wanted people to know in advance the whys, wherefores and where we're going in the future. You are being heard. Thanks.

Source : http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/723783/capcom-re-evaluating-its-on-disc-dlc-policies/

Resident Evil 6 to sell 7 million

Capcom expects Resident Evil 6 to be the best-selling game in company history. The publisher today released presentation materials to go with its quarterly reports, in the process sharing sales expectations for a handful of upcoming games.

Capcom expects Resident Evil 6 to be its best seller ever.

The publisher projects that Resident Evil 6 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC will sell 7 million copies worldwide. Currently, Capcom's best-selling title of all-time is the Super Nintendo edition of Street Fighter II, which sold 6.3 million copies. The last main entry in the survival horror series, 2009's Resident Evil 5, sold 5.8 million units worldwide, good enough to be the company's second best-selling game to date.

While nothing else on Capcom's slate of announced titles is expected to be in the same ballpark as Resident Evil 6, the publisher does have a number of games it projects will break the million-sold milestone. The new Devil May Cry game DMC is slated to launch sometime this year, and Capcom has it down to sell 2 million copies. Meanwhile, this months' new intellectual property Dragon's Dogma is expected to hit 1.5 million sold, while next year's Lost Planet 3 is projected to move 1.4 million copies.

Source : http://gamespot.com/news/resident-evil-6-to-sell-7-million-6376267

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City infects 1.7 million

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City may not have won the praise of reviewers (the game runs a 52 on Metacritic), but that didn't stop Capcom's action shooter from selling 1.7 million units since its release in March. Sales of that caliber make the game Capcom's 25th best-selling title of all time.

Score may have been low for Operation Raccoon City, but sales were high.

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City outsold another hotly anticipated Capcom March release, the much-praised fighting game Street Fighter X Tekken. Capcom said that game's sales "lagged," coming in at 1.4 million units as of March 31, 2012.

Following Operation Raccoon City's launch in March, developer Slant Six Games sounded off on the game's low review scores.

"It's challenging" said studio producer Mike Kerr. "A lot of people put a lot of time and effort into the game and obviously we'd like to see the review scores be a little better than they are right now."

The news comes as part of Capcom's financial report for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012, where the the Japanese published announced net sales dipped 16 percent from the prior year to ¥82.06 billion yen ($1.02 billion). In terms of profit, operating income also sank, coming in at ¥12.32 billion yen ($154.1 million), with net income for the period dropping 13.2 percent to ¥6.72 billion yen ($84.06 million).

Looking ahead, Capcom said it expects to tally net sales of ¥105 billion yen ($1.31 billion) and record ¥9.8 billion yen ($122.59 million) in net earnings for the year ending March 31, 2013. The company expects to hit this mark through investments in "high growth potential content" and big-budget AAA titles like this October's Resident Evil 6.


Source : http://gamespot.com/news/resident-evil-operation-raccoon-city-infects-17-million-6375385

Mortal Kombat Vita Review

As Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 proved at the system's launch, the Vita can be a very capable home for fighting games. The system's gorgeous screen and impressive hardware make for a handheld that can stand up next to what the consoles have to offer. NetherRealm's Mortal Kombat reboot is the latest fighting game to get the Vita treatment, and luckily stands as a great port of last year's viciously violent fighter.




 

Mortal Kombat Vita Gameplay Trailer

In terms of sheer content, Mortal Kombat on Vita offers a ton of features both new and old. The entire original game that released on consoles last year is here, complete with the full challenge tower and story mode. Additionally, all four DLC characters are now available from the get-go, along with God of War's Kratos, who was a special character in the PlayStation 3 version of the game. If that wasn't enough, the Vita version also adds in another bonus challenge tower accessible from the menu, with challenges that capitalize both on the DLC characters as well as the Vita's touchscreen and motion controls.

Mortal Kombat on Vita brings all of the brutal combat, huge character roster, and bloody fatalities from last year's game to the system. The fast and frantic pace and combo-based mechanics are a blast to play, and the brutal X-ray moves return from the console version. While the AI can be exceptionally cheap at times leading to some real moments of frustration, the game still plays very well. Last year's story mode also returns with no changes made, following Raiden and his band of Earthrealm warriors as they attempt to change the past by fighting through the events of the first three Mortal Kombat games. The story is pretty cheesy and is filled with some over the top voice work and writing, but is a pretty fun take that MK fans will dig.

Mortal Kombat's vicious X-Ray moves return in fine form.

Control is an area where previous fighters have faltered on handhelds, and where Mortal Kombat on Vita shines. The game controls extremely well, and once unwieldy fatalities have been given the touchscreen treatment and are much easier to pull off. Simple directional swipes replace d-pad presses and face buttons aren't required when using the touchscreen. If you'd like to still use the more traditional button-based control scheme for fatalities, you absolutely can.

Another great element added to the mix is a brand new challenge tower. The new tower is a completely separate group of original challenges, quite a few of which take advantage of what the Vita has to offer from a hardware perspective. Using the accelerometer and touchscreen, you'll be doing everything from juggling fighters in the air with missile fire and wiping away view obstructing blood from the screen to shaking the Vita to defuse bombs and stagger enemies.

The bonus challenge tower includes two new modes, as well – Test Your Slice and Test Your Balance. Test Your Slice is a Fruit Ninja-style mini-game that has you slashing across the touchscreen, dismembering body parts to rack up high scores, while the more difficult Test Your Balance mode requires you to tilt your Vita to balance your character and keep them from falling in a deadly pit, all while severed body parts are being thrown at you. Of the two, Test Your Slice was a lot more fun, but neither of them really seemed to add much outside of self-contained, gimmicky experiences.

 

The bonus challenge tower offers a ton of great new missions.

However, there are still plenty of challenges that play out more traditionally, featuring the game's four previously DLC-only characters for the first time in the challenge tower. The new tower will require you to use Skarlet, Kenshi, Rain, and Freddy Krueger quite often, on top of the aforementioned Vita hardware abilities.

Playing through the challenge tower is definitely addictive and extremely tough, but feels rewarding as you burn your way through it. As you complete the tower and you're your way through the game's other modes, you'll earn Koins that can be spent in the Krypt on new costumes, art, and other unlockables. You'll even get some new art and costumes from the DLC characters, which were previously unavailable in the original release. Overall, the new challenge tower is a blast, offering varied gameplay and some really fun, albeit very difficult moments littered throughout.

Some of the challenge tower missions can get pretty weird.

Graphically, Mortal Kombat on Vita runs at an impressively smooth 60 frames per second with very few bouts of slowdown. The original console experience ran at a similar clip, so being able to bring that and the smooth animations to a handheld format is a notable feat by the developers. However, there were a few consolations that happened in order to ensure the fast framerate, namely in the image quality of the character models. While the game looks great in motion, a closer look reveals that the characters look jagged, blocky, and not as detailed as their console counterparts. However, the grievance is a small one, and watching the game in motion is fantastic, as it successfully captures the fast pace and action of the original game.

The game supports both Wi-Fi and Ad-Hoc play. While there were a couple of performance hiccups in play sessions over Wi-Fi, Ad-Hoc worked swimmingly and both managed to maintain fluid framerates throughout.



Source : http://vita.ign.com