Check out this great Megaman project by a Megaman fan. Dubbed Megaman 2.5D, this is one project that has me blown away.

Few things are full of this much win.  Witness the infamous Sham Wow guy, Vince Shlomi advertising the Slap Chop, only with TF 2 Scout voice clips.  Check it out and be changed forever!

Much like Guns N’ Roses (or just Axl) did with their mega super smash “Chinese Democracy”, the developers at 3D Realms have done a great job of building up suspense surrounding a long awaited hit. Duke Nukem 3D sits in my top 10 all time PC games much like it probably does in many other people’s. It was very innovative from a game play perspective,very humorous from a dialogue perspective, and all in all a great game to play.

Every year or so, I hear Hans talking about something new regarding Duke Nukem Forever and we have a chuckle about it and how it’s never going to happen. Well folks, it looks like that day has finally come. I know that there has to be a ton of work involved in developing a game, but 12 years? The problem that I have with all of this is that Duke Nukem became a household name about 15 years ago. I know that there is typically 15 minutes of fame for people, but this was a successful franchise which could have generated many more games and much more revenue. The folks working on Quake, Doom, and Unreal continued to produce successful titles over the years. Gamers can be patient for a few years while a new title is being developed, but this was doomed once we hit the 21st Century. So I raise my champagne glass and toast what was a great series, especially Duke Nukem 3D. Let God sort them out!

In shocking news, Sonic the Hedgehog was arrested by San Diego police earlier today for over $500,000 worth of unpaid speeding tickets.  Local police had this to say:

Officer Bard: “It was a tough decision for us all.  On the one hand, Sonic is a hero who saved us many times against the evil Dr. Robotnick A.K.A. Eggman.  At the end of the day, though, we knew we had to bring him into justice.  With the economy the way it is now, we had no choice.”

Long time friend, Miles “Tails” Powers seems unsurprised.

Tails: “He had it coming.  I tried to warn him, but he just kept on ignoring me.  His lust for speed was insatiable.”

Looks like a dark day for Sonic and Sega fans.  Petitions are already going around the net to help free Sonic of this debt and get him out of jail.

Just announced today, Bubsy and Blinx the Timesweeper are teaming up in this XBox 360 exclusive, Bubsy and Blinx: Space Adventures.  In an effort to revitalize the both games and furry felines, they must both work together to defeat the diabolical space hairballs from making cats everywhere hack up the nasty things.  The game was revealed to a lukewarm audience of 5 people, only one of which was excited…who was also reportedly on meds.  Look for Bubsy and Blinx: Space Adventures in Summer of 2010 exclusively for the XBox 360.

Announced recently at the GDC, Maternity Games is bringing a new hit for the Wii titled Feed Us Fetus.  In this game, players take the role of a fetus within a mother’s womb throughout a nine month period.  A representative at Maternity Games explains more.

rep: “This game truly is the first of its kind.  Using the revolutionary Wiimote players can move he fetus around as it grows.  After time, the player will even be able to see its gender!  Harder difficulty levels will have players managing twins, triplets, to even octuplets!  Finally, gamers will see what it is like to be a fetus.  Life should be celebrated, and what better way to do it than with our game?”

Feed Us Fetus is currently scheduled to be released this winter for the Wii.

Hot off the heels of Mortal Kombat Vs DC Universe (formerly planned as Street Fighter Vs Mortal Kombat Super Bloodthirst Turbo Alpha Edition HD) comes Mortal Kombat: Harmonious Liberation for the XBox 360 and PS3.  This new game marks a drastic new direction for the series.  Co-creator Ed Boon dishes out the details.

Ed Boon: “Mortal Kombat has always been known for its over the top violence, anger, and rage.  This always felt stripped, flat, and two-dimensional.  This time we want players to truly delve into the psyche and emotions that a cold blooded killer experiences, and what changes go on to help them grow and persevere through such devastating horrors they both witness and commit.  It really is a game about personal growth and cultivation for not only the MK characters, but for the players themselves.”

Boon then went on to describe the new gameplay elements and modes.

EB: “In versus mode, after each match in MK: HL the game pauses and gives the victor a series of questions to ask the other player such as ‘How does your loss make you feel, and what can you do constructively to bring you peace of mind?’, or ‘How has this battle made you grow as a person?’, and “Does Sheeva make you feel sexually threatened?  If so, how?’  After that, the screen then shows a single candle and silence, where the player must meditate and fixate on the candle for 20 minutes while reflecting on what they’ve done.  Our new game has already proven to be a hit when we show it to parents who before criticized us for our over the top violence.  This time gamers will have their traditional bloody kombat, but also grow as human beings.”

A story mode is also planned where players learn more about characters and their emotional strife.

EB: “Originally, Cyrax was planned to have strong feelings for Sonya Blade, and vice versa.  Being a cyborg, he was never able to fully express those feelings, and Sonya just didn’t know how to approach Cyrax about hers, either.  We were never able to get this across well in past games.  With the power of next gen consoles we can finally do that.  Now players can discover what it truly feels like to be a machine, never to feel the warmth of a loving embrace or to understand what torment Scorpion faced when in hell…it was very lonely down there.  This game will truly bring Harmonious Liberation to all players, and that is something all of us at Midway Games can all be proud of.”

Mortal Kombat: Harmonious Liberation is koming to the XBox 360 and Playstation 3 this fall.

It has been 12 long years since the grand daddy of all fighting games has seen a true sequel.  In 1997 Capcom released Street Fighter III in the arcades.  While embraced by many die hard fighting fans, it didn’t receive the smash success of it’s predecessor.  Over a decade later Street Fighter IV has returned to reclaim its throne as the fighting game champion.  Does this game achieve a super combo victory?

Story

The story behind Street Fighter IV is a little confusing to follow, even for Street Fighter fans.  It involves yet another tournament, this time the main theme centers around a scientific experiment from BLECE with engineered super warriors.  The boss in this one is one of these, though he claims independence and originality from the others and calls himself Seth.  Each character has their own anime opening and ending cinema that while featuring sub par artwork, is still a surprising and interesting effort, nonetheless.  If you are really playing Street Fighter, though, what you are really into is the gameplay.

Gameplay

This is where Street Fighter shines.  The game may look 3D, but it plays just like the its predecessors.  You still have the 6 button system of 3 punches and 3 kicks, and moves are still performed with circular and charge motions.  Supers make their return but have been turned into one per character, much like Super Street Fighter II Turbo, and Street Fighter III: Third Strike.  EX moves make their return from part 3 as well, allowing players to do powered up versions of special moves at the cost of a part of your super meter.  New to the series are the focus attack and ultra combos.  Focus attacks add quite a bit of new strategy to the mix.  Players can use this as a counter attack, as it will go through one attack and has the potential to break through blocks.  They can also be used as move cancels at the cost of a portion of your super meter.  This opens the path to some nasty combos.  Ultras are a brutal form of supers that are performed after a revenge meter is built up from getting hit.  Each one is deadly, and quite a spectacle to see when they are pulled off.

All eight original world warriors are here including Ryu, Ken, Blanka, Chun Li, Zangeif, Guile, etc.  The 4 original bosses also make their triumphant return so you can be sure to face many psycho crushers online.  Making a return for the console only are fan favorites from the Alpha series and Super versions of Street Fighter 2, Cammy, Fei Long, Sakura, Gen, Rose, Akuma and my personal favorite, Dan.  The real special treat comes in the form of Gouken (a.k.a. Shen Long).  For the first time in Street Fighter, players can now play as Ryu and Ken’s former master, thought to be dead.  The other new comers are worthy additions with their own unique moves.  El Fuerte takes on opponents with his speed, Abel uses grappling and rolls to his advantage, and so on.  This rounds off to a roster of 25 characters in total.  The game feels very well balanced over all although when facing computer controlled opponents Zangeif and Abel feel particularly nasty to face.

The game is pretty straight forward when it comes to modes.  There is the standard arcade mode, online play, training, and challenge mode.  The challenge mode actually has 3 modes within it: a time attack, survival mode, and trials.  The trials are a good place to show players unique combos to perform with characters, although a proper beginners tutorial would have been much more helpful and relevant to encourage new comers to play.  Sadly, that feels like a missed opportunity.  That said, Street Fighter IV is still fun for people of all skill levels to dive in.  It will just take beginners a while to get used to its gameplay.

Online, the game works great.  Lag issues are very minimal, if any at all.  They provide incentive to play more by offering titles and icons as rewards for playing and winning matches.  Given the games popularity, there is also no problem finding matches online.  My only gripe is the occasional  boot I get when trying to connect to some ranked matches, but that is minimal.

Graphics

The new 3D art is very stylish, colorful, and impressive.  Capcom has done a wonderful job working with animation as each fighter makes great facial expressions in response to moves.  For example, every time you start an ultra combo the opponent gets bug eyed, and mouth gapes open in face of impending doom.  This game is definitely full of great eye candy that works very well.

Sound

Aside from the strange opening theme, the music in Street Fighter IV is catchy, and works well.  You will even here remixed versions of classic songs during some matches.  Unfortunately, you cannot choose to use just these classic remixes during matches, but they are great when they come on.  Capcom also thankfully provided the option to choose between English and Japanese voices, and even edit individual fighers languages.  The English voice acting can be a bit cheesy at times, so it is nice to have the option to change it.

The Verdict

The Street Fighter series has a special place in many gamers memories, so it was a very delicate task to make a new game to satisfy both new and old gamers.  Street Fighter IV delivered beautifully on all fronts.  It is accessible to new comers, has excellent online play, and has the great gameplay we all come to expect from a Street Fighter game.  If you enjoy fighting games, you owe it to yourself to check out Street Fighter IV.  It is definitely a must buy for fighting fans and gamers.

Final Score:

9.5/10

We’ve all been waiting for it, and here is the new trailer for God of War 3.  Some definite improvements have been made since the last trailer. God of War 2 was an impressive feat on the PS2, so it will be great to see how the final product on this latest offering turns out.  This game can’t come out soon enough!

Square Enix just released a new trailer for Final Fantasy XIII earlier today. It is a mix of CG and in game footage, and it looks beautiful.  Sadly, the game is still set in a pseudo futuristic setting.  Hopefully they will return to medieval times in the next game.  Still, it looks great. Check out the official site for the new trailer.