New Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Trailer!

A new trailer for Marvel vs. Capcom 3 came out on or around September 9th. Click above to view it!

The new trailer features Captain America, Iron Man, Doctor Doom, and Super-Skrull from the Marvel Comics side.

Chun-Li from Street Fighter, Trish from Devil May Cry, Tron Bonne from Mega Man Legends, Morrigan Aensland from Darkstalkers, Amaterasu from Okami, and Viewtiful Joe from the series of the same name, are present for the Capcom side.

Good Guys vs Bad Guys as they duke it out on top of a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier! The game looks more and more surprising every time I see it. And I'm always waiting to hear who the next set of combatant's are. 2011 is so close yet so far away!

Also, I have been playing another game and in the process of completing. When I have finished it I will hopefully get a review of it up at some point with my thought's and reactions! It has been a game that I think will revitalize it's particular franchise. A little, (although not so little) game with four Webbed Wall-Crawling Wonder's!

Alpha Protocol – Could Have Used Some Beta Testing

Like after the release of any anticipated game, I am exhausted today. I got the game shortly before 20:00 and played until a time in the morning that I had forgotten existed. While my heavy eyes, slurred speech, short temper, and lack of energy are not good news for me, my inability to put down my controller is good news for Alpha Protocol.

The beginning of the game is tough, especially if you chose the “Recruit” load out. You essentially start with no skill points making the shooting reticule bigger than a twoney (look it up). Stealth is tough in the beginning because you apparently have all the finesse of a tyrannosaurus rex. The only thing you can do well is chuck grenades at people and silent takedowns. The first several levels are quite linear and you have no choice as to which order you go in. The game follows the plot type of showing portions of an interview in the present day while flashing back to particular missions (much like SC: Conviction). The clip scenes features many close ups which are not this game’s strong suit. There are several minor graphical flaws that would not be noticeable save for the occasional up close camera shot. And finally probably my biggest complaint is that the main character’s stealth “stance” makes him look like he is desperately trying to shuffle to the bathroom before he defecates in his trousers.

Graphical issues aside once you get into the groove of this game it is really quite fun. As the game progresses you jet around the world investigating a vast conspiracy that involves a government contracted weapons manufacturer trying to throw the world into a cold war to boost its profits. The company might as well be called SPECTRE (look it up) or Treadstone (look it up) and I might as well be the cunning James Bond/Sam Fisher/Jason Bourne/Ethan Hunt/Harry Tasker…*gasp*… J.C. Denton/Solid Snake/Jack Ryan/Brian Mills or a Delta Forces soldier. You accumulate money through legitimate, semi-legitimate, and straight up blackmail to purchase weapon upgrades, intel, and armor. My personal favorite is a perk that sends me into a martial arts fury like David Banner on Gamma rays. You have to choose the right conversation choices to develop a rapport with various characters. Who you alienate or help affects how other characters perceive you. The missions can be accomplished by stealthy takedowns or by run and gun with anything from pistols to SMGs to shotguns to assault rifles. I recommend this game to anybody who enjoys the action rpg blend with third person shooter and a splash of espionage.

Overall Alpha Protocol is not a bad game at all. I would even go as far as to say it is a good game. It has its shortcomings that could have easily been rectified with some additional beta testing and maybe a bigger budget, but when was the last time you heard the sing-song opening for SEGA? This project probably only had financial backing because of Obsidian. Gamefly this game, but make sure you get past the first subset of missions because it’s like a 3 hour long linear tutorial. Who knows, you might like it so much you buy it. (I hope you all enjoyed my random incorporation of Greek letters in this review).

360 Disc grinding - Info for prevention & recovery

To catch up those who need it, here is the scoop with the Xbox 360 disc grinding issue. When you have a disc inside the 360, the xbox will spin the disc anywhere between 2,000 and 6,000 rotations per minute (RPM). If there is a disc spinning in the xbox and the console is tilted, the disc inside the disc tray will not hold straight and strike some of the edges surrounding the disc drive, thus "grinding" the disc and usually rendering it useless.

While moving any technology while it's running is a bad idea, sometimes accidents happen so most technology with a disc drive puts foam pads in place to protect the disc if it moves, the xbox 360 lacks this fail safe. Pop open an old discman or something similar and take a look. They're in there.

Fairly recently there was a lawsuit filed against Microsoft because of this flaw, claiming there were "tens of thousands" of people that have been victims of disc grinding. It was in this court case that most of the details regarding this flaw came to light. One of the excerpts of the case shows Microsoft may have known about the flaw very early on and took no action. The excerpt:

"This is...information that we as a team, optical disc drive team, knew about. When we first discovered the problem in September or October, when we got a first report of disc movement, we knew this is what's causing the problem."


Shortly after, SeattlePi.com received a reply to some questioning of this issue and the court case:

"Xbox 360 is designed so that it will not damage a game disc as long as the console is not moved while the disc is spinning. Too much movement of any game console, not just Xbox 360, can cause scratches on a disc. That's why we put a warning on the face of the disc tray, which the user has to physically remove before the initial use of the system. We also have warnings posted online and in hard copy instruction manuals."

The warning they are speaking of:

IMPORTANT:
To avoid jamming the DVD drive and damaging discs or the Xbox 360 console:

* Remove discs before moving the console or tilting it between the horizontal and vertical positions.

* Never use cracked discs. They can shatter inside the console and jam or break internal parts.

* When the console is vertical, do not use discs that are smaller than standard DVDs and CDs.

Microsoft also started their "Xbox Disc Replacement Program" Which will kindly replace a small list of Microsoft titles if they are damaged for a small fee.

A good prevention idea is to invest in "D Skins", this is a simple plastic case that fits flush over your disc, preventing damage, scratching, fingerprints.. you name it. A good investment considering average game price is $60. Here is the link: D Skins

Hope this provides some insight and saves some poor soul from losing a game. Happy Fragging everybody.

Second Modern Warfare 2 Map pack

Activision has announced that the "Resurgence" map pack will release on June 3rd for the XBOX 360. Activision states it will "follow on the heels of the record-setting Stimulus Package of maps," which translates to, it will be another 5 maps for $15 and PS3 and PC owners will see the maps about a month later.

Black Ops

USA Today recently sat down with Call of Duty: Black Ops, the newest game in the CoD franchise, being released in November 2010 by Treyarch Studios. Here's the link to their article. Call of Duty: Black Ops

Beta Blog

Halo: Reach


I’ve intentionally waited a few days to write this so my reactions weren’t just giddy excitement and a biased opinion. If you slap the name “Halo” on something you’re going to get my attention.

Halo: Reach as most of you know will be Bungie’s last Halo game, and they have described their efforts as “Going out with a bang”. After Halo 3 was made, Bungie split from their looming Microsoft parent company, however Microsoft retained the rights to Halo. Microsoft has every intention of keeping Halo going, however Bungie will be out of the picture. Halo being Bungie’s creation and by far their most well known work, there is a certain “end of an era” feeling with the entire situation.

Reach takes place before Halo: Combat Evolved (the first Halo game, and launch title of the original Xbox), the details of the storyline and events of the game are still coming through, but one can assume it will be at least loosely based on the novel “The fall of Reach”, a Halo based novel written by Eric Nylund. In short, Reach is a human colony and a primary military network for the UNSC (United Nation Space Command) which houses a large military presence and over 700 million civilians. Through the events in the book Reach is attacked by the Covenant (alien military at war with humanity) and the planet is “glassed”, where the Covenant uses a form of fusion to heat the planet’s crust so intensely it turns to glass, thus killing every living thing on the planet.

So, if you own a copy of Halo: ODST or are lucky enough to get an invite code, as of May 3rd, 2010 you now have access to the Halo: Reach Beta. For those of you who don’t know, a “Beta” is a small portion of a program that is released during development for evaluation from the target audience. A beta can accomplish a couple things, in this case it gives excited fans a sneak peak, it gives the developers a ton of feedback and “free” game testers, which developers usually have to pay. The Reach beta is a small part of what will be the multiplayer for Halo: Reach. It includes a few game types and a small selection of weapons. Some new, some classics (the infamous “Halo 1 pistol” as well). One of the new features to the Halo franchise are “loadouts”, at the beginning of a multiplayer match you can select (currently) one of four loadouts, in the loadouts are weapon selections and an armor ability. These abilities can be activated at any time during the match for a limited time, the beta currently offers active camouflage (invisibility essentially), sprinting, temporary invincibility, and a jetpack. (Current favorite; jetpack).

They have changed some things, damage, added a health bar (where have those been, anyway?), added “assassinations” (instead of a simple melee attack from behind killing a player, you can hold melee to perform an assassination where your Spartan will do a quick deadly killing move) .

All in all it’s still Halo multiplayer, the new twists are fun, and I guess if it’s not broken don’t fix it. I look forward to seeing the rest of the game.

Marvel VS Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds!

Ok, Ok, so my friends were expecting me to start posting Nintendo related stuff to combat/balance out all the 360/PS3 related news that would probably end up being featured on this Blog! But I'm going to Spidey Kick them in the face and post something not Nintendo related! Granted I will post something soon Nintendo related but now is not that time! For one of my favorite Franchises is releasing another sequel that I figured needed the attention of course!

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds! See the Awesome!

There's the link for further proof right from Marvel themselves! They even have the teaser trailer!

I consider this great news just because I am a huge fan of the series myself. I have been playing this game since the first Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes on the PS1! In fact even though I no longer own a PS1 or PS2, I still own my copy of the game Marvel vs. Capcom! It's stashed somewhere in my room because even though I don't have the system to play it on it has sentimental value to it!

I of course did end up owning, a few times actually, Clash of Super Heroes sequel, Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes! And when it arrived to the Xbox Live Network I of course downloaded it as soon as it was out! I have not played it in a while and am out of practice, but seeing the Teaser Trailer for MvC3, has once again given me the fighting itch! Where you just have to hit another character in the face, or use a ridiculous finishing move that can crack the World in half if left unblocked! If you haven't already guessed I am also a huge fan of fighting games. Unlike the other 2 posters of this Blog, who love their 1st Person Shooter, or Stealth Action, I like to think of myself as the Brawler! The guy who likes to get his hands dirty in a face-to-face confrontation! As a famous man once said, "Guns are too quick. You can't savor all the...little emotions." And Stealth is the complete opposite of getting all up in someone's face! HA HA!

Series Like Super Smash Bros., or the Dragon Ball Z Budokai's or Tenkaichi's, always get me pumping because I like the quick action and crazy combos that a character can produce! And the mass amount of characters never hurts either! It gives for huge possibilities of dream teams for the player! MvC2 had 56 playable characters total! MvC3 has 30 characters, with more expected on the way! And since there has been a good 10 year gap since MvC2, Old and New characters from both Marvel and Capcom will have a chance to make their arrival to this game. It will give you your favorite dream team, like Spider-Man, Mega Man, and Chun-Li! So MvC3 should have the same amount or more characters than MvC2's 56!

From the Teaser Trailer the game seems to be going for the more recent game look of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom for the Wii. (Which I hope to get around talking about here as well.) The classic 2-D Side Scroller, but with new updated 3-D graphics. Which of course the Gomez likes! The graphics also look to be Cel-Shaded, which gives that more comic/cartoon like appearance which I love even more! It made the Trailer enjoyable watching Wolverine fight Street Fighter's Ryu, and Iron Man being swayed by Darkstalker's Sexy Morrigan Aensland, and Hulk brawling it out with Resident Evil's Chris Redfield.

All in all, after a huge Time gap since the previous title, the new updated graphics, and the 30+ characters that are arriving, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, looks to be a great return to the franchise and one this writer will be sure to have pre-ordered when pre-orders start up!

MvC3 is set to drop in spring of 2011 for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3!