New Screens for It’s A Wonderful World
Final Fantasy creator, Tetsuya Nomaru DS sidescroller, Its a Wonderful World has new screens in this months issue of Japanese mag Shonen Jump. The sidescroller uses the dpad and the touch screen for gameplay. When the player is able to coordinate his moves with the rhythm you can execute stylish attacks on the DS.
I am eagerly awaiting this title from the man that brought us Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy 8. The gameplay seems a bit complex but mixed with the rhythm component it could be pretty fun.
The Agency??? So many questions
Sony is making an MMO for the PS3 and it seems like a blend of Huxley, The Matrix Online, and Splinter Cells Spy vs Merc Mechanic. The overall look and feel of the game looks solid with the cartoon graphics. But I have no clue how the heck this is going to work in gameplay.
Now I will reserve judgement on this game till I see some gameplay videos or playtest it. But this is the company that brought us Star Wars Galaxies, which was plagued with years of identity crisis. SOE has not produced anything worth a crap and bought The Matrix Online to milk the Trilogy Fans. I haven’t seen enough of this “No wait all play” MMO but when I do will anyone like it?
[Kotaku]
Pokemon to brand win Nintendo the console war?!?
“The hardware which has Pokémon on it will be the winner,” says Tsunekazu Ishihara, CEO of Nintendo’s Pokemon Company. Ishihara is betting on the brand loyalty of his franchise and the integration of Nintendo’s products to help pull together a win for the Nintendo’s Next Gen. The decade old franchise continues to do really well at retail with the release of Diamond and Pearl a lot of DS hardware was moved over the past few months.
So I wonder can Nintendo continue to bet on its franchises to keep them afloat when the Wii is not in short supply? Wii owners aren’t buying games they are playing Wii Sports and the hardcore are getting Zelda. But with a major Nintendo releases every other month instead of every other week, will the Wii go the way of the gamecube near the middle of this generation? I think a big determining factor will be the release Pokemon Battle Revolution on the 25th. I dont know about you but it looks like the wii is doing a good job for now.
Halo 2 and Shadowrun ON XP!
I think this adds another nail to Games For Windows and Vista’s coffin. Why buy Vista and ignore all the great stuff Steam and Gametap is doing. Microsoft is being challenged by Falling Leaf Systems, they say DX10, Halo 2, and Shadowrun can run without Vista and if they can do it, it will break the back of MS push to play Next Gen PC games on Vista and Games for Windows platform. Right now they are aiming for late July to release their software.
I have nothing against Microsoft and their plan to integrate Xbox Live and the PC. But Games for Windows is the wrong way to do it. The system is broken and they aren’t convincing publishers and developers to jump on the ship. That is something Valve, Gametap, and Direct to Drive is doing. Its sad that the market has been segmented, but if Microsoft wants this to work they need to make Live free for all gamers. PC gamers aren’t going to switch from having a free service to paying so they can play with 360 gamers (I may pay to not have to play with 360 gamers).
I hope Falling Leaf and their software don’t go the way of vaporware. Microsoft needs something to push Vista and GFW. Competition breeds excellence and Vista is lacking that.
The Playstation Team Discovers Blogging
Well Sony has decided to finally start a blog about the Playstation. Its about time, but late is better than never. I am glad for them that they are reaching out to the community. There has been a lot of outcries for more involvement by fanboys. Starting up Beta’s and opening a blog is a good first step. I wonder if this will be more like Major Nelson or Gamerscore Blog. In their first post they are asking the community to help mold the blog by telling them what they want. So if you want to influence the future of Sony and their community drop a comment on their shiny new blog.
