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The Evercade VS captures the spirit of retro gaming
Nostalgia is more than just games from the past and the makers of Evercade know this. With collectible cartridges and secrets to unlock the VS is a refreshing spin on the "mini" console.
Bandai Namco discounts its Switch library until October 21st
The holidays are nearly upon us. For some, that means a whole lot of traveling. Switch owners can stock up on cheap digital downloads during Bandai Namco's publisher sale to stay occupied during flights, long drives and restless nights in lumpy childhood beds. The company's 17 Switch games are discounted by up to 75 percent on Nintendo's eShop from now until October 21st at 11:58 ET.
'Pac-Man' on Amazon's Alexa isn't at all like 'Pac-Man'
Pac-Man might never have left the public eye, but with Wreck-it Ralph, Pixels and Ready Player One, the iconic elder statesman of gaming is now in front of people that may have never touched an arcade joystick. To that extent, Pac-Man's latest 'game' makes sense — it's arriving on Amazon's Alexa as a skill today.
The next weird 3DS game includes a tiny fishing reel
Japan's fondness for games with highly specialized controllers frequently produces wonderfully weird results. If you need proof, you just need to look at Bandai Namco's upcoming Baku Tsuri Bar Hunter for the 3DS. The manga-linked augmented reality fishing game revolves around an elaborate add-on case that scans barcodes to add sealife, and a tiny reel (plus the 3DS' own motion controls) to catch creatures. In essence, it's the lovechild of Bass Fishing and Barcode Battler. It absolutely sounds like it shouldn't work, but it looks like a blast in the promo video... at least, for gamers willing to scan their shopping.
JXE Streams: 'Splatterhouse' makes a mess of Friday the 13th
Jason Vorhees' hockey mask in Friday the 13th was an accident. Special effects man Martin Jay Sadoff just happened to really like hockey and have a bag of old-school gear with him when the third movie was in production. As pop culture serendipity goes, the mask is a brilliant success: when Friday the 13th rolls around, it's impossible not to think of that chipped face guard. In turn, it's impossible not to think of pulpy horror and that infamous date when you see something that even sort of looks like the mask. No doubt that was the logic at Namco when it conceived Splatterhouse -- one of gaming's earliest gore-fests -- and its masked star. That's also why we're playing a whole lot of Splatterhouse for you on JXE Streams!
Watch every Final Smash in Smash Bros for Wii U
Smash Bros fans are familiar with two very different games. The first game is, of course, Smash Bros. The second game is waiting for the new Smash Bros to finally come out. Super Smash Bros for Wii U is still over a week away, so we decided to make the wait a little easier by throwing together a video of every single Final Smash attack featured in the game. Enjoy.
Lords of the Fallen review: Fallin' in and out of love with you
PC, Xbox One, PS4 There is a brand of player that sees impossible odds, sees fiery, poisonous, roaring death from all directions, and greets it all with an insane grin – and then turns up the difficulty. For everyone else, there's Lords of the Fallen. This is not a necessarily an insult. There is no shame whatsoever in Lords of the Fallen being what many will immediately identify as a brazen riff on the special niche From Software has built for themselves with the Dark Souls series, especially when it's in the interest of a much more accessible game. Accessible is a good thing. Inferior, however, is not. There's plenty of both to be found here.
Play Ms. Pac-Man on iOS in October and help fight breast cancer
Want to fight breast cancer using your iPhone or iPad? Bandai Namco is making it as easy as downloading a new in-game map for one of the company's many Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man titles from the App Store in the month of October. The new maze is priced at US$0.99 and all proceeds go directly to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. The download -- called "The Hope Maze" -- is shaped like the iconic pink ribbon of breast cancer awareness, and can be downloaded on any of the following Pac Man titles: Pac-Man Ms. Pac-Man Pac-Man Lite Ms. Pac-Man Lite Ms. Pac-Man for iPad Ms. Pac-Man for iPad Lite
Metareview: Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
We handed Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS four and half stars, calling it "the most feature-complete, compelling Super Smash Bros. entry to date," and setting it right alongside Fire Emblem: Awakening and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds as a game that every 3DS owner should play. Critics around the web seem to agree that Super Smash Bros.' first outing on 3DS is worthy of high praise, though experiences with online play seem to vary across the board. Our own experience was fairly positive, depending largely on the geographical proximity of opponents. One critic notes lag issues in local multiplayer, especially in 4-player matches. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS launches in North America on October 3.
Super Smash Bros. 3DS review: Only the strong
It may not be the undisputed industry leader these days, and Nintendo currently faces stronger competition than it ever has, but one thing you can't take away from the Japanese gaming giant is its wealth of iconic, beloved characters. From Mario to Link to Donkey Kong (and on through another few dozen familiar names), Nintendo is responsible for the majority of gaming's most famous faces. In hindsight, the idea to combine them all into one massive fighting game nostalgia bomb was sublime genius, and the Super Smash Bros. games have been among Nintendo's most popular releases on each console they've reached. It doesn't hurt that the games have all been solidly constructed from a combination of unique fighting game mechanics and spot-on controls, but let's be frank, people are buying these games because they're the best way to punch Pikachu in his cute, smug little face. That all might change with the latest entry in the series, however. Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS (that's the full title) is as much a trip down Nintendo's memory lane as any of its predecessors, but there's more meat here than in prior games. More to see, more to do, and all of it is built on the most solid fundamentals the series has yet seen. But is all of that enough to survive the franchise's first jump to a portable system? And what of the new online components, which have been a key failing of prior Super Smash Bros. games? Nintendo, along with development partners Namco and Sora, seems pretty confident, and the more time I spend with Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, the more I see why.
'Pokken Tournament' is the Pokémon brawler you've been dreaming of
It used to be that if you wanted to make two Pokémon really wail on each other, you'd have to fire up a fan-made game like Pokémon: Type Wild. At long last, those days are over: after a bit of teasing last year, The Pokémon Company and Namco confirmed today that Pokken Tournament is an honest-to-goodness, button-mashing brawler that'll see the light of day next year. Beyond the thrill of watching a Machamp just going to town on a Lucario, Pokken's arrival is yet another example of Nintendo's new openness towards using game mechanic mashups to liven up long-running franchises. Hyrule Warriors, anyone? What's next, a Punch-Out boxing manager sim? A Fire Emblem RTS? (Please make that one, Nintendo!) Anyway, Pokken is slated to hit Japanese arcades some time in 2015, but given the sad state of arcades in the US, we'll have just to pray for an international console release down the road.
Rumor: Super Smash Bros videos show Bowser Jr, Shulk, Duck Hunt Dog [Update: Videos pulled]
Update: The videos have been removed from YouTube, though you can still see snippets of them in GIF format on the NeoGAF post linked below. If rumors are to be believed, we're not even close to seeing the final roster of Super Smash Bros. Several images and videos of Nintendo's upcoming mascot brawler have surfaced (handily collected on NeoGAF), showcasing lots of new characters. Among these are King Koopa's bandana'd progeny, Bowser Jr, Xenoblade protagonist Shulk and ... the dog from Duck Hunt. In the videos, Bowser Jr is seen piloting a tiny version of his father's iconic flying machine, while Shulk seems to have a few things in common with fellow sword-swingers Roy and Marth. There's no video of the Duck Hunt dog, sadly, but if his appearance turns out to be true: best ... taunt ... ever. Of course, we have to point out that talented modders have been squeezing new characters into Smash Bros Brawl for years – everything from Master Chief to Cloud Strife – so we suggest a smashing serving of salt to go along with all of this. See the videos after the break.
Dark Souls 2 kills you again with 'The Lost Crowns' DLC
The story of Dark Souls 2's 'The Lost Crowns' DLC couldn't be more suited to the franchise. Developer From Software started off by saying there wouldn't be any DLC, giving players a nice sense of security. Then, the studio backpedaled, hinting that DLC could happen, depending on fan feedback. And now, the DLC has jumped from the shadows to crush players not once, but three times in what Namco is calling a "DLC trilogy" slated for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. All told, players will be able to download three new chapters by the end of the summer and, yes, Namco is selling a season pass – starting today on Steam (and on PSN in Europe). The Lost Crowns will see players "on a journey to reclaim the crowns that Drangleic's King Vendrick once owned." The first chapter, "Crown of the Sunken King," drops on July 22, taking place in "an entirely different world within the Dark Souls 2 universe, where stepped pyramids span a vast underground cavern." Crown of the Sunken King will be followed by "Crown of the Old Iron King" on August 26 and "Crown of the Ivory King" on September 24. Separately, each chapter will run $10, while the $25 season pass will grant access to all three chapters as they are released. [Image: Bandai Namco]
Behold the ultimate Dark Souls 2 troll
There's nothing worse than someone invading your Dark Souls 2 session and murdering you. At least, that's what we thought before seeing this guy troll his would-be assassins. All it takes is an enemy's equipment and a lot of patience. Watch for yourself. [Image: Bandai Namco]
Tales of Hearts R coming West, stealing your heart winter 2014
Vita-owning JRPG fans, no need to eat your heart out: Namco's Tales of Hearts R is coming to the West this winter. The game, which is a remake of Tales of Hearts for the Nintendo DS featuring new content, was originally released in Japan in March of last year. Tales series producer Hideo Baba announced the news in a special video, where he was surrounded by Tales series merchandise. Just in case you weren't sure who he was or what you were watching. This is particularly good news for fans of the series, since Baba said last year that at the time, there were no plans to bring any of the Tales games for Vita to the West. While Baba himself offered no other details on the game in the video announcement, Gematsu reports that Tales of Hearts R will be a GameStop exclusive in North America, though players will also be able to download it through the PSN. Only half a year before those of us on western shores get to tell some Tales on the Vita - be still our beating Hearts. R. [Image: Namco]
Namco Bandai turns into Bandai Namco on April 1
Namco Bandai officially announced plans to change its name to Bandai Namco. The change, which spans the company's many regional subsidiaries, will go into effect on April 1. Yes, that's April Fool's Day. No, we're pretty sure Namco Ban – sorry, Bandai Namco is serious here. The publisher was the result of a merger between Namco and Bandai in September 2005. The umbrella company's logo, seen above, will be used for all of the publisher's products going forward. Up until this point, Namco Bandai used its traditional, individual Namco and Bandai logos on some of its games. For instance, Tales of Xillia sported a Namco logo, while Dark Souls featured the Namco Bandai one. [Image: Bandai Namco]
Date Namco characters and the Galaga ship in Namco High
Namco High, a dating sim game where you woo Namco Bandai characters as one of the Katamari Damacy Prince's cousins, is now available to play. As the new kid in class, you need to carefully navigate the dangerous social jungle of high school if you want to go steady with characters like Mr. Driller (Mr. Driller), Lolo (Klonoa) and a spaceship (Galaga). The game's creative director is Andrew Hussie, creator of Homestuck. You'll need a hall pass HTML5-capable web browser and a Namco Bandai ID account to get in, but once you've gained admittance to Namco High, you don't necessarily have to purchase a thing; while some characters will cost real-world money to unlock, six of the game's students are very cheap dates (because they're free). If you want to expand your romantic options, premium characters can be unlocked for $1.95 individually, $4.95 when purchased in sets of three, or $14.95 for the whole lot. Fans of Homestuck should be especially pleased, as three of the 18 total dateable characters are from Hussie's webcomic.
Daily iPhone App: Ridge Racer Slipstream slides in sideways
The Real Racing series has long been the dominant racing simulation experience for iOS devices, but when it comes to arcade racing, Ridge Racer has long been king across many platforms. Ridge Racer Slipstream is the latest title for iOS, following Accelerated's release in 2009, and the game takes full advantage of the power of today's technology. Looking nearly as good as a full-fledged console release, the first thing you'll notice about Slipstream is how gorgeous it is. The game runs silky smooth on the iPhone 5s, and everything from the roadway to the reflections on your speed machine is incredibly detailed for a mobile racer. That same attention to detail has been paid to the game's deep car-customization system, allowing you to upgrade virtually every part of your ride. You can flesh out your engine performance, add additional nitrous, swap out your wheels or even add flashy vinyl decals. Purchases are made using in-game currency, which you obtain from winning races, or you can open your real-world wallet and buy some credits. As is almost always the case, taking the shortcut feels a bit like cheating, and you'll get more satisfaction out of the game by using your actual race winnings to purchase upgrades. The racing itself is fast and fluid, but if you're looking for anything resembling realistic car handling, you're going to be disappointed. Cars feel very floaty, and the game places a huge emphasis on drifting -- so much so that completing long drifts replenishes your nitro reserves. If you're a Ridge Racer veteran, this will come as no surprise, but if you're new to the series, it may be a painful learning curve. One thing that is somewhat disappointing about Slipstream is that it doesn't support physical controllers... at least not yet. The game would be a perfect fit for the many new controller accessories popping up for the iPhone, so I'll cross my fingers that developer Namco Bandai decides to add that feature in a future update. For US$2.99, Ridge Racer Slipstream is a gorgeous racer that lets you suspend reality in favor of white-knuckle thrills, and if you're willing to put in the work to unlock some of the game's more advanced racing machines, it should have a good bit of longevity.
Namco Bandai shows off invaders, cooperators in Dark Souls 2 screens
Remember, remember, the 16th of November, when Joystiq gave you new screens showing off invaders and cooperators in Dark Souls 2, courtesy Namco Bandai. We know, it doesn't rhyme. So what? You'll have bigger things to worry about when the infamously-brutal RPG kills you repeatedly on March 11, 2014.
Tales of Xillia review: Xillia-rating
As a fan of Japanese role-playing games, you kind of have to get used to overwrought stories. There's some kind of meteor, or reborn god, or a god reborn as a meteor, and the hero has amnesia/a mysterious past/a tortured soul/a tragic destiny. High drama is pretty much par for the JRPG course, which is what makes PS3 exclusive Tales of Xillia such a wonderful surprise. It has the same kinds of trappings you'd expect from the genre, with man's misuse of nature threatening a cataclysmic catastrophe, but it's presented with a charming lack of artifice or self importance. You're on an incredibly important mission, but that's no reason to be a sourpuss about it, right? You play as either Milla, the physical embodiment of the Four Spirits who benefit mankind, or Jude, a young med student who makes a horrifying discovery when he unwisely tags along after Milla one night. They're an unlikely pair, the deity and the doctor, but their chemistry is undeniable. The companions they pick up along the way are familiar RPG archetypes – the slick mercenary, the young girl who hides a great power, and so forth – but they act the way people accidentally thrust together toward a common goal probably would. They don't crest a hill to stare off into the distance and ponder their fate. They chat, they try to get to know each other, they tell jokes, they share stories. It's all so wonderfully ... normal. Inasmuch as trying to rescue the spirits of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water before they can be used to power a massive gun can be, anyway.%Gallery-185484%
