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Dead Rising 2: Case Zero review: Undead and loving it
Dead Rising 2: Case Zero is kind of difficult to judge. While it is a standalone title, it's not really a full game per se. It is, essentially, DLC for a game that hasn't been released yet, an extension of Dead Rising 2. Of course, no one has had that experience yet, meaning that Case Zero serves double duty as a demo as well. It's an interesting experiment for Capcom and for the industry in general; thankfully for Dead Rising fans, it pays off. %Gallery-100734%
Capcom Gamer's Day 2007 round-up
Here's a nice, convenient round-up of our Capcom Gamer's Day '07 explosion!New gamesCapcom brings Rocketmen and Talisman to XBLA and PSNCapcom announces Harvey Birdman: Attorney at LawPhoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations confirmed for AmericaSuper Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix for XBLA announcedSuper Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix for XBLA unveiledAnnouncementsIt's official: Lost Planet finds PC gamersCapcom snags exclusive MotoGP rights for the PlayStation brandTwo new DS titles for Mega Man's 20th AnniversaryStreet Fighter, Mega Man on mobile phonesCapcom to buy/sell IP, publish games with global approachHands-onsJoystiq hands-on: Project Treasure Island Z (Wii)Hands-on with Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles for Wii
Joystiq hands-on: Project Treasure Island Z (Wii)
Officially unveiled at Capcom's San Francisco Gamer's Day, Project Treasure Island Z is scheduled for a Fall, 2007 Wii release. (The title's name may change before then.) The adventure/puzzle game is based on many -- Capcom says 80 -- different Wii Remote gestures, like twisting keys and scooping water. After playing the game, I'm interested in its final version; Capcom seems to be living up to its innovation-and-risk ideal. Gamers, especially the American audience, will first notice the risky kiddie graphic and character style in the single-player-only game. Project Treasure Island Z has a lot of substance beneath that saccharine layer, but Capcom faces a significant challenge in selling the game to older players. I asked about the target audience and age for the title, and a company representative admitted that it skewed young at first glance. However, she mentioned that Capcom will work to market the game to a broader group, including hardcore, dual-system gamers. After getting past the graphics, I picked up the Remote -- the only means to control the game -- and swung into action. I moved my character by pointing and clicking on-screen. "Zack" (no relation) interacted with the environment when I clicked on objects. But the point of Project Treasure Island Z is the method of those interactions. %Gallery-2568%
Capcom snags exclusive MotoGP rights for the PlayStation brand
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Capcom_snags_exclusive_MotoGP_rights_for_the_PlayStation_brand'; With shades of Namco, Capcom has gone on something of an IP land grab as of late, even going as far as to snatch what was once Namco's. Capcom has officially secured the exlusive rights to the MotoGP license for use with the PlayStation brand until the year 2012. What this means is that while no one else can make a PlayStation or PSP title officially based on the popular motorcycle sport, the doors are still open for other platforms, as is the case with THQ's Moto GP series for Xbox 360. The secret is in the space.Though no actual gameplay was shown, Capcom states that their first entry in the series, MotoGP '07 will be released this Fall for the PlayStation 2.
Capcom to buy/sell IP, publish games with global approach
As part of a long presentation to captive game writers, Capcom discussed its business plans for the future. We'd normally drift off to sweet dreams about Harvey Birdman, but head of research and development, Keiji Inafune woke our gaming hearts by contrasting Capcom with the current, big-on-budget, low-on-creativity sequel state of gaming. He said his vision for "Capcom in the future" is a company that's "not afraid to take risks."Inafune and other executives explained how the company can sustain itself without falling into a sequel pattern through new-to-Capcom, licensed IP; using its own IP in other ways; and selling games to a global, multi-platform market.
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix for XBLA and PSN announced
With 13 years of competitive play under its belt and counting, Super Street Fighter II Turbo is widely considered to be 2-D fighting perfected. A high octane, extremely offense-minded fighter, how is it that Capcom plans to improve upon perfection? By bringing in the comic masterminds at UDON to redraw the entire game, pixel-for-pixel.Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (wow again) for Xbox Live Arcade and PSN mirrors the same tactic Capcom utilized with their Hyper Fighting release - the goods you remember, only with online play. This time, however, Capcom is taking care of business in-house and utilizing the insight that 13 years of worldwide, top-tier competition has brought to the game. While SSF2T HD is a pixel-for-pixel recreation of the game, they aren't ruling out making slight changes to the game. It will be lost on the average player, but when the faithful get a load of the slight but sexy frame tweaks, they'll freak out. And they will love it. Capcom didn't have anything to show on the project, but they did say that the entirety of the game is being redrawn, from the character select, all the way through to backgrounds and endings. While it would be heaven in a download if they could also work in the original SSF2T, it is something they are currently considering. Capcom is aiming for a release this Fall.[Update - If you were interested in seeing just how super this remix is, the folks at GameKult snapped a picture of the presentation slide during the announcement. Capcom to Sammy: "In yo face!"]
Capcom brings Rocketmen and Talisman to XBLA and PSN
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Capcom_brings_Rocketmen_and_Talisman_to_XBLA_and_PSN'; Though it seemed like Capcom was giving Xbox Live Arcade all the love at their annual Gamers Day event, they did have two surprises up their sleeves for fans of the PlayStation Network. Rocketmen: Axis of Evil and and Talisman both represent very opposite ends of the gaming spectrum and while we got to go hands-on with the former, the latter was not presently available. Based off the constructible strategy game of the same name, Rocketmen ditches the thinking and settles for some good ol' eight-way shooting. Like a friendly version of the classic Total Carnage, Rocketmen is deeper than your average Robotron-clone by offering up customizable characters, four player co-operative play and online modes to match. While what we saw was fairly early, the cel-shaded environments are looking fairly slick and the action can get nuts, as you can see in the screenshots below. Capcom currently has it penciled for a Fall release for both XBLA and PSN, though don't hold your breath for cross-connectivity.Talisman is based off a different strategy game, only in this case it'll be sticking to its Games Workshop roots. Revolving around a 3-D representation of the board, Talisman is a translation of the tabletop game that sports one to four players on or offline, 25 characters from the franchise and expansion through downloadable content in the future. It will be seeing a release this winter for XBLA, PSN and PC as well.%Gallery-2571%
Street Fighter, Mega Man on mobile phones
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Street_Fighter_Mega_Man_on_mobile_phones'; Capcom is reaching for a broader audience to grow its business, including several upcoming mobile phone titles. A direct port of Mega Man II and a looser, but faithful port of Street Fighter II will ship in June; trivia game, Millionaire Music Edition, will be released in May; and MMO, Shade II, is scheduled for the first quarter of 2008. All titles will be available on various carriers and support Java and BREW phone platforms.Mega Man II and Street Fighter II may resonate most with long-time gamers. Capcom said that Mega Man II is a literal port of the original. Street Fighter II, however, has about "80 percent" of the original game's combinations in order to adapt to more awkward keypad mashing. In-development versions of both titles seem about as fluid as their originals; maybe there's more to this mobile gaming thing than trivia. (If not, there's Millionaire Music Edition, as in "Who Wants to Be A ...")Shade II -- there were so many unanswered questions from the first Shade -- seeks to expand the MMORPG mobile space. Capcom was cagey with statistics about the popularity of Shade, saying that it has 600,000 unique users, but not saying how many concurrent players are in the game. Still, like the first game, Shade II will be a basic MMO with quests, leveling, cooperative play, and even PVP. Maybe that New York electronics law is to protect ourselves from injury if mobile MMOs become popular.Prices will vary with carriers, but the games are expected to cost a couple dollars or less on a monthly subscription, or less than $10 to buy.%Gallery-2564%
Hands-on with Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles for Wii
When we originally saw Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, it wasn't hard to figure out that it was an on-rails shooter, even without having to touch it. Now that we've finally gotten the Wii remote and the nunchuk in our hands, we can confirm, once again, that it is an on-rails shooter. A particularly boring one at that.Umbrella Chronicles earned it's new moniker, House of the Resident Evil, by feeling like just that. Our demo of the title had us going through the mansion from the original Resident Evil, only at turbo speed. The Wii remote was used to aim a cursor on the screen, while the nunchuk was largely useless, used only to look around. Inexplicably, reloading is done by waggling the remote, thus becoming a nuisance during hectic scenes. You know, because it's not like the nunchuk doesn't have motion sensors or anything.%Gallery-2570%
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix for XBLA and PSN unveiled
Typically found near the top of your average "most requested games for Xbox Live Arcade/PlayStation Network" list, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (wow) will come as a relief to many, but more so to the real hardcore puzzlers. While it sports online play and plenty of new modes, the most important changes are to the core of the game.Let's chat while the others are busy running around, screaming their heads off with excitement. The original Super Puzzle Fighter was, how do we say? Not so good. Top-Tier play essentially came down to Ken versus Ken, building on the sides and abusing the diamond gem glitch. What the HD Remix sports is the new X-Mode which, along with new graphics, offers some valuable balancing tweaks. Drop patterns have been changed so that even Felicia here is worth using and the diamond glitch has been abolished.%Gallery-2567%
Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations confirmed for America
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Phoenix_Wright_Trials_and_Tribulations_confirmed_for_America'; Capcom has officially announced what many already expected after its beg-for-it-contest; Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations is on its way to North America for September, 2007. The third game in the series offers more of the same to established fans of the DS courtroom drama. Players control Wright as he muddles through cases, and in some points of the adventure game, they play as his mentor, Mia Fey, in the proceedings.%Gallery-2563%
It's official: Lost Planet finds PC gamers
Capcom signaled its self-described return to more frequent PC releases by officially announcing a PC version of Lost Planet: Extreme Condition for June. The Windows XP and Vista game will support DirectX 10 for gamers with those shiny video cards, but DirectX 9 players are also invited into the snowy world.The PC version will run at resolutions up to 2,560x1600, making the console war's "True HD" sound like a tired marketing slogan. (Oh wait, it already did.) While the graphic effects beyond resolution will also be improved, little else is certain to change.Capcom told us at its Gamer's Day event that the PC game may include new multiplayer maps and even increase its 16-player online cap, but both updates are still pending. However, multiplayer matches between Xbox 360 gamers and PC players will not be supported.%Gallery-2562%
Two new DS titles for Mega Man's 20th Anniversary
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Two_New_Mega_Man_games_celebrate_the_character_s_20th_Anniversary'; When it comes to Mega Man's anniversaries, Capcom is a lot like Disney. They're always celebrating up to five years ahead or behind the times. It is indeed the 20th anniversary for the blue bomber and another year means another set of games with the Nintendo DS getting all the love.Not to shock you or anything, but last year's Mega Man ZX is getting a sequel by the name of Mega Man ZX Advent. Once again you'll be assuming the roles of two androgynous kiddies as they tear it up Zero style. The title looks and feels to be more of the same, but the addition of multi-cart co-op and head-to-head play should make it more interesting for those coming back around.Out to prove that it is in fact possible to squeeze blood out of a stone, Capcom announced not one, not two, but three different versions of their new Network title, Mega Man Star Force. Pegesus, Leo and Dragon are the names of the game and you'll find the same Mega Man Network mechanics here, only with a slight twist. The 2-D overworld remains the same, but the battles now take place in 3-D, albeit on the same familiar grid. It's a lot like Super Paper Mario's 3-D in how it simply feels like a perspective switch. The game also sports Wi-Fi Connect functionality for players to trade items.Mega Man Star Force is due out this August, followed by Mega Man ZX Advent this October.%Gallery-2561%
Capcom announces Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Capcom_announces_Harvey_Birdman_Attorney_at_Law_for_PS2_PSP/'; Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law to the PlayStation 2 and PSP. This revelation came on the heels of a Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations presentation, so we can only assume that Harvey will follow suit when it comes to gameplay.For those not hip with the times, Harvey Birdman is an Adult Swim cartoon that stars 60's icon Birdman as a defense attorney for the animated stars. He's defended everyone from Scooby-Doo to The Jetsons and seems to own a pet bear.Very little about the game was revealed, aside from the fact that High Voltage is developing and their aim is for a release this Fall. The pedigree isn't exactly a shining one, but the marriage of these two licenses has us extremely optimistic nonetheless.
