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Dead or Alive 5's first costume pack free on XBLM now, PSN later today
Dead or Alive 5 gets its first downloadable content today and it's free, with the First Time costume pack now available for nada on Xbox Live Marketplace and coming to PlayStation Network for zilch later today. The DLC sees new character Mila garb herself in Tina's red and black number from the first Dead or Alive, while Kokoro, Zack, Bayman, Helena, Christie, Gen Fu, Akira, Sara, Pai, and Tina herself receive an alternative costume too.Dead or Alive 5 came out last week, and Ludwig gave it four out of five stars in his review. He described the game as an "energetic revitalization of the series, lecherous reputation and all." Whichever side of that these costumes fall under, you can't argue with free*.*you probably can but we're not going to.%Gallery-167269%
Dead or Alive 5 review: Begrudge match
Evaluating the plot in Dead or Alive 5 is ultimately a waste of words. Oh, you can make a qualitative judgment – observe that it somehow manages to be a train wreck, a plane wreck and a car crash all in one. It's like watching all combustible vehicles on Earth hurtle into each other at a singular point of stupidity, and then burning in the consequent fireball of awkward, unintentional comedy.But we survive, insulated by apathy. What matters is that Dead or Alive 5 is an excellent fighting game.%Gallery-166480%
Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z a partnership between Keiji Inafune's Comcept and Team Ninja [update: trailer!]
Famed Japanese developer Keiji Inafune surprised the crowd at Team Ninja's pre-TGS event to discuss his collaboration with the studio, Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z. It's not the first time we've heard of the game, but it is the first time we've seen the full title. As it implies, it is a spin-off of the Ninja Gaiden series. The game focuses on ninjas and the undead, with Inafune admitting he's a big fan of zombies (Dead Rising, anyone?). The collaboration represents a "dream come true" for Inafune, to create a game featuring both zombies and ninjas. It's hard to argue with the assertion.The project represents a chance for Inafune to make the kinds of games he really wants to make, he said. Referring to the comments Inafune made saying the Japanese industry was dying, he said "we are going to survive and make good games that will lead the Japanese game industry."The game tells the story of Yaiba, who's only mission in his undead life, it seems, is to take revenge on Ryu Hayabusa, star of the Ninja Gaiden series. Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, is currently in development for "consoles."Update: Fresh from Japan, feast on this Yaiba trailer.%Gallery-166040%
Dead or Alive 5 downloadable on PSN day and date with retail release
After showing the launch trailer for Dead or Alive 5 at its Tokyo Game Show event, Team Ninja head Yosuke Hayashi revealed that the game will be available as a download on the PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Store. The downloadable version will be available day and date with the retail version on September 25. A downloadable version is also headed to the Xbox 360, and will be available three months after launch.
Team Ninja reveals Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus headed to PS Vita
At a private event in Tokyo, Team Ninja head Yosuke Hayashi announced that Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus will be coming to PlayStation Vita in early 2013. Hayashi didn't reveal further details, though it stands to reason it will receive the same treatment that the original Ninja Gaiden Sigma received on the Vita via Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus, which was released earlier this year.
Dead or Alive 5's Mila has good concentration skills [Update: Now with dev diary]
Mila, a diner waitress and MMA fighter, is the second new character in Dead or Alive 5's roster (the other being Rig). Maybe it's her enthusiasm to fight Bass Armstrong's daughter, but Mila does a great job of concentrating on beating up Tina in this trailer. You'd think she'd be distracted by a level of urban disaster that makes I Am Alive look like a flickering lamppost, but maybe her dual occupation lifestyle helps her to multitask.We hope to find out on September 25, when the game comes out on Xbox 360 and PS3.Update: In the meantime, jump past the break to take a look at Team Ninja's internal development process in the third episode of its Dead or Alive 5 developer diary series.
Tecmo Super Bowl 2013 gives classic game up-to-date NFL rosters
Last year, a group of crazily dedicated fans modded the iconic Tecmo Super Bowl to update it with current and correct NFL listings. One year on, they've done it again with (the unofficial) Tecmo Super Bowl 2013, featuring NFL teams and players fully up-to-date as of September 2. It's like one of those roster updates for Madden NFL 13, except for a 21-year-old NES classic.It's surely an insane and time-draining undertaking to update Tecmo Super Bowl like this, let alone do it for two years running. If that inspires you to join in with the retro-current football fun, all you need is an emulator and the ROM file, and both can be found at TecmoBowl.org. Oh, and not a single measly dime because it's free.
Behind the scenes of DOA5's character development, Virtua Fighter involvement
The latest Dead or Alive 5 developer diary focuses design challenges, specifically the importance of redesigning Kasumi and implementing Virtua Fighter characters. Sega provided the key animations for Sarah and Akira, which Team Ninja had to adjust in order to fit them into the DOA framework.
Dead or Alive 5 to feature Facebook integration, online training mode
Posting to social media sites about watching beautiful women beat the tar out of each other may not be the best idea, unless you're doing so via Dead or Alive 5's newly announced Facebook integration.The feature's implementation hasn't been explicitly demonstrated as of yet, but it will somehow allow players to "rock bragging rights by posting titles and sharing fighting records with friends on Facebook," according to a press release from Tecmo Koei. A network-enabled training mode, dubbed "Online Dojo," was also announced, though the mode's specific features were not specified beyond the fact that it is a training mode that will work online.Meanwhile, Lisa and Helena were revealed as returning playable fighters, as if there were any doubt, and their match footage can be seen above.
These Dead or Alive 5 videos aren't embarrassing at all
While the subject matter of recent Dead or Alive 5 trailers has been suspect, we can assure you this footage won't make you cringe at the sight of overly sexualized costumes. Nope, the only cringing will come from good, old-fashioned violence.
Zack is creepy in latest Dead or Alive 5 clip
It was only five months ago that Team Ninja's Yosuke Hayashi said the team was trying to elevate its image of "sex and violence" and move towards something more emotional with Dead or Alive 5. Zack seems happy at least. Happiness is an emotion, right?
Dead or Alive 5 tags in with new 2-on-2 footage
We're sure there are plenty of people who still think of Virtua Fighter characters in Dead or Alive 5 as some kind of sacrilege but, man, pairing Akira and Kokoro looks like just about the best thing ever. In other, completely unsurprising news, Tecmo has revealed that both Jann Lee and Tina will return in Dead or Alive 5.%Gallery-160752%
Watch DOA 5's Rig beat up Bass (on a rig)
Meet Dead or Alive 5's Rig. Through some incredible cosmological coincidence, Rig works on an oil rig. He also has a penchant for weird, sleeveless hoodies. Get to know him intimately in the video above.
Report: Nintendo now co-owns Fatal Frame IP
Nintendo now co-owns the intellectual property rights to Project Zero – known as Fatal Frame in North America – according to a report on Rely On Horror. Nintendo apparently added Tecmo's spooktacular franchise to its list of copyrights. Furthermore, it appears that Nintendo wholly owns the IP for Spirit Camera, the Fatal Frame spin-off recently released on the 3DS. The company also has ownership and publishing rights for Project Zero 2: Wii Edition, which is slated to hit Europe later this year (still no North American announcement for that one).Nintendo has been tied to the Fatal Frame series for a few years now, publishing the two Fatal Frame games mentioned above as well as Fatal Frame 4, which was never released outside of Japan. Given Nintendo's penchant for extra screens, and Fatal Frame's reliance on capturing ghosts with cameras, the partnership makes sense. Now just give us one on the Wii U, please.
Team Ninja's Hayashi says 'no plans' for Dead or Alive 5 character DLC
Don't expect any supplementary character DLC for Dead or Alive 5. Depending on how you feel about Freddy Krueger surprises, this could be an important revelation.Team Ninja head Yosuke Hayashi says there are no plans to offer post-launch character DLC in Dead or Alive 5. In fact, he thinks the practice wreaks havoc on the balance of the game – essential in any good fighter. "Even with over 20 characters that's still a real challenge," Hayashi tells Videogamer. "If we had 50, how much more time would need to balance the game? It gets that much harder to get it right, and it's already very difficult to get right."Hayashi also doesn't like the idea of different players with different character rosters. "It's a similar thing to if certain people have all these characters and others don't. It makes it an unfair game, and we don't think that's the right way to go for fighting games."
Kick Zack so hard his fro comes off in Dead or Alive 5
The only thing worse than losing your fro mid-fight is getting run over by a tiger. In this match between Lei Fang and Zack in Dead or Alive 5, there's plenty of both.
Dead or Alive 5 has costume-specific breast physics
Since the departure of Tomonobu Itagaki back in 2008, Team Ninja has attempted to shake its reputation as nothing but a stylish, sex-crazed gore factory. It attempted to give Ninja Gaiden's Ryu Hayabusa a softer side, for one. Only two months ago, Team Ninja head Yosuke Hayashi said Dead or Alive 5 will rise beyond "sex and violence," instead pursing "a direction that contains emotional experiences that can move players."Now, in an interview with Famitsu, Hayashi has now revealed that Dead or Alive 5's voluptuous vixens will feature costume-specific breast physics. Furthermore, each costume will have varying levels of transparency. It sounds like a contradiction to Hayashi's previous statements ... that is, of course, until you realize that "move" is a very ambiguous term.
Watch Dead or Alive 5's Christie get shot with a missile
We tried to come up with something witty to say about the latest Dead or Alive 5 trailer, but all coherent thought pretty much stops when Christie gets nailed by a missile. You'd think she would throw in the towel, but nope.%Gallery-154189%
Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir review: Behind you!
There's a very special, very terrified place in my heart for the Fatal Frame series. While Silent Hill encourages (and occasionally forces) me to run away from its horrors, Fatal Frame has always required me to not only face my fears, but to do so for as long as my nerves can take it. With a ghost-killing camera as my only weapon, I learn that the best photographs deal the most damage – and the best photographs are always close-ups.It may not say so on the box, but Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir is indeed a Fatal Frame game, one that puts an augmented reality spin on the traditional, heart-taxing action. Unfortunately, in bringing Fatal Frame to the camera-equipped 3DS, Spirit Camera takes the series where it was never meant to go: your well-lit living room.%Gallery-153177%
'Pokemon Conquest' brings Nobunaga's Ambition stateside on June 18
Yes, that's a factual headline above: Nintendo is publishing the bizarre crossover of Pokemon Plus Nobunaga's Ambition in the US as "Pokemon Conquest" for the Nintendo DS. And yes, you also read that right -- Pokemon Conquest marks the second Pokemon game heading to the DS in 2012 rather than the 3DS (Pokemon Black/White Version 2 being the other).Unlike main series Pokemon games, Tecmo Koei handled development rather than Game Freak. Conquest is also a 2D adventure set in the world of Ransei, where players inhabit "a young warlord who is linked with a Pokemon." Pokemon Conquest arrives on June 18.%Gallery-152208%
