Platinum Games’ history is as odd as their games, as anyone who’s played either MadWorld or Bayonetta can attest.  Mostly composed of talent from Clover Studios following their dissolution in 2007, Platinum has gained a reputation of releasing quality, inventive games – such as the recent Infinite Space – in an era when emphasis is [...]]]>

Platinum Games’ history is as odd as their games, as anyone who’s played either MadWorld or Bayonetta can attest.  Mostly composed of talent from Clover Studios following their dissolution in 2007, Platinum has gained a reputation of releasing quality, inventive games – such as the recent Infinite Space – in an era when emphasis is shifting away from Japanese developers.  Thanks to Platinum luminaries Shinji Mikami, Atsushi Inaba, and Tatsuya Minami, gamers have traveled across Japan as a wolf diety, kicked goons in the testicles with cowboy boots, and amassed an incredible tri-color bodycount.

Okami (As Clover Studio: PlayStation 2 – 2006, Wii – 2008)

With unique cel-shaded visuals, an amazing soundtrack, and an inventive system whereby players paint over the game screen to activate abilities, Okami almost defies comparison.  It could be described as “Zelda in Japan,” as Okami’s dungeons and gradual build of explorative abilities is reminiscent of so many adventures in Hyrule.  However, the game’s wildly fantastic feudal Japan setting placed the game into a league of its own, and is now considered one of the best games from the PlayStation 2 era.

God Hand (As Clover Studio: PlayStation 2 – 2006)

Releasing so soon after Okami, gamers and critics alike were bewildered by God Hand’s dissimilarity its predecessor.  The game wasn’t action/adventure, it wasn’t sprawling and vast, and it wasn’t even polished or easy on the eyes.  However, many gamers came to realize that God Hand was intentionally rough and brash.  Evocative of early 90s brawlers in tone, difficulty, and control, God Hand eventually won over the hearts of gamers patient enough to give it time.  To this day, God Hand remains a love-it-or-hate-it title, with half of gamers swearing that it’s clunky and unpolished, and the other half explaining that they love it in spite of – and maybe even because of – that attribute.

Following the release of God Hand, and potentially due to poor sales of the title, Capcom’s Board of Directors dissolved Clover Studio in early 2007.  Though the properties developed by Clover remain with Capcom, talent from the group reformed into Seeds Inc shortly thereafter.  Near the end of 2007, Seeds merged with ODD Incorporated to form Platinum Games, and quickly signed a four-game deal with publishing deal with Sega (who will soon release a 32x commemorative soundtrack, of all things).

MadWord (Wii – 2009)

The first output of Platinum Games was long hailed as the spiritual successor to God Hand, though it didn’t manage to capture the same cult following.  MadWorld’s hallmark was simple and stark: violence, and lots of it.  Platinum saw the lack of violent games on the Wii as an untapped market, and set to fill the void.  Everything about the game highlights the wanton violence, from Jack’s gruff demeanor to the game’s grayscale and blood-red color palette.  Surprisingly, the game’s story provided more than a flimsy excuse to kill, and even offered some thought-provoking commentary on mankind’s obsession with destruction.

Bayonetta (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 – 2010)

Designed by Devil May Cry director Hideki Kamiya, it’s no surprise that Bayonetta is similar in execution to his previous work with Capcom.  Razor-sharp beat-em-up controls, gradual upgrade mechanics, and a taste for the absurd return in Bayonetta, though in levels far exceeding the Devil May Cry series.  While the story and setting are so oddball that their description cannot be contained in a single paragraph, playing the game will quickly change confusion into incredulous amusement as Bayonetta battles enemies on the side of a falling clocktower or inside an active volcano.

Infinite Space (DS – 2010)

Platinum Games’ latest release follows its trend of development, which is to say it’s not similar to their previous games at all.  Infinite Space is a science fiction role-playing game, allowing players to create and customize spacecraft with a multitude of parts and participate in 3D space battles.  The story is said to be inspired by Childhood’s End by sci-fi icon Arthur C. Clarke (2001: A Space Odyssey).  Though Platinum Games’ history doesn’t give much of a glimpse into how Infinite Space will play, gamers can at least be assured that it should be a quality experience.

Vanquish (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 – Winter 2010)

Rounding out the company’s four-game deal with Sega, very little is currently known about Vanquish.  A short but impressive trailer depicts a futuristic battle between Russia and The United States involving personal armor suits and mechanized robots.  Several enthusiasts have suggested that Platinum Games is merely trying to create another Halo, but given that the game is directed by Shinji Mikami (creator of Viewtiful Joe, Devil May Cry, Ace Attorney), surely it deserves the benefit of the doubt.

A Dreamcast retrospective is well and good, but 32X is hardly worth it Sega.

Sega apparently forgot just how awful its 32X add-on for the Sega Genesis was.  The company announced today that it will produce a soundtrack to celebrate the flop.

The Super 32X 15th Anniversary Album will be released on March 31 and contain a [...]]]>

A Dreamcast retrospective is well and good, but 32X is hardly worth it Sega.

Sega apparently forgot just how awful its 32X add-on for the Sega Genesis was.  The company announced today that it will produce a soundtrack to celebrate the flop.

The Super 32X 15th Anniversary Album will be released on March 31 and contain a whopping 128 songs spread across three CDs.  Tracks have been lifted directly off of the hardware for titles like Space Harrier, Stellar Assault, Virtua Racing Deluxe, Parasquad, Metal Head and Virtua Fighter (full track list here).  A booklet of notes from the producers will accompany the package.

According to the release, many of the tracks are looped twice to give them a beefier play time.

And yes, Sega still thinks the 32X will change the world of video games as we know it.  From the album cover: “Its state-of-art 32-bit game technology combines high-speed, arcade-quality, 3D graphics and over 32,000 colors for a 32-bit experience.”

It failed because it did nothing to enhance “blast processing.”

Here are these upcoming week’s new releases for the week of 3/22/2010 on the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and DS.

This week’s highlight includes the highly anticipated Sequel: Red Steel 2 (Game Only/Bundle)

According to a report based on a document written by a senior software development engineer at Microsoft, it suggests that USB Mass Storage Device Support is coming to the Xbox 360 via a 2010 system update.

The new update will allow Xbox 360 users to save and load game data from USB devices.  The feature will include downloading [...]]]>

According to a report based on a document written by a senior software development engineer at Microsoft, it suggests that USB Mass Storage Device Support is coming to the Xbox 360 via a 2010 system update.

The new update will allow Xbox 360 users to save and load game data from USB devices.  The feature will include downloading Xbox LIVE Arcade games, Games on Demand, DLC and Title Updates among additional content.

It has been said that the minimum capacity USB storage device supported will be 1GB.  The storage capacity doesn’t seem to be a lot, but there appears to be no limit on the maximum capacity, as formatting the USB storage device will limit users to accessing a maximum of 16GB, meaning that users would still have to purchase a hard drive to maximize the storage even more.

In addition, the 16GB limit can be increased, but it will only work by using two USB devices to bring the total storage to 32GB.  This would be enough for game saves, but considering the amount of DLC on Xbox 360, users will have to opt for the hard drive, especially users with the Xbox 360 Arcade model.

Rockstar Games has just announced that Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City has been slightly delayed for the PlayStation 3, which was scheduled for release on March 30th, has now been pushed back to an April 13th release.

Rockstar Games has responded to the delay by saying, that due to a request from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, [...]]]>

Rockstar Games has just announced that Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City has been slightly delayed for the PlayStation 3, which was scheduled for release on March 30th, has now been pushed back to an April 13th release.

Rockstar Games has responded to the delay by saying, that due to a request from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, they want to make some minor content changes in the PAL version of the game.  Rockstar Games wants to be true to their GTA fans out there and release the game simultaneously in each country.  The release dates will now include April 13th in North America, and April 16th in other territories.

The company says that these “minor changes” wont effect the game or gameplay, and that it will hold up to the true quality that the GTA franchise is known for.

Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City is also currently available on Xbox 360.

It’s only been about a week since the family-friendly Aragorn’s Quest was announced for multiple platforms, but Warner Bros. does not want us to forget about Lord of the Rings just yet.  The company announced that a second title is in [...]]]> Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment carefully selects a developer for the non-family friendly LoTR video game.

It’s only been about a week since the family-friendly Aragorn’s Quest was announced for multiple platforms, but Warner Bros. does not want us to forget about Lord of the Rings just yet.  The company announced that a second title is in development for 360, PS3 and PC.  Lord of the Rings: War in the North is a new action-adventure RPG that will be made available sometime next year.

Lord of the Rings: War in the North is being developed by Snowblind Studios.  Snowblind was responsible for Champions of Norrath, an online-capable RPG set inside Sony’s EverQuest universe.  The game received solid reviews.  The company followed it up with Champions: Return to Arms the following year.

War in the North is to be based on the books, as well as the popular trilogy of movies from Peter Jackson.  Snowblind will incorporate “unseen lands, story elements, and characters from Middle-earth, as well as elements familiar from past feature films” in the title.  War in the North will offer many RPG staples, including customizable characters and upgrades to weaponry and armor.

There’s no such thing as Lord of the Rings without a merry band, and War in the North will make it happen with “innovative cooperative gameplay that pits you and your friends against the dark forces of Middle-earth.”

Middle-earth Enterprises, the company in charge of Tolkein’s estate, is reportedly involved in the project.

The official website is available, but doesn’t offer much additional information.  It does contain an announcement teaser.

Snowblind Studios was one of the many recent acquisitions by WBIE, having been purchased in 2009.

According to various rumors online, it appears that Microsoft maybe working on a new slimmed down design for the Xbox 360 codenamed Valhalla, it is also rumored that it may launch with the release of Project Natal.

Photos of the new slimmed down motherboard, for what is believed to be the new slimmed down version [...]]]>

According to various rumors online, it appears that Microsoft maybe working on a new slimmed down design for the Xbox 360 codenamed Valhalla, it is also rumored that it may launch with the release of Project Natal.

Photos of the new slimmed down motherboard, for what is believed to be the new slimmed down version of the Xbox 360, were posted on a Chinese message board, but no confirmation was given on whether or not this was the new Xbox 360 motherboard.

But, according to gaming site Kotaku, the new design of the Xbox 360 console appears to combine the central processing unit (CPU) with the Graphics processing Unit (GPU) in a smaller single chip.

Microsoft has yet to confirm these rumors, but this would be a big move for Microsoft, that would allow the company to bring down the cost and most likely the price of the Xbox 360, much like Sony did when they released the PS3 Slim.

We will keep you posted as new developments on this rumor are announced.

In a recent interview with CVG, Sega’s Mike Hayes detailed Sega’s two pronged strategy to ensuring the company’s continued success as a third-party publisher/developer.

The key development over the next 12 months for [...]]]> Sega will continue to focus on Nintendo platforms with multiple franchises.  Will not use old-school IPs as PR stunts; going for quality games.

In a recent interview with CVG, Sega’s Mike Hayes detailed Sega’s two pronged strategy to ensuring the company’s continued success as a third-party publisher/developer.

The key development over the next 12 months for us will be to build on the success we’ve seen on Wii and DS, as you’d expect – but our main area of focus will be to increase the market share we have on 360 and PS3. That’s absolutely our single-minded goal for this year.

He continued by reiterating the recent successes the company has had, including high pre-order sales of Aliens vs. Predator, the high marks given to Bayonetta and the excitement behind Vanquish.  Hayes stated that Platinum Games, makers of Bayonetta (360/PS3), MadWorld, Infinite Space and the upcoming Vanquish, will likely tether its future developments to PS3, 360 and PC.

I guess there’s a reference to MadWorld there. Critically it got a lot of acclaim, but commercially it wasn’t the success we wanted it to be. Clearly that was a mismatch with the Wii audience – particularly in terms of the amount of cross-ownership between Wii and the other home platforms. If you’re going to play a mature-rated game, you’re going to get your 360, PC or PS3 out to do so. But you can’t knock us for having a go.

We were brave in that area – but the reality is, Platinum Games is such a cutting-edge developer they need the PS3 or 360 to realise what they actually want to do.

You’ve probably been excited by the Sonic The Hedgehog 4 trailers like the rest of us, and might have had high hopes for Golden Axe’s rebirth.  We all love classic intellectual properties returning to their roots right?  Well, so does Sega.  Hayes stated that returning beloved IPs will be given the proper attention they deserve, unlike Golden Axe: Beast Rider (360/PS3).

Going forward, if we’re going to look at any existing IP to bring out the locker, we have to make sure we get the quality to a level we now expect. I’m not saying which IP it would be – a Streets Of Rage, a Crazy Taxi, whatever. What we have to do now is build something that is 85 per cent plus [rated]. We can’t just get away with PR.

*cough* Shenmue.

Hayes said time and again that Sega will continue to dominate on Nintendo’s platforms, but it needs “to grow our share of the PS3 and 360 market.“

How exactly will it continue to dominate the Wii/DS market?  Simple, lots and lots of Sonic.

The thing with Sonic you need to understand is that there are different parts of the Sonic family. This is how we’re building the whole strategy. In one corner you’ve got Mario & Sonic franchise, in the next you’ve got Sonic The Hedgehog. Then you’ve got the All-Stars – that’s pretty much everybody. Then you’ve got something we haven’t seen for a while, which is like Sonic Heroes, multiplay-type game.

Those are the four areas we want to develop.

Read the full interview here.

Sega has recently announced at a press conference in Tokyo, that they are working on the next game in their popular Yakuza franchise.

With the recent release of Yakuza 3 here in North America, and the upcoming Yakuza 4 scheduled for release in Japan on March 18th.  Fatmisu has reported that a new entry in the [...]]]>

Sega has recently announced at a press conference in Tokyo, that they are working on the next game in their popular Yakuza franchise.

With the recent release of Yakuza 3 here in North America, and the upcoming Yakuza 4 scheduled for release in Japan on March 18th.  Fatmisu has reported that a new entry in the series was announced at a Yakuza 4 press conference in Tokyo yesterday.  According to Famitsu, the game was referred to as “Project K” and it comes from series director Toshihiro Nagoshi.

Sega showed an image movie at the event, which was described in detail by Famitsu.  The video started off with that familiar Kamurocho neon entrance sign from past Yakuza games.  A young boy, whom is believed to be the game’s main character, is seen walking around the night city in the rain.  The video ends with the text “A new challenge for Yakuza starts”.

No mention was given on release date or what platform it would be released on, but it is speculated to continue on the PS3.

The latest installment in the series Yakuza 3, is currently available on PS3.  

According to the May cover of GamePro, the next Spider-Man game from Activision Blizzard will be titled Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.

Since the issue isn’t on newsstands yet there isn’t any official details on the title, but that doesn’t mean we have no information.  Thanks to the debacle surrounding [...]]]> Activision Blizzard reveals the next Spider-Man game via GamePro.

According to the May cover of GamePro, the next Spider-Man game from Activision Blizzard will be titled Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.

Since the issue isn’t on newsstands yet there isn’t any official details on the title, but that doesn’t mean we have no information.  Thanks to the debacle surrounding Spider-Man 4, we know that there is no new movie coming in the immediate future.  Therefore Shattered Dimensions should be its own story.  That would be the first original web-slinging tale since 2008’s Web of Shadows (360/DS/PS2/PS3/PSP/Wii).

Seeing as this is an Activision game, we would expect Shattered Dimensions to be made for a multitude of platforms.

One could only hope that Bobby Kotick stands behind his promise to make a quality Spider-Man game.  Since the games based on Spider-Man his company has made in the last five years have “sucked,” according to the man in charge (and critics).