Kinketsu

I just clicked on "comments" to say the exact same thing. Breaker Morant is a wonderful film and worth anyone's time.

In fairness, the Ryu Ga Gotoku games and Assassins Creed have very little in common apart from being in the 3rd person, having some degree of free roaming and in the latest Ryu game you primarily use swords, as oppossed to 1 and 2 in which swords were just one of many weapons. Neither Ryu 1 nor 2 have been as free in their roaming as Assassins Creed, while the side missions in Assassins Creed don't have a patch on the Ryu series.

Side-missions in Ryu Ga Gotoku are all scripted and have very unique elements which are totally seperate to the main game. Assassins Creed's non-assassination missions are often quite boring, always exactly the same, and sometimes almost entirely free of story or background. In Ryu games there are a collection of mini-games (which seems to have expanded in this version) from playing full games of shogi and mahjong to chatting up hostesses and playing in an arcade. In Assassins Creed you can...collect flags.

All in all, the games don't have very much in common. However, I actually did enjoy Assassins Creed when I was playing it. But the two games haven't much ground for comparison beyond what Andrew put in his article, that even AC, and certainly older sword games like Way of the Samurai, Kengo, Bushido Blade and Fu-un Shinsengumi, have better swordplay systems judging from the demo.

But a feature of Ryu games is that you can level up your moves and fighting skills all the time. I think this is the reason Kiryu seems so hopelessly underpowered in the demo.

The previous two Ryu Ga Gotoku games were smash hits in Japan, so I can understand them not changing the formula very much. There's nothing unfortunate about it for Sega who are set to make a mint off this in it's target market.

While I was a little shocked by the sword mechanics (no parrying / effective countering system? Even after all the great samurai games that have gone before?) and damage, I think the problem is that in an effort to not give away too much, they've put a very stripped down version of Kiryu in the demo. He seems to have far less moves than the very beginning of the previous games because of this. I understand why they might have done this, but it seems like a demo is a good place to show off rather than pair down.

Likewise, the quest in the other demo is not exactly the most enthralling mission the world has ever seen, even if it really is the one that leads into the cutscene of Haruka in the final game. They could have cheated by pairing up a more exciting mission with that cutscene, and we'd be none the wiser till March. Still I appreciate being able to see around part of the town, have a look at some of the mechanics, scope out the graphics etc.

While I have to admit some parts were a letdown, as a big Ryu Ga Gotoku fan I can't deny that I'm still really excited for March!

Vincent, my PS3 is a Japanese machine and my PS1 version of Street Fighter Alpha 3 is from the U.K.

Excellent, my favorite Street Fighter series! It seems strange to release it close to HD Remix, but I'm not complaining. But given this is Street Fighters 20th, I wonder if this means we're in for some more Alpha releases. If that's the case, I may hold off to see if Alpha 3 turns up, although I already have Max for the PSP, I'd like a copy of Alpha 3 I can play on the big screen (My PS1 disc and PS3 machine are different regions unfortunately)

Yeah sorry Autopsy, I realised my mistake just after I posted it. All in all, it hasn't been a great update week for the PSN though.

Oh wait, the GT thing came out earlier last year didn't it? It said 1.2 then too...so...it's not news.

There seems to also be a demo for Gran Turismo on the North American store. HD Concept v1.2. I haven't downlaoded it but the track name is the same as the one from the Japanese demo, I think, but the cars are different I believe.

I thought the first game was excellent so I'd be delighted if they made another game. It seems like Atlantis would make sense given their great water technology and so on, but I'm not sure that's the best idea. Plus Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis already did it well enough for me.

How about China? Lots of interesting areas to climb and pirates etc to shoot, plus the chance of maybe fighting some of those hopping Chinese vampires or something. South America would be a lot of jungles again, and I agree they should switch things up a little in that regard. I don't mind the gameplay at all, but while the game should be set in another 'uncharted' area, it needn't be in the same style of one. Mayans etc rings too close to the original game, and also Tomb Raider Underworld and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, both coming out this year.

So basically, I'm not for the Mayans or a jungle, but almost anywhere else sounds great to me. I do think they should stick to one location though, and not go globe-trotting like Lara Croft. Uncharted seemed very focused in that way, it that it took place only over two very similar islands.

The second Yakuza game, Ryu Ga Gotoku 2, was excellent. It did indeed take place one year after the first game, and it had a whole slew of tweaks that improved it upon the original. The fighting system allowed you to tackle enemies who weren't facing you, and sort of swing your punch to hit someone who had moved. You could do team up moves with friendly partners during battles. Another small fix that made a big difference was that the loading times were greatly reduced. Plus, a brand new city to explore, Osaka! I really recommend Ryu Ga Gotoku 2.

So of course, I can't wait for Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan. I hope this rumour is true, I also saw it on NeoGAF. I think it started on a Japanese retail blog, so there is a good chance. The television adverts have already started in Japan, although the game won't be released for another three months.

Oh and Ryu 2 is coming to America as Yakuza 2, Sega announced it at the Tokyo Game Show last year, so never fear! Rumour has it that the game does not have any voice overs and will use the original Japanese track with subtitles, which would certainly save costs.