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UFC Undisputed 2010 trailer reminds us of MJ, makes us sad

by Griffin McElroy { Dec 13th 2009 at 2:00PM }

Aww, we were having such a good time watching last night's Spike Video Game Awards show -- then the trailer for the recently dated UFC Undisputed 2010 aired, and really soured our enjoyment of the event. See, the first minute of the video utilizes the transformative special effects featured in Michael Jackson's "Black or White" music video, so immediately we started thinking about how this would be our first Christmas without MJ in our lives. Nothing could revive our good spirits after that. Not even Kimbo Slice's beard, which may be filled with hidden candies.

Check out the trailer ~~after the jump~~ above, but feel free to skip to the 0:52 mark if you want to avoid the melancholy described above. Alternatively, skip to the 1:01 mark if you want to witness Kimbo's glorious, confection-rich facial hair.

Two Japanese DSiWare games with clever camera uses

by JC Fletcher { Dec 11th 2009 at 1:45PM }

The upcoming Japanese DSiWare game Katamuction uses the system's cameras in a unique way: to simulate tilt control. Using Motion Cortex, technology originally designed for motion-based browsing on cell phones, the game uses camera information to sense the direction in which the DS is moved. And what is that technology used for? A game about running away from a dinosaur! Katamuction will be out December 24 for 500 DSi Points.

Fight with Pictures: Photo Fighter X from Nintendo uses the camera to create fighting game characters: you take photos of yourself in various poses, and the game makes a fighter out of it! It's out in Japan next week for 200 points.

SNK announces Metal Slug XX, three more for XBLA in Japan

by JC Fletcher { Dec 7th 2009 at 9:55AM }

There's good news and bad news about Metal Slug 7 on Xbox Live Arcade. The bad news is that we're pretty sure it's not coming out. The good news is that Metal Slug XX, the upgraded, multiplayer-capable PSP remix of the DS game, is replacing it in SNK's 2010 lineup. SNK also announced XBLA ports of two of its fighting games: King of Fighters 2002 Ultimate Match and Neo Geo Battle Coliseum. All three will join the weird King of Fighters shooting game, The King of Fighters Sky Stage, on XBLA in spring 2010.

These games have, so far, been announced only for Japan, but we are sure SNK will release them all worldwide -- if only because it would be a waste of effort to develop an XBLA title just for the few people in Japan who would buy it.

Gallery: Metal Slug XX (PSP)

[Thanks, sacra!]

Here come some new challengers in this Super Street Fighter IV trailer

by JC Fletcher { Nov 26th 2009 at 12:01AM }

The latest trailer for Super Street Fighter IV reveals the newly-announced characters in motion for the first time, leading to some surprising discoveries. For example, Adon sounds like Starscream. That actually kind of makes sense if you imagine Sagat as Megatron and Adon as his annoying sidekick.

In addition to the three new new guys, all the other new Super Street Fighter IV characters are featured as well, so you can hear all the terrible new voice acting so far! And you can also see that, at least upon cursory inspection, everyone plays like they used to. Cody still throws knives, T. Hawk still throws people, and Dee Jay is still annoying.

[Thanks, Kenoji!]

Continued →

Tekken 6 update launches Nov. 26, addresses online issues

by David Hinkle { Nov 25th 2009 at 11:30AM }

A free update, launching on November 26, hopes to end the woes Tekken 6 players have encountered in the online King of Iron Fists Tournament. The update should improve connectivity between players and will add selectable search priorities for ranked matches.

Namco also aims to improve the responsiveness of button input and will add a cancel option for the first few seconds of a match should you disapprove of your opponent's signal strength. Or, in our case, should you find they're using a super cheap character like Devil Jin. Stop it!

Famitsu: Cody, Adon, and Guy join Super Street Fighter IV

by JC Fletcher { Nov 24th 2009 at 11:15AM }

We thought the Haggar billboard and Metro City license plate in the new car-smashing bonus stage would be the only Final Fight nods in Super Street Fighter IV. Scans from Famitsu show that Final Fight's two shirt-wearing protagonists, Cody and Guy, will appear as playable fighters in the game. The appearance of Adon, along with Cody's striped prison getup, means that the fighters are appearing in their Street Fighter Alpha incarnations. Well, those clues and the heading on the article saying that the three characters are from that series.

A sidebar in Famitsu shows Guy parrying a kunai, suggesting that Street Fighter III favorite Ibuki might be joining the fight as well. You remember Street Fighter III, right?

[Thanks, Richard 2.6!]

Swag Saturday: Tekken 6 (360)

by Ben Gilbert { Nov 21st 2009 at 6:00PM }

Here it is, folks: your chance to beat up relatives all throughout the holiday season, albeit from the relative safeness of Tekken 6's confines! For this week's Swag Saturday, we're giving out a copy of Tekken 6 for the Xbox 360 to one lucky commenter who tells us which fictitious holiday character (think: Santa, the Easter Bunny) they'd like to beat up the most, and with which Tekken 6 character they'd like to do so with. Fancy a battle of Kuma vs The Tooth Fairy? Perhaps Jack-6 vs George Washington (wait, he was real?!)? We want to hear about it!

Leave a comment telling us which fictitious holiday character (Santa, the Easter Bunny, etc.) you'd like to beat up most, and with which Tekken 6 character they'd like to do so with.
You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec, mostly due to the gravitational quotient of poutine)
Limit 1 entry per person per day
This entry period ends at 6:01PM ET on Sunday, November 22
At that time, we'll randomly select one winner to receive one copy of Tekken 6 for Xbox 360 ($60 ARV).
For a list of complete rules, click here

What is Joyswag? Since we don't keep the games and merchandise we receive for review or promotional purposes, it becomes "Joyswag," which is passed along to our readers. For more info on our policy, click here.

First legion of BlazBlue Portable screens deployed

by JC Fletcher { Nov 9th 2009 at 2:15PM }

Famitsu has posted the first screens of BlazBlue Portable, the PSP adaptation of Arc System Works' stunning high-definition 2D fighting game. The game has made the transition to the PSP pretty well, at least from what we can tell in still images. The sprites are a lot less smooth, but still detailed, and the screen is still covered with flashy effects.

The screens also show the new Legion Mode, in which territory you capture by winning fights is represented by connected nodes. BlazBlue Portable supports ad hoc multiplayer for up to four players, and can be played online with the PS3's Ad Hoc Party mode.

EA Sports MMA gameplay footage revealed during Strikeforce match

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 8th 2009 at 5:30PM }

Man, we have got to get into watching Mixed Martial Arts. Not only do the sport's leagues have like, the coolest names ever, but the televised bouts also occasionally contain sneak peeks into upcoming video games. For instance, on last night's Strikeforce (so, so cool) match, the first-ever gameplay footage from EA Sports MMA was revealed. You can find it posted just after the jump.

How does it look? We have no idea. There's plenty of punching and kicking, sure, and one might say these two techniques are used intermittently -- or rather, that they are mixed. Therefore, our initial, amateur analysis of the video concludes that it reeks of authenticity.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Continued →

Confirmed: Car-bashing bonus stage returns in Super Street Fighter IV

by Ben Gilbert { Nov 5th 2009 at 3:18PM }

After scans from Famitsu all but confirmed it, Capcom today revealed that the crescendo of humanity vs. his own creations – car bashing – will return in Super Street Fighter IV. Though the image of Juri above is all we're offered by Capcom-Unity for now, various Capcom staff Twitter accounts lead us to believe we'll be hearing more about this bonus stage next week. In the meantime, we've dropped an excellent video of John Cleese beating up a car with a stick for you just after the break. You're welcome.

Continued →

Tekken 6 online patch in the works, says Namco

by Ben Gilbert { Nov 4th 2009 at 6:20PM }

Those of you taking your King of the Iron Fist Tournament fighters to the internet have been experiencing some major issues, notably: when trying to compete online in any sort of meaningful way, you're met with acute, game-ending connectivity issues. Namco recognized that today and issued a response, stating, "To improve the online game experience for players ... Namco Bandai games is developing a downloadable update which will be available as soon as it has passed rigorous testing procedures."

Unfortunately, no date for the patch has been given, though the publisher does add, "This is separate from the online co-op Scenario Campaign mode update." We've pestered Namco for more details on exactly what the patch will aim to fix and when we might hear more about it but, until that time, know this: something is being fixed at some point.

Arc System Works porting BlazBlue to PSP

by JC Fletcher { Nov 4th 2009 at 1:45PM }

The giant HD sprites of Arc System Works' fighter BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger will be shrunk down a bit. Famitsu has announced that Arc System Works is preparing a PSP port of the fighter. The portable release, out in Japan on February 25, will feature all the characters from the console game, and ad-hoc multiplayer for up to four. It'll also include a new Legion Mode in which players fight to gain territory on a game board. No screens or scans have been released yet.

Considering the prolific nature of Blazblue's predecessor, the Guilty Gear series, and the fact that there's already an updated version of the original game on the way to arcades, don't expect this to be the only port of Blazblue.

Rumor: Car punching returns in Super Street Fighter IV

by Justin McElroy { Nov 4th 2009 at 9:45AM }

While Street Fighter may be the perfect symbol of man's inhumanity to man, we always considered SFII's bonus stage (which used the punching of a car as a John Henry-esque metaphor for the struggle to maintain humanity in the face of an industrial age) as the more poignant symbolism. Capcom appears to agree, as some new Famitsu scans seem to indicate that the car-punching bonus stage will return in Super Street Fighter IV.

Also depicted is the barrel smashing mini-game, though that doesn't represent anything ... except that it's fun to smash barrels.

A ridiculously detailed guide to the changes in North America's Tatsunoko vs. Capcom

by JC Fletcher { Nov 2nd 2009 at 6:15PM }

forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php

We know about the "big picture" changes made to Tatsunoko vs. Capcom for the North American release (and the Japanese re-release to follow): online play, new characters, no Hakushon Daimao. But those aren't the only changed. In every iteration of its fighting games, Capcom tweaks tiny behaviors and damage effects to balance the game.

The fighting game obsessives at Shoryuken have produced a list of minute changes that will affect how the game works. For example, the Megacrash move (which pushes the opponent to the opposite side of the screen) now pushes up in addition to away. And Roll's air dash is faster. Check out the wonderfully informative post for plenty more details that we never, ever would have noticed.

Gallery: Tatsunoko vs Capcom (TGS 2009)

[Via GoNintendo]

Kenka Bancho 4 laser-eyes a PSP release

by JC Fletcher { Nov 2nd 2009 at 4:45PM }

Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble isn't even out in North America yet (next week!), but in the period between its announcement and release, publisher Spike has already announced two more Kenka Banchos for Japan: a port of the original, and a new sequel.

Kenka Bancho 4: One Year War takes place in an inexplicably violent high school, as Yuuto attempts to become top "bancho" among the toughest kids in class. By beating everyone else up, of course. The "smashtalk" taunt system will return with unidentified updates. The school fight will start in spring 2010 in Japan. Stare down some screens at GAME Watch.

[Via Siliconera]