Epic Games decided to join the increasingly popular Stream distribution system with the announcement of this “Unreal” deal:

• Unreal Gold
• Unreal 2: The Awakening
• Unreal Tournament: Game of the Year Edition
• Unreal Tournament 2004: Editor’s Choice Edition
• Unreal Tournament 3

All for $59.95. If you buy before the 24th of March, you get an additional 10% off. Pretty sweet if you’re a big Unreal fan who needs to buy any of these games. I would purchase it myself if I an 8800 GT and didn’t buy the PS3 version.

Now that we have id, Valve and Epic Games on Steam, who else do we need? Blizzard, of course. After that, I see no reason to visit brick and mortar stores for essential PC games.

Since Tokyo Game Show 2006 and the explosion of Devil May Cry 4 media, I’ve been keeping Capcom’s demon slaying action game in the back of mind. While it may be the fourth installment in the franchise, Devil May Cry 4 served as my second foray into Dante’s world. Having played and loved Devil May Cry 3, I had high hopes for Devil May Cry 4. I wanted it to be bigger, badder and basically be Devil May Cry 3 in high definition. In many ways they delivered, but I believe they may have taken my request too literally as well.

(more…)

Smash Brothers fever hit this week and pretty much all of us on QSF5 are gearing up for Brawl get together next week. Forge and I tried out Brawl via Nintendo WFC, but it wasn’t as fluid it could be. The offline experience was a lot better. We’re going to give it another whirl sometime in the near future and I’m hoping it will be a better experience.

My brother and I have been playing through the American version of the game at a feverish pace; trying to unlock as much as possible, but we cannot fight the urge to duke it out in Battle mode and improve our skills. I don’t believe we’re going pro like those guys featured on this week’s 1UP Show, but it’s a deep game with a lot to offer.

I rarely do gaming binges, but Brawl ignited a 2 hour marathon. It seems like only Nintendo published games are capable of grabbing me like this since the last game which I spent 2 + hours consecutively with was Super Mario Galaxy.

(more…)

Well scratch that possibility. Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg was quoted saying that “Xbox is not currently in talks with Sony or the Blu-ray Association to integrate Blu-ray into the Xbox experience“. Why should they? They want to push their digital movie download service.

Is this a loss for the XBOX 360 fan? I’m not sure XBOX 360 owners even care to buy a $200 Blu-ray add-on. I mean, at that price, you will get a more capable Blu-ray player for $100 more.

In other Blu-ray related news, Metal Gear Solid 4 will be using the 50 GB dual layer disc which doesn’t include multiple languages. That’s damn insane if you ask me.

Did anyone actually believe Street Fighter IV’s visuals wouldn’t improve? Well it did. There are two image galleries courteosy of OXM and Xboxygen. Along with improved visuals, we also get great looks at some new stages. One of them reminds me of the Akuma level from Street Fighter Alpha 2 and the other looks like a stage suitable for Guile.

Looking great.

Thanks to nubbe from NeoGAF for the selective cropping.

February’s NPD data is in and it’s too amazing to ignore. For the second month in a row, the PS3 outsold the XBOX 360 in the United States. What’s shocking is the PS2 sales which was nothing short of staggering beating both the PS3 and XBOX 360. Nintendo’s one-two punch dominated the hardware charts.

1. Nintendo DS - 587,600
2. Nintendo Wii - 432,000
3. PlayStation 2 - 351,800
4. PLAYSTATION 3 - 280,800
5. Xbox 360 - 254,600
6. PlayStation Portable - 243,100

Was there a price drop in the United States for the PS2? No, more like a Target $99 special. The public likes their gaming hardware cheap!

Software sales are at the simExchange’s post if you’re interested.

I’m sad over Wipeout Pulse’s sales because it’s a great game that deserves your money.

A few days ago, the gaming press were invited to “Capcom’s Digital Day”, an event Capcom cooked up to promote, reveal and show off their latest and upcoming digital offerings. Most, if not all, the games shown there will be available through digital distribution only.

I touched on a few items yesterday such as the 1942 remake, Commandos 3 and SSF2T:HDR, but today we were treated with a lot more tidbits including media, info and clarifications.

(more…)

Oh snap, son! Oh snap! 1942 in HD?!

Capcom is answering prayers, here! IGN has the scoop along with a nice trailer. It’s basically the same 1942 I love, but in HD, re-tooled with some new tricks and cheap! It’s going to cost $9.99 on PSN or 800 Space Bucks on XBLA. Release window? This summer.

Very excited for this. Especially for the cooperative play!

P.S - Capcom, bring us Captain Commando in HD filled with 4 player co-op and we’ll be golden!

Wow. A Lucha Libre fighter? Who could have guessed? That’s me being prejudice, but I can’t say I’m too thrilled about this new character for Street Fighter IV.

No gameplay videos of him fighting on Chun Li’s stage yet. All we got is this concept art drawing of him.

I hate the bundling of “betas” within commercial products. Especially, when I don’t want the commercial product, but I desperately want the beta. It’s fine if you bundle the beta invite with a pre-order, but not with a game that may not be very good.

Capcom is doing just that.

They are bundling Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo: HD Remix’s eight week beta with the Commando 3 — not Bionic Commando, but Commando 3. Commando 3 looks alright, but it hasn’t ignited any sparks of nostalgia yet. SSF2T:HDR on the other hand, is looking marvelous. The beta will be exclusive to XBOX Live! Arcade and available to only Gold members.

I guess that counts me out. The final version is coming to both XBLA and PSN.