Update: Konami also put out a small press release. Warning: there’s a lot of spin in it.
Finally some screenshots from the fighting game you haven’t been waiting for, Castlevania Judgement for the Nintendo Wii. Looks decent. I wonder what kind of game it’ll be like. Soul Calibur-esque? If you got the answer, please let me know.
In the meantime, check the screens and a character art.
I played Elebits (aka Eledees for Europe) for the Wii. It served as an interesting rummaging simulator. It was overwhelmingly cutesy, but it was still fascinating for an early Wii game. Did I want a sequel? I didn’t even finish the original. Well, somebody wanted a sequel, because Konami is delivering one. On the Nintendo DS, though. Figure that one out.
Details and and screenshots of Elebits 2 follows:
The only Castlevania game I’ve thoroughly played and enjoyed was Symphony of the Night, but I do know how ill received the 3D Castlevania were. Since then, new traditional 2D side scrolling Castlevanias have been making regular appearances on the Nintendo DS.
Well Konami believes it’s about time to pit their vampire slaying franchise against the 3D world once again. It also believes it should be a fighting game and exclusive to the Wii. Excitement officially over.
Read the press release if you’re so inclined.
The fourth installment of the original stealth action franchise brings the legendary hero’s saga to an end. As a fan who loves this series, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is my most anticipated game of the year and quite possibly, ever. I purchased a PlayStation 3 for this game. In fact, you could say I assembled my entire home entertainment system in preparation for Snake’s final mission. The expectations are high with the folks at Sony, Konami, loyal followers and critics alike anticipating nothing, but the best from Kojima Productions. I don’t know if it rocked the sales charts or silenced the critics, but I do know it spoke to me and delivered an extremely satisfying gaming experience.
Think of it as an interactive encyclopedia of everything Metal Gear related. It’s coming tomorrow via the PSN weekly update. Anyways, here’s what we should be expecting:
“contains the official knowledge base of everything that is Metal Gear, reaching all the way back to the very beginning of the franchise. Including complete storylines, character profiles, relationship diagrams, and much more!”
Yeah, I forgot to post part 4, but here’s part 5 anyways. For the incredibly lazy, I’ve posted part 4 below.
“Why we love it” is a new feature which we hope to put out when a highly anticipated sequel is about to make its debut. Think of it as an effort to elaborate upon the qualities and traits fans appreciate from the franchise. It’s not aimed at swaying naysayers, but it will acknowledge the franchises’ foibles. This is predominantly aimed at those who are curious about the hype surrounding an upcoming game and have always wondered, “Why do they love it?”.
It’s a question I was asked awhile ago, which I found incredibly hard to answer. “What do people like about the Metal Gear Solid series?” It’s a difficult game to explain. Trying to justify how 20 minutes of cutscenes and codec conversation is an enthralling experience is a tough task, but I thought it was about time I tackled it. So here’s my attempt to describe the Metal Gear Solid series and share why I (and many others) regard it as one of the best videogame franchises of all time.
Is anyone surprised by this? Konami asking reviewers not to mention the install or cutscene length (amongst other things) for MGS4? It’s not uncommon, but it should be stopped. Why even ask reviewers to omit such things, you ask? They aren’t necessarily negative points for fans, but foreigners to the series may not perceive them in the same way. Asking reviewers not to spoil the story is one thing, but asking them to not mention valid points such as this? That’s crossing the line.
EGM’s July issue was supposed to contain a review of MGS4, but since they didn’t quite agree with the limitations imposed by Konami, they opted to wait until next month. That’s the way to do it, folks. We here at QSF5 would do the exact same. We’re in no rush.
These are common practices though. In some form or another, reviewers are being pressured into giving publishers higher scores. MTV’s Multiplayer Blog was running a week of articles involving some of the shadier practices happening in the world of reviewing games. From Metacritic scores affecting bonus royalties to publishers asking editors to hold back unsavory reviews until launch. One can only hope ‘The Game Reviewer’s Bill of Rights‘ gets taken seriously one day.
My Metal Gear Solid: Essential Collection is on its way here! What better way to hype up the game than to play through the predecessor? How about some screenshots from the previous trailers?
GameTrailers put up part 2 of their Metal Gear Retrospective. It’s really quite excellent. Check it out for those who have no intentions of replaying or playing through the previous ones.
