Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition Review

The basic premise of the Street Fighter series has changed little since its debut in 1987. You play as one of 35 characters (all unlocked from the start), with the aim being to knock out your opponent with a range of kicks, punches, and special moves. All the characters from Super Street Fighter IV make a return, including series favourites such as Ryu, Chun-Li, and Blanka, along with newer additions such as C. Viper, Abel, and Rufus. Each is carefully balanced, so you are never at a disadvantage, no matter which character you fight with. With so many to choose from, there are a range of moves to suit everyone. For example, Abel is a slower, grapple-style character, specialising in short-range throws, while characters like Ryu and Sakura have faster, long-range attacks like Hadouken fireballs.
Learning moves and knowing which are the most effective against other fighters' attacks is key, making each match a strategic affair as you attempt to unravel your opponent's technique. If you're new to the series, a good place to start learning moves is Training mode, where you face off against a static dummy opponent. Though there's no tutorial, the controls are easy to pick up, and moves are listed via an onscreen command list. There are also various settings to adjust, such as your target's block mode, stun frequency, and regeneration levels. An input display shows you what buttons you're pushing, but it doesn't give you any guidance on the timing of your commands. If you're used to playing Street Fighter on a standard Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 pad, then the control scheme will be familiar, though arcade-stick players will need time to adjust. By default, you move your character around using the circle pad or D pad, pushing back to block. One isn't necessarily easier to use than the other; your preference will depend largely on your own technique, but you might find the circle pad to be a little less accurate in frantic fights. Meanwhile, the face buttons launch light and medium kicks and punches, while the shoulder buttons launch heavy kicks and punches.

Postmortem: Capcom's Okamiden

In 2006, Okami launched on the PlayStation 2 to widespread critical acclaim. It won more than 30 critical awards and praise for game design amongst all global gaming media.

Then in 2008, Okami launched on the Nintendo Wii system, also with strong critical acclaim -- but both the Wii version and the PS2 original garnered relatively little commercial success.
Without overwhelming sales for support, and in the wake of the closing of original series creator Clover Studios, the prospect of another title in the Okami universe seemed doubtful.
Vocal fans were hungry for more sunshine and wolf-god adventure. Luckily, there was a talented and dedicated team at Capcom that was eager to see a new game from the Okami franchise, too.
In 2009, a small passionate team at Capcom developed a unique vision of how to continue the brand exclusively on the Nintendo DS system. The first announcement of Okamiden came in April 2010; no longer was the gaming community wondering if there was going to be a follow up game in the Okami franchise.
Okamiden launched September 2010 in Japan and March 2011 in the pan-Western territories on the Nintendo DS. Making the vivid, colorful world of Okami portable and appealing to the globe wasn't all sunshine and cherry blossoms during development. Here are some of the notable successes and challenges that occurred during the development and localization process, as recollected by Okamiden director Kuniomi Matsushita and producer Motohideo Eshiro.

No Trophies? But I thought Valve Loved PS3

Valve has suddenly become one of PS3's best friends. They have announced an exclusive deal where PS3 owners will get both the PC an PS3 version of Portal 2. Could it be a way to drag more customers to Steam? Maybe. However this also comes with the addition of Steam Works, something many gamers are excited for as it could lead towards multi-console gaming.

However with all this "love" from Valve we have simply thrown out the past. It was like just yesterday when Gabe Newell called the PS3 a "Waste of everyones time." Now that the PS3 is selling through the roof, and Newell somewhat apologized (after he realized the cash cow he nearly killed) and Valve seems innocent.

Looking at my collection of games I still see one disgrace sitting at the bottom of the pile, The Orange Box. Probably the worse ported title in PS3 history, and its mostly due to the fact Valve wanted nothing to do with it. Now what could easily make up for this horrible mistake? Well we already know going back and fixing ALL the issues are out of question, so why not do the simple thing and add trophies? The other two platforms already have achievments installed, so porting these over would be simple. The effort? Nearly nothing. The cost? An hours debate of rather or not the intern doing it will get paid or not.

Portal is still probably the only Valve title I personally am fond of, so there is an even better solution for Valve. With Portal 2 just around the corner, reworking Portal on the PS3 (adding trophies too) and releasing it separatly on the PSN Store would make up for all the effort. PS3 fans would gobble it up as Portal 2 anticipation grows. Valve fans would never be able to leave it alone, especially if maybe a Portal 2 demo or something was involved. Thus they make a few extra bucks with little effort involved.

I would personally jump on a Portal stand alone title for trophies anyday of the week, how about you?

Modern Warfare 3 to be an NGP Launch Title?

Sony's NGP was announced earlier this year, with a tentative release date of November 2011. During the event, Sony announced several first and third-party titles, putting particular focus on the biggest console franchise, Call of Duty.

With a supposed worldwide release date of November 11, it seems like the next Call of Duty could fall into the exact time frame for NGP's launch. A sequel to Modern Warfare 2 this year is a very likely prospect, so perhaps we could see a direct port, in other words, Modern Warfare 3 for NGP as well as consoles.

What's the likelihood of this happening? Several developers have stated how easy it is to port a PS3 game directly to the NGP. Sega, for example, mentioned that it took just three months to port a Yakuza 4 tech demo to the handheld system. Furthermore, the cross compatability between the NGP and PS3 could open up an entriely new experience for online gameplay.

Could we see cross-platform play between the handheld and console systems? It does sound rather far-fetched, and nothing like it has really been implemented thus far, but what does seem likely is that we may get the ability to share XP between the console and handheld versions of the game on one PSN ID. This would effectively mean you could have your Call of Duty fix throughout the day (during work) and rank up your character on both platforms at the same time, allowing you to unlock perks more efficiently.

So, it seems very likely that the we will see a Call of Duty port for the NGP around it's launch window, however the features and visuals may vary. One thing is for certain, if Activision can pull this off, NGP will have a killer app from day one and the sales for the next Call of Duty title are going to increase even further!

this is Crysis 2, the expected continuation of the jewel CryTek 2007 that the series returns to PC after three years of absence

The first major event of the shooter genre has finally released on consoles and PCs worldwide, and with it we have among us one of the most anticipated video games and more expectations have risen in recent times. The alien invasion that devastates the city of New York has a unique savior, we, and will succumb under our arms as human and alien enemies in an epic campaign and a multiplayer extremely hectic.

The brand is now Crysis and quality assurance, and the original, in fact, made ​​at the time of its launch in late 2007 with the unlikely prize to be cutting the game first person shooter highest rated in the history of the magazine, with a creditable and deserved 9.8. The second installment few tenths reduce your score, yes, and this is because some aspects that tell the length and breadth of analysis. Is it Crysis 2 so this is disappointing? Nothing is further from the truth: Crytek proves again that is one of the pioneering studies about the use of technology and machines playable today, and this time expanding its range with the debut of the franchise on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3; something that millions of fans came begging since the launch of his great predecessor.

The original Crysis sensory effect is multiplied exponentially in this sequel, which focuses on an epic spectacle and a prism that poured over the previous game on their massive stage in their own gameplay experience. Germans from Crytek are improving their game production values ​​to match, and although the path between first and second part of the franchise has lost some of the freshness of the challenge and the true value gameplay of its predecessor, the truth is that with this mammoth then continue to show why they are one of the leaders of the genre.