This Week's Comics Release for 4/11/12

Saga #2

Here is this week's comics and comics-related merchandise for the week of 4/11/12 courtesy of PREVIEWSword.  As always, check with your LCS for availability.

Dark Souls Coming To PC

German PC gaming magazine Action just announced that Dark Souls will be coming to PC along with new bosses. The PC version will be coming this August. I'd love to see Dark Souls in full HD and in 60FPS. Definitely worth the double dip.

Source: NeoGAF

By Paranoid Droid

The Courage to Review Nisemonogatari

Bakemonogatari is a tough act to follow. The 2009 anime was bizarre, beautiful and breathtakingly unique. Its cast was incredibly strong and, for the most part, its dialogue witty and rememberable. Bakemonogatari was only the first act in an ongoing light novel series though, and now the second volume, Nisemonogatari has taken the stage.

So when reviewing Nisemonogatari the most obvious question is, did it live up to Bakemonogatari? Unfortunately the answer can't be boiled down to a simple yes or no, but as a whole Bakemonogatari is the stronger candidate. This is far from damning for Nisemonogatari though as it is still a very strong show. Everything that made Bakemonogatari great is still there in its sequel. The clever dialogue, the stunning background art, and the off-kilter pacing is still there in all its glory.

Wow

Where Nisemonogatari suffers is in its story, or real lack thereof. From the very first episode it is easy to see that not a lot happens in this novel and it really is just a segue for whatever comes next. Combined a bad case of sequel-reintroduction syndrome, and the beginning is off to poor start. Another elephant sized problem is sexuality. Both shows are far from a PG rating, but Bakemonogatari used its sex appeal to strengthen its characters. The sexuality never really came off as aggressive or unnecessary in Bakemonogatari. Nisemonogatari throws all that out the window. There is more blatant fanservice in the first two episodes of Nisemonogatari than in all of Bakemonogatari. Pointless suggestiveness, excessive nudity and moronic overindulgence reign supreme in Nisemonogatari.

Despite that Nisemonogatari bring some of its own unique strengths to the field. Where Bakmonogatari had a problem was with a lack of action. Nisemonogatari always has its characters doing something. It never feels like a conversation between characters is out of place or taking priority to the story, which was a major fault with Bakemonogatari. The scenes flow a little better in Nisemonogatari. The show is easy to watch and doesn't stall like Bakemonogatari does.

Nisemonogatari is a worthy successor to the throne despite not really living up. If you didn't like Bakemonogatari stay far away from Nisemonogatari. Conversely fans of the original will love the sequel. You can watch Nisemonogatari on Crunchyroll here.

This article was written by JudgeGrumble (@Judgegrumble) for 8BitSpit. You can read more of his work at plotbranch.blogspot.com.

Salivating Item of the Day: Kotobukiya/Frank Miller Batman Statue

Take a gander at this:

From TOMOPOP :
Taken from the pages of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns is this statue, featuring Miller's grittier Batman kneeling over the prone, laughing Joker, holding Joker down and ready to blast him in the face. The Batman-Hunt The Dark Knight ArtFX statue is sculpted by Junnosuke Abe and stands 12 inches tall (1/6 scale). Want to pick one up? You'll have to wait until September and it'll cost you US$129.99.

Damn this thing looks nice.

Another Marvel's The Avengers TV Spot: Roll Call

X-Men: First Class Sequel Set to Start Filming in January

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that FOX will begin filming the Matthew Vaughn X-Men: First Class sequel in January so that Jennifer Lawrence can film the sequel to The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, in late summer or early fall.  Jennifer Lawrence played the shape shifting mutant Mystique in Vaughn's 2010 hit mutant movie.

For more info, click on the link above.

Movie Trailer: Savages

Movie Trailer: A Fantastic Fear of Everything

VG24/7 - Skullgirls, All You Need To Know

A 27 minute guide of what you need to know about Skullgirls from VG24/7.com

By Paranoid Droid

Sonic the Hedghehog 4: Episode 2 Desert Trailer

There's also bonus content if you already own Episode 1. Unfortunately Episode 2 will not be coming to the Wii.

By Paranoid Droid

Skullgirls "Behold Double"

Video Courtesy of PlaystationBlog

By Paranoid Droid

Cliff Bleszinski Talks About Wanting Less Linear/Scripted Games

Cliff Bleszinski (Unreal Tournament, Gears of War) on his new game design philosophy

"I always refer to that .gif that went around [comparing the] first-person shooter design of Doom to where we’ve gotten to: straight hall, cutscenes, straight hall, cutscenes, straight hall, cutscene. So many games these days, with their campaigns, feel like the game designer is chasing you with a sharp pointed stick saying,’You will feel something at this moment.’

My favorite games lately are the ones when you come into a hallway and you are like, ‘Oh, how did that dungeon instance turn out for you?’ ‘Oh, well I went in as a mage and I did this or I snuck entirely through that one,’ or, ‘I haven’t even seen that, where is that.’ As opposed to, ‘Yes, I came around the exact same corner, and I saw the exact same tower fall, and I saw the exact same experience.’ And if you look at it from a production standpoint, the fancy falling tower in the scripted experience is actually much more expensive but it yields far less of the actual gameplay.

So I want to get back to systems interacting. This is something Will Wright talks about all the time and always has. I would sit there, being a 20-something at DICE, being "I’m Cliffy, blah blah blah" with all that young swagger, not listening to his wisdom, and [saying] ‘I’m going to go make a fancy scripted Hollywood experience.’

[I’m] really realizing that there is a direct correlation, bugs notwithstanding, between how good your game is and how many unique YouTube videos it can yield. And that is one of the mantras I am continuing to hammer.

The amount of viral videos we sent around of Skyrim of millions of wheels of cheese going down a mountain or a frozen bear that flies off into space -- it is just golden. You want a game where programmers are like, ‘How did that happen? Did I even code that?’ That is when things are great and we had that in many ways with Unreal Tournament [with] emerging gameplay [like] teleporting and the translocator. I want to get all of our games back towards that in the future."

Source: Theverge.com

More developers should think like him. But I wonder if he's just realizing this now. But no matter, I agree with him. I'm getting sick of games being cinematic all the time. Most games these days are telling players where to go and holding their hands for the majority of the time (Skyward Sword). Its also one of the reasons why I'll dislike Ninja Theory's take on Devil May Cry. They always seem to talk about how they're making the game cinematic and talk little about about the gameplay. I'm glad there are developers like Platinum Games and FromSoftware making games like Bayonetta, Vanquish, Demon's Souls, and Dark Souls where they give the players full freedom to play however they want.

By Paranoid Droid

Captain America Tells Hulk to SMASH!!!

Source: Super Hero Hype (via Facebook's Avengers Alliance)

Marvel's The Avengers Captain America TV Spot

Captain America 2 Has a Release Date and is in Search of a New Director

Marvel has announced that the sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger will be released on April 4, 2014 and that it will pick up right after The Avengers movie where Steve Rogers is trying to figure out his role in the modern world while still working with S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury (via Comics Continuum).

Skullgirls PSN Release Date Announced

This past Saturday, Reverge Labs finally announced that Skullgirls is coming to Xbox Live on April 11th, but couldn't say anything about the PSN release date. Sony finally announced the release date today. Skullgirls will be coming to PSN on April 10th, for $15.

Source: Playstation Blogcast #19

By Paranoid Droid

*UPDATE* EpixHD's Marvel Heroes Weekend and First Look at "With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story"

With Marvel's The Avengers opening May 4th, EpixHD will be holding a Marvel Heroes Weekend on April 27-29 showcasing the movies that have led to the epic team up such as Thor, Iron Man 2, and the world premiere of Captain America: The First Avenger.  EpixHD will also be premiering an original documentary titled With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story and Epix Extra: Mighty Movie Superheroes in which we get a close look at the origins and fan reaction to the Avengers assembling during the same weekend!

8bit Hype Machine: Sine Mora

HYPE, HYPE, HYPE!  Bullet hell, Shoot'em Ups whatever you want to call them, these games are simple, but yet very difficult.  The review for Sine Mora has got me going gaga to play it, plus, may I also add that I have not played a great shoot'em up since the Konami Lifeforce days.

Get More: GameTrailers.com, Sine Mora - Review, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Boy, oh boy!  I can't wait to get my hands on it.  This game is definitely now on my "must play list."  Now all I gotta do is finish up Borderlands and Skyrim...

Source: Gametrailers

PS Vita System Software Update (v1.65)

The PS Vita needs a lot of help from what I'm hearing around the inter-webs.  Sony is starting to fix the bugs.  Eric Lempel VP, Sony Network Entertainment posted this information on the Playstation Blog:

Update 4/3/2012: We identified a symptom that users can not play adhoc play in PSP titles if they download the system software, so we have taken down the system software temporarily. The system software will be available to download again soon.

Hi, everyone. The next PS Vita System Software Update (v1.65) will be released soon and will include the following minor enhancements:

• A “Notification Alert” option will be added to Settings, so you can toggle alerts on or off
• “After 10 minutes” will be added to the time options under Power Save Settings
• An Arrow icon will now appear when PS Vita finds new activities in the LiveArea
• Caps Lock will be supported in the On Screen Keyboard

Don’t forget: there are several ways to update the firmware on your PS Vita:

• Select “System Update” under the “Settings” menu and download the firmware directly to your PS Vita over Wi-Fi.
• Connect your PS Vita to a PS3 or a PC/Mac and update via Content Manager.

The Tester: Complete Season 3 Round UP

Season 3 of the tester had its ups and downs this season, but I did enjoy the eye-candy.

Episode 1:  Premiere(Roaches Interview) 

Episode 2:  Twisted Metal

Episode 3:  Catapult Edition 

Episode 4:  Street Fighter Edition

Episode 5:  God of War Hint-A-Thon

Episode 6:  Tower Stacking Debacle

Episode 7:  Dunk Tank, extravaganza!

Episode 8:  The hight lights clip show.

Episode 9:  FINALE

I cant wait for the next season.

The Tester Season 3 Episode 9 (FINALE)

OOOHH spoilers! The winner is...  You are just going to have to watch.



Source: Playstation Blog

Boogie Movie Review: The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games

Directed By: Gary Ross
Release Date: March 23, 2012
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Donald Sutherland, Wes Bentley, Woody Harrelson, Lenny Kravitz, Elizabeth Banks, and Stanley Tucci
Studio: Lionsgate

With a name like The Hunger Games, I was surprised to see that it wasn't a pie eating contest movie or a documentary on competitive hot dog eating champion Takeru Kobayashi.  What The Hunger Games turned out to be as a pretty darn good movie with action and suspense.

Killer is Dead Details and Concept Art

In Killer is Dead, you play as an executioner traveling all over the world to hunt down very dangerous criminals. Killer is Dead is developed by Grasshopper Manufacture. Yoshimi Yasuda is the executive producer and Suda51 is the executive producer and is also in charge of the game's scenario. Development did not start until Spring 2011 and the game very early in development. The game will have something to do with the "Moon and Earth" and there will be a variety of places to go to. Killer is Dead is not science fiction despite the "Moon" being mentioned. It takes place in modern times. Love will be an important theme in this game. The main character has someone he wants to protect. The idea of "How far can you protect someone" is the important part of the story.

Source: Andirasang

By Paranoid Droid

Killer is Dead Announced

Grasshopper Manufacture (Killer 7, No More Heroes) announced a new game in production titled Killer is Dead.

Suda 51 is directing Killer is Dead, but it's not a sequel to Killer 7. In this original title, you play as a prisoner who's been sentenced to die. Your goal is to kill your assassin.

The game promises to retain the essence of Killer 7 and No More Heroes. It also promises to be a sort of "Dark Side 007" in that it will feature a number of beautiful Bond Girl-like ladies.

On the gameplay side of things, early reports indicate that the game will have sword-play ala No More Heroes, but with new elements.

Source: Andriasang

I already love the idea of the game. I'll be keeping my eye on this.

New Batman: Arkham City DLC Featuring Robin Coming Soon

New trophies have been revealed suggesting that there will be new single player DLC for Batman: Arkham City. The new trophy list shows that Robin will be the main character and Harley Quinn will be the villain for the new DLC.

Source: PS3Trophies.org

By Paranoid Droid

8Bit Rant: Step Ya Game Up Nintendo!

Here we are in April and it's kinda quiet on the video game front.   It could be the calm before the E3 storm that is approaching.  But here and there news is leaking out about the upcoming WiiU's release date and specs.  Like this little tidbit at gameindustry.biz:

Nintendo's upcoming Wii U console may generate full HD graphics, but it's not up to the graphics power of the Xbox 360 or the PS3, according to developers familiar with the hardware who spoke on a condition of anonymity to GamesIndustry International.

"No, it's not up to the same level as the PS3 or the 360," said one developer who's been working with the Wii U. What does that mean? "The graphics are just not as powerful," reiterated the source.
This developer is not alone in their opinion. Another developer at a major company confirmed this point of view. "Yeah, that's true. It doesn't produce graphics as well as the PS3 or the 360," said the source. "There aren't as many shaders, it's not as capable. Sure, some things are better, mostly as a result of it being a more modern design. But overall the Wii U just can't quite keep up."


I can't say I am surprised by this, but it still is disappointing to read.  You see on this here site, I am probably the biggest Nintendo supporter.  Maybe the lone Nintendo supporter.  It might be the strong childhood nostalgia that I feel for all things Nintendo (and Capcom), but I always pull for them.  These past few years, while they have had highlights here and there, they have fallen off big time.   Nintendo first party titles have always been solid, but the third party support hasn't been there really from the start.   The Wii was never built as a graphical powerhouse to rival the PS3 or the 360.  Nintendo's core philosophy was that they thought that gamer experience and gameplay were far more important then high end graphics.  In that belief they lost a lot of the third party support that wanted that powerful console to build their games on. It was something that Nintendo also acknowledged as a big mistake on their part.

At last year's E3, Nintendo said they had learned from this, and they would bring the third party support back. They said that the WiiU would compete with all the other systems and bring quality games back.   Well it looks like all that is out the door if these rumors are true.  It's tough being a Nintendo backer when you see that the other systems are getting games like Arkham City, Battlefield, etc., one right after the other, while you are stuck waiting for that one AAA title from Nintendo.  Gamers wanna game and if Nintendo won't be bringing in the big third party games as promised, this gamer will be gaming elsewhere.

Movie Trailer: Ted (Red Band Trailer)

Movie Trailer: Total Recall

This Week's Games Release 4/2/2012 - 4/6/2012

Tuesday

Kinect Star Wars (360)

Wednesday

I Am Alive (PSN)

Friday

Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii)

Game of Thrones - Back Tonite!

As if you didn't know.