The Nestlekwik Happy Hour for June 7, 2008

The Nestlekwik Happy Hour for June 7, 2008

Nestlekwik: Welcome ladies and gentlemen, one and all, to the innagural edition of The Nestlekwik Happy Hour! Beware: This exclusive J2Games feature has 2,196 fatalities. For our first edition, we have a full, packed lineup of features including a retro review, first impressions of a new game that released this week, a top 5 list, Street Fighter hype, developer comments and more! In fact, this debut is so huge, it features a quote from Mr. Don King himself! Before we do get the fun, I have introduce member number two of the GemuBaka crew, MixMasterLar.

MixMasterLar: 2,196 fatalities? Is anyone even going to catch that reference? I mean, the game didn't even officially release and do you really consider turning your opponent into a painting a fatality?

Nes: After all of the pitiful fatalities I've seen, I would think Scorpion blending a smoothie is more hardcore than some of these "gruesome" moves. In fact, I hear he still has his Cooking With Scorpion apron.

Lar: Afraid not. It sold on eBay last year for $573. Speaking of fighters cooking, though, I believe our retro review today has a bit of one-versus-one flavor.

Nes: Oh, nice segue. We do in fact have a one-on-one fighter on the chopping block today and based on your preference, it's available on the Sega Genesis or the Super Nintendo and if the names Korr and Zarak get you excited, you probably know where we're going with this.

Lar: That's right. With Star .. er, I mean Soul Calibur IV right around the corner, today we're going to look at Namco's humble beginnings in video gaming weapons-based tete-a-tete.

WeaponLord Review

WeaponLord Intro: Tales foretell of children born who will rise and strike down the threat of the DemonLord, a demon whose spirit entered a fallen warrior on the battlefield and was once again reborn. The DemonLord has crushed all rulers and armies to unite the land under his reign. Even under the guidance to slay the prophesied children as they are born, as a true warrior with a code of honor, he waits 25 years in anticipation of fair, one-on-one combat with the mightiest of the warriors. Preparing to meet his destiny head-on, the DemonLord hosts a tournament in which the winner will be declared the true WeaponLord and face him in the final battle.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/RNOf8VwvE7U&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/RNOf8VwvE7U&rel=1</a>

Lar: Overall, I was pretty disappointed in this oldie. I mostly enjoy all Namco-produced fighters to some extent but this was really hard to get into. The controls are really tight - it's almost as if you'll need the God Hand to perform them. I know I'm guilty of playing newer games with giant timing windows thus making classic games seem harder than they really are, but I simply could not get anything to work for any real amount of time. on the same token, regular single button moves take out a lot of HP so why even learn anything else?

The feel of the game reminds me of Mortal Kombat and all the Medieval games that were out in the 1990s, except that this game looks slightly worse off. The graphics look clear, yet the animation isn't that great; the art style was more of a fad of the time and has quickly became outdated since then. I can't really fault the looks too bad since it was all the rage back when, but it's not something I care to stare at for any long periods of time

I found the music lacking as it was pretty generic but I also couldn't get my copy to play it all the time - which wasn't that bad of deal judging from what I heard. I guess I'm spoiled with the works of Koji Kondo, Nabou Uematsu, Junichi Nakatsuru and Koh-ichi Seiyama, but nothing I heard got me ready for the fight.

Nes: I pretty much echo the sentiments made in the presentation departments. Most of the game's animations are far from smooth and with such few frames of animation to most of the attacks, quick successive hits that appear to be a lightning fast combo fail to register as such. Truly the only audible standouts lie in the game's announcer, weapon clashes and the execution fanfare played when any character executes a special move as a finish. While the music production is isn't terrible, it mostly serves as ambiance to the title's gritty storyline as opposed to getting players pumped up for a fight.

Truth be told, the game is really hard to get into but once you do, the bevy of defensive and combo options really make this deceptively deep fighter shine. In an age where everyone is spoiled by pick-up-and-play fighters with predictable special move motions and attacks, the parries, guard breaks, overheads, weapon crushes and skillful combo executions were just simply ahead of their time in a world full of Street Fighter II clones. WeaponLord's learning curve does go beyond the norm and requires excruciating patience that falls beyond the norm and unfortunately turns the game into a "love it or hate it" experience.

Players today will definitely want to bring a friend (or seven thanks the game's expansive multiplayer elements) and an FAQ to the table as the AI is likely to embarass any beginner even on the lowest difficulty. WeaponLord uses a mixture of motion based commands that mix button presses with button holds so unless players find the unlikely complete copy of the title, most casual players won't comprehend much beyond button mashing from the beginning. Just like the game's theme, WeaponLord is a brutal game and only rewards players who will take the time to learn when to block, parry and counterattack and learning how to combo definitely proves satisfying when you learn how to decapitate an opponent and juggle their head in the air for a lengthy combo.

Overall: While the title lacks overall in presentation, the gore factor, decent story and Namco credibility should attract plenty a gamer looking to get a fix of a unique 2-D fighter. However, with the game's incredible defensive depth and learning curve, WeaponLord might turn off any player who isn't willing to put a good amount of time into it. All of the expected blood spurts, decapitations and disembowelments are here, but players will really have to work for them, reiterating the fact WeaponLord truly rewards the dedicated. While your mileage may vary, those hungry for a little strategy in their mayhem should give the title at least one play.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/TG9LVem4DcY&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/TG9LVem4DcY&rel=1</a>

GemuBaka Review Score: 3 out of 5

Nes: Maybe we should dust off our X-Bands for WeaponLord and have a go at each other some time.

Lar: Dude. Didn't that service cease a good 10 years ago?

Nes: Is that why it hasn't been working? I just assumed no one used it anymore. Oh well. I still have SegaNet.

Lar: ......

Nes: While we've got fighters on the mind, let's break into this week's top five list. A fighting game isn't much of a fighting game without attacks, so we're going to take a look at some of our all-time favorites.

The Happy Hour Top 5: Our Top 5 Favorite Fighting Attacks

Move #5: Dragon Punch

Who would have ever thought a jumping punch would become the most feared and used tactic in any fighting game the world over? Ryu and Ken jumped in with the famed maneuver in Street Fighter, but in Street Fighter II, the phrase shoryuken (literally translated as "rising dragon fist") became a trademark name. When the move makes jumping dangerous, players have a lot to worry about, especially in the early versions of the title where the move had near invincible prowess. Jumping a fireball to have your ass blasted by a dragon punch was the root of frustration in many minds. The move is such a fighting game staple that it has been copied over in some form to nearly every successive fighter since 1991.

Move #4: Muti-Command Throws

Getting your opponent in a long throw and reducing their health to nil is awesome and some games let you do just that with muti-command throws. You pull one command off and if the throw connects, you're given time to enter another command to continue the move. Nothing beats watching your opponent lose a third of the bar while Aoi breaks their legs in Virtual Fighter, or even a deadly 90% as King does all kind of nasty stuff in Tekken. It also impresses any bystander at the arcade to see one pulled, so you can't lose with that. Much like in MMA fights, controlling the grapple leads to domination and when you're steamrolling the opponent's face into the ground and breaking their limbs, it's always amusing to watch a player sweat and a character squirm.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/lOFtCk1vxrc&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/lOFtCk1vxrc&rel=1</a>

Move #3: Fatality

While giving an arcade opponent the middle finger after a victory may lead to a real fistfight, Mortal Kombat's introduction of the fatality is the closest form of the "I beat your ass" middle finger as you can get in digital form. What originally was developed to just give players one last, clean blow to defeated players eventually took pages from kung-fu movie lore with the characters ripping out hearts and wasting the defeated opponent. The buckets of blood fueled "controversy" but just as Eric Bishoff says, "Controversy Creates Cash." The mechanic was so huge, most fighting games afterward tried to capitalize on the digital fighters and gore, with some going as far as to attempting to combine the gameplay flow of Street Fighter II with the violence of Mortal Kombat. At the end of the day, though, no matter what fighting game you're playing, nothing says decisive victory like a dead opponent.

Move #2: Rage of the Eight Maidens

Iori Yagami's trademark super moves is by far one of the most impressive aggressive moves made in any fighting game. Iori shouts out (in Japanese, of course) how he is about to send you to your death as he strikes a pose that looks like he's summoning all of his power together. He then slides across the screen and starts clawing at his opponent in a catch and pound combo that looks like it could disembowel the victim. The move ends with him placing the poor fighter down like a lamb and then pounding the living daylights out of him with 4 good burst of enegry before sending him flying. It's all fun and games for Iori, who growls maniacally the whole time. While many different shorter versions of the move are out there in King of Fighters alone, nothing beats out Rage of the Real Deal.

Move #1: The Ball Punch

It's painful, it's effective and it's damn funny. When the odds are against you in a fight, nothing can turn the table quicker than a blow to someone's netherregion. Society is a weird thing - beatdowns, heavy blows and mass inflictions of pain are usually frowned upon, but if it happens to someone poor guy's testes, you have the YouTube video of the day. Usually a staple for Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat and competitors in boxing or wrestling games (most wrestling games use a bell for the sound effect for the low blow, which makes it double priceless), but if you want to go for the triple priceless, you look no further than Battletoads. Not the NES, Genesis or Super Nintendo versions, but Rare and EA's uncensored arcade version - the Dark Queen is a smoking hot, scantily-clad babe, blood and body parts fly around the screen and the Toads don't hold back. In stage 3, players take on double-sized titan rats and naturally the Toads aim for what is at eye level ... just let a screen and video speak for itself.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/3NTK_x5nt-A&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/3NTK_x5nt-A&rel=1</a>

Lar: So far we're hoping Capcom isn't giving us a low blow with the upcoming Street Fighter IV.

Nes: Man, you're just tearing it up with these segues.

Lar: Excuse me?

Nes: The number one move was the ball punch and you transitioned into the next section with the term "low blow."

Lar: Ah, yes. I see what you did there. While arcade testings seem to be positive so far, all we have to go on so far are our first impressions until we can play Street Fighter IV for ourselves. So, without further ado ...

Street Fighter IV: First Impressions on the New Challengers

C. Viper

Lar: Of all the new fighters in the game, I have to say I am most impressed and eager to play as Viper. It looks like she could do a lot of damage and seems to have a lot of aerial juggles from the few videos I saw of her on YouTube. She also resembles Vanessa from King of Fighters, albeit Vanessa couldn't kick or blow you up skyward. I do want to point out that it's another example of too much sex in games with that body tight outfit and cleveage, but as long as they don't go Soul Calibur on us in the future, it will be alright.

Nes: Capcom wisely went with Crimson Viper as the first character to unveil in order to strengthen the female to male ratio but her ponytail and oh-so-tight outfit give me a Helena vibe fresh out of Dead or Alive. Looking at her special moves list, she should appeal to a lot of casual players with simple to execute specials that strike with fire and lightning from the ground or the air. In regard to her moveset, she seems to be the Ryu or Ken of the new fighters and the assassin setup could really lead to a great storyline for her.

Abel

Lar: Well, I have to point out I have never seen a French guy that big before in my life. He also seems to be the type of guy who might use a lot of parries and throws. I would love to try him out and see what he can bring to the table before I really pass judgment on him but as of now he acts too much like Seth from King of Fighters.

Nes: At face value, Abel looks to be the only new character design I didn't second-guess upfront - he looks menacing, he's stacked and he looks ready to fight. So far, Abel is being compared to Alex from Street Fighter III, meaning he should come across as a quick and powerful foe. With an array of anti-air grabs and combo moves which can change height at the player's whim, mixing up Abel's moves should provide to be quite lethal although through testing it seems people haven't quite given him too much time at this point.

El Fuerte

Lar: I'm not sure what to think of this guy - a cross between El Blaze, Ramon and Law? He seems to enjoy cooking beyond reason, which is ok but it's a bit of a letdown. "My reason to fight is to show off my cooking?!" Ok ... Gameplay-wise he looks like he fights like the aforementioned people with more Ramon than anyone else, but that's not a bad thing at all since Capcom has never had a fighter like that before that I can think of. I'll probably learn to play as him when I get the game since Mexican lucha libre fighters are always great characters to play as.

Nes: El Fuerte's design and stereotypes didn't have me interested at first, however, he proved to be a favorite at Captivate08 and after seeing his moveset, I am willing to control this odd character. While his design can be played out as a copy of recent lucha libre fighters, we can't forget about Capcom's own El Stingray from Saturday Night Slam Masters. Fast and agile, El Fuerte can keep players on their toes with frequent dashing, counter attacks and devastating throws. Out of the four new characters, I can clearly see El Fuerte's charisma will earn him the most curiosity plays.

Rufus

Lar: Ok ... So the one thing I've noticed is the newer characters remind me of other characters and a real great example is Rufus here: He's just like Tekken's Bob. Now you know, Nes, how I feel about Bob; really dumb looking, he's way too fast for how big he is, too many combos and the outfits he had didn't help. Bob didn't make any sense to me and it seems that Rufus is trying to be Capcom's own Bob with an outfit that has me wondering if he is trying to appease the sexes: He's got his shirt open so far down it's as if he's trying to show something off. His hair is something that really screams "Elvis" but somehow fails and he's bigger than my Chevy Silverado.

And his story is he's trying to beat Ken? First: Ken doesn't need another rival. Second: Since it's before Street Fighter III and Ken is still in "I'm the best in America" mode in that game, then I guess we already know who's winning that fight.

Nes: As Lar pointed out, Rufus seems to be a page out of Tekken 6 with its Bob character. Even if Rufus really is just another Capcom joke character, he definitely stands out and, unlike Dan, features a unique and robust moveset. While he may not be the most attractive character on the roster, Rufus definitely demands attention and provides a little more variety in the roster. There's something about his nasty body hair and suggestive apparel that is getting hype from a number of people and reports are suggesting he's not too shabby of a fighter either.

Seth

Lar: Oh my God, a naked man.

I mean what in heaven's name does Capcom think they're doing? We already have Dhalsim and Gill so why do we need with yet another naked, bald guy in Street Fighter? Speaking of Gill, I wasn't sure why he was made in SFIII to begin with and I'm sure as heck won't be happy if this is a Gill clone. Someone on the Capcom boards said they would love it "If the boss wasn't really a 'bad guy' but more of a martial arts master who challenges you." This was posted so far back when that I think Capcom could have taken the advice and did that, but alas, they didnt.

Nes: This boss doesn't even get a thong to cover his(its?)self. Seth, the biological weapon, comes across as another low-effort design to me, but when you're the end boss of a hotly anticipated fighter, I don't think anyone Capcom pieced together would appease the masses. We don't know much about Seth, but his appearance is just too similar to the likes of Gill and Urien for me to get excited at this new prospect. In actuality, he resembles one of the Resident Evil atrocities more than anything else. Naming someone who slightly resembles Killface from Frisky Dingo "Seth" doesn't exactly scream menacing either. While we might be able to gather the character is named after Capcom Street Fighter pro player Seth Killian, Seth sounds more like someone from the accounting department than the head of weaponry for Shadowloo.

Nes: Alright, that's enough about ambiguously naked men. While Seth from accounting may have been promoted to final fighter in Street Fighter IV, M. Bison is still collecting his ultimate bad-ass paycheck in the upcoming Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (if you don't unlock the Akuma fight that is). The biggest news the update has to offer is not in its Udon-sculpted graphical facelift or online play, but in its "Rebalanced" mode which has put the Capcom staff to the task of making Balrog and Dhalsim kick the living crap out of all the characters.

Lar: Udon ... I'm hungry.

Nes: Me too. Check out our anticipated rebalanced character picks for the game while we place a phone call for carryout.

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Rebalanced Character Picks

Lar: The first person I'm picking in this game is Zangief. With the removal of 360-degree motions for special moves, I plan on making my rivals feel the wraith of never blotching a move against him ever again. Spinning pile drivers every single way. People better start taking 'Gief for real.

I'm also looking forward to Cammy. I've always been the player who felt Cammy was a lot better than most make her out to be and with the changes made to range and the command changes to the Hooligan Roll, I'm looking forward to tearing stuff up. with all up-forward move motions out of the way, I feel my days of jumping for nothing are over.

I've decided I really want to play as Ryu a lot for one reason only: Fake Hadouken. I mean how fun can that get? You're playing along and you throw a fake hadouken, the opponent tries to jump it and you nail them hard. When they drop their fireball guard, you start using real fireballs to make them feel a bit toasty. While I think that I'll enjoy the changes to Fei Long and T. Hawk much better in the long run, I have to go with Ryu as the "most playable right away" character.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/wMsLBUagAp4&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/wMsLBUagAp4&rel=1</a>

Nes: One of the characters I'm definitely going to revisit is G.I. Joe himself, William Guile. The fact his roundhouse Flash Kick is now a viable attack with extended horizontal reach will liven up his combos and ability to counter mid-air and sliding low attacks. His super move has now has an alternate command and has been debugged so it acts properly as a wake-up counter and connects cleanly to guarantee more hits and knockdowns. His normal tricks still remain, though, with the advancing knee allowing for forward movement while charging for a sonic boom and he can still apply a lot of pressure with his kicks.

I will also second Ryu at this point as the fake fireball is going to completely elevate his game. In Super Street Fighter II Turbo, simply put, with the mid-air drill attacks, Ryu was Dhalsim's bitch. The fireball freezes Ryu in position for quite some time and seeing as the hadouken is Ryu's bread and butter, this posed serious problems when the move was whiffed. Not only can the fake motion sucker jump-ins, but up-close, advancing players jerking back to block are wide open to a low forward with tons of reach, which can two-in-one into a real fireball. Plus, mixing up the moves can really confuse the opponent, meaning the fake fireball could potentially prove to be lethal in the right hands.

While we wait for updates on about half of the roster, right now at this point, Sagat is looking to be a perfect case of mixing the best of the old and new. While "Old Sagat" had an insanely fast fireball recovery speed, SSFIIT's Sagat nerfed the fireballs so badly they were nearly unusable. In Remix, Sagat's fireball recovery is roughly the same as Ryu's. Thanks to a new dragon punch motion for the Tiger Knee and a one-hit, max power connection on the Tiger Uppercut (as opposed to SSFIIT's five-hit juggle), Sagat's defensive prowess climbs to new levels while still allowing him to be an offensive juggernaut.

Nes: How in the hell does it take 45 minutes to deliver some f***ing rice and meat? ... Oh, and we're back! Lucky for us this week we were invited to a developer call for the upcoming Nintendo DS title Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2.

Lar: Naruto likes noodles too, so I hear.

Nes: He seems to be a big fan of orange as well. But not only do we have the advance dirt on Path of the Ninja 2, we were DOUBLE lucky this week!

Lar: Gasp! Are you hinting that this week have not just one, but ... TWO developer comment sections in this week's Happy Hour?!?

Nes: Oui, mon frere. Not only do we have ninjas punching either on the horizon, but 2K is shipping its first boxing title next week and you won't believe who was on the phone for this one ...

Lar: Let's see. The game is Don King Presents: Prizefighter ... Don King? Did you talk to Don King?

Nes: I suppose you could just say I listened to him for about 15 minutes. I really need this guy to hype my next party. I don't think there is an adjective out there he doesn't know.

Lar: Am I invited to this party?

Nes: No.

Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2 Developer Quotes

On Thursday, we had the pleasure of sitting in on a developer conference call for Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2 for the Nintendo DS. We normally don't get this much advance on game release details (as the game doesn't launch until September) so enjoy these quotable tidbits from our GemuBaka Path of the Ninja 2 preview, straight from Glenn Stotz, product specialist at TOMY Corporation.

On the game's original story: "Path of the Ninja 2 is very close to the original story from the series while still being original. While you still encounter key enemies from the television series in flashback form, everything will be new and exciting for the player."

On the question of which characters are included in the game: "What characters doesn't it have? The choice is 30 versus seven from the original game. There is a ton there. For playable characters, 30 is a big number. Everyone is in there ... [and] the number of encountered characters is even larger."

On the game's RPG-strategy setup: "There are tons of strategic elements in single- or multi-player modes. It's a big game of chess - you have to know what to do in battle but you also have to know how to prepare for it. With the new battle elements and features, the complexity is there if you want it to be and I'm sure players will enjoy it more if they get into the complexity."

On the game's Wi-Fi multiplayer: "Wi-fi pretty much makes the game play infinite. Fighting another human is like fighting a really hard enemy. It's something AI can't reproduce and nothing is scripted. It's challenging and I think that is appealing to RPG fans. If you're looking for a really good challenge, multiplayer is the way to go."

On whether or not the game appeals outside of Naruto fans: "The strategy is immense and the character are so accessible, it's really fun to find out who the characters are and find a favorite if you aren't a fan."

Don King Presents Prizefighter Developer Quotes/King-isms

Friday, we were able to sit in on yet another developer conference call and to say the Q & A session was quotable is an understatement! The king of hype Mr. Don King himself joined in for a portion of the call while most of details on the game were thrown down by 2K Sports Executive Producer Matthew Seymour. Take a look at a portion of what went down:

Seymour on producing the first game with retrospective documentaries: "There's pretty big competition out there. We really wanted to differentiate ourselves. Prizefighter offers a huge, dramatic experience that focuses on your career and tells that story through live-action sports documentary. I'm surprised no one has ever tried this. You always see it during the Olympics, on ESPN and in [movies] and those are all cool and hip documentaries. But in video games, it has never been done."

Seymour on how the career mode's much-touted out-of-ring elements tie into the sport: "People always read about athletes and what they do [outside of the sport]. It's part of being an athlete and some of them fail. We also want to bring those stories to the table. Temptations are not always bad as the more you're seen with beautiful women, the higher your media profile is. When you're in the ring with a high profile, you have more crowd support and with that support the more adrenaline you have and more signature punches you can throw. It all feeds back into the ring."

Mr. Don King's thoughts on how the game reflects the true nature of boxing: "The game exemplifies life. The game is the truth and the truth will set you free ... I revolutionized the sport of boxing ... I brought in the attraction and made it the most important factor; money was not the primary factor, the attraction was and that put it in the proper prospective ... [Prizefighter] is the emulation and imitation of life. That makes my game unique, rare and wonderful from other games. You have to go through the struggles, pain and sacrifice to get the gain. The delivery of the game is based on the real-life process of what happens. We're not making up wishful thinking; what you see is what you get in life; doing it when others are saying you can't. That attitude is in the game because it is the truth. The lessons of life are in the game - you are doing it as it is and always has been."

Seymour gives his honest opinion on EA's boxing franchises: "Fight Night Round 3 is a beautiful game and it is fantastic in a lot of areas but with a launch [window] title (on 360;PS3), you can't get everything right the first time. It was a bit short in the career mode and we knew we could deliver that. The single-player career is very important. At the end of the day your friends go home so what are you going to do? You want to play and become the heavyweight champion of the world ... That was a little bit of an overkill [to have The King featured in the game]. The bottom line to me is it's about keeping it real and the integrity of the sport. There's more than Everlast and Burger King in the world. We got [nearly] all of the boxing licenses you'd normally see such as Lonesdale, Grant, Compubox ... it's all a part of Prize Fighter and 2K sports. We all got a chuckle out of [The King], but we're keeping it as real as possible ... Facebreaker isn't a boxing game. It's a hybrid. It's a crazy fighting game that has elements of boxing in it but it looks potentially a lot of fun. 2K is about integrity to the sport itself. We're all about bringing you the ultimate experience and part of that is having this career. We're going a little further where indisde and outside the ring are equally important."

Nes: You know, I don't think I've heard the word "pontificate" since high school.

Lar: Don King must have used that word I assume. Someone was performing the office or duties of a pontiff?

Nes: Eh, no. I believe he was referring to speech in a pompous or dogmatic manner. He also mentioned games.

Lar: That's right! Don King Presents Prizefighter comes out next week. In fact, a good chunk of games release next week. Of course some games are far better than others so let's take a look at the three games releasing next week that we're looking forward to the most.

GemuBaka Picks of the Week of June 9, 2008

Runner-up pick #1: Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy - Majesco - Nintendo Wii
Nes: There's not much hype surrounding this title, but if executed correctly, Blast Works will prove to be a shooter editing dream. Already established as a part of the Tumiki Fighters lineage, Blast Works allows players to blast through 15 levels and then give the game's editor a whirl to build their own ships, enemies, bullets and even the bullet and AI patterns of enemies. Not only will the Wii title allow players to script out horizontal shoot 'em up levels but they will also be able to share them with friends. Much like a lot of recent shooters' "anchor" mechanic, players can collect pieces of defeated enemies to amass even more firepower and destruction. Through WiiConnect24, Blast Works may have potentially endless game play through trading and Majesco even has plans to update the game with content of its very own.

Runner-Up Pick #2: Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit - Atari - Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Nes: Even though we're being told the same old story and this installment completely ignores 1/3 of the full series, developer Dimps has found a way to freshen up the over-the-top martial arts anime once again. Burst Limit is a lot less Tenkaichi and a lot more Budokai, meaning game play revolves more around brutal hand-to-hand and projectile combat without having to fly around arenas and chase down your opponent. Introduced in Budokai Tenkaichi 3, Burst Limit still features mid-fight drama cutscenes in the story mode but this time players are rewarded more for following the series story as opposed to going all-out on the opponent. The demo can be downloaded as you read this and with the high-def animated visuals, so far, Burst Limit is as fun to look at as it is to play.

GemuBaka Pick of the Week - Metal Gear Solid 4 - Konami - Playstation 3
Lar: What's our number one pick for next week's releases? Do you even have to ask? Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, of course. The Metal Gear games have always been nothing short of amazing and always advanced what has been done for any console. I would even go as far as to say the games always show what could be done before anyone else even thinks about it. I mean, MGS1 used the DualShock the best of any game I ever played and MGS4 is adding an iPod. Nice.

The graphics are so clear that I wouldn't mind if they made the MGS movie with them. Take a quick glance and you'll swear they have live actors inside the games now.

One of the main reasons the game will be so huge is it continues the story from Metal Gear Solid 2, a game which had a ton of plot holes toward the end. I also want to see how old characters like Naomi, Campbell, EVA, Meryl and even Big Boss got themselves into this story arc when several have been mostly written out. And of course, you can't bring up Metal Gear Solid 2 without looking forward to hearing of Raiden's Story.

I have to admit I would much rather hear about Raiden then what exactly happened with the Big Boss deal - not that I don't want to know what Snake is up to but Raiden's story was never fully fleshed out and I want to see what he's been up to.

I highly suggest that people who haven't played the other installments of the series either get the Collection that has just hit stores or to stay away, since the story will more than likely make no sense whatsoever. Option one is better since even the old Metal Gear Solid for the PSX is better then most games out there now in my viewpoint.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/yKt799IcqOY&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/yKt799IcqOY&rel=1</a>

Nes: If you're still living in the now and want to know what you can pick up and enjoy today, you can fire up your Playstation 2 and enjoy O-3 Entertainment's newest localization - the tactical crossover madness of Chaos Wars.

Chaos Wars for the Playstation 2 - First Impressions

Nes: I'm only a few hours in the game right now, but so far Chaos Wars is so good and is a must buy for anyone who enjoys tactics games. The tutorials will guide players through everything they need to know as they comb a new dimension where known characters from various franchises such as Spectral Souls, Shadow Hearts, Gungrave and more are sucked from their world. Movement is radius-based such as in titles like Makai Kingdom and with up to five characters on the battlefield, sticking together results in team attacks that can see characters suffering up to five full attacks in one turn.

Nothing has proved very difficult for me in the first few hours, but, then-again, I'm a level up freak when I sit down in front of an RPG. I, by default, always choose to listen to Japanese dialogue so I am uncertain at this point as to the quality of the voice work done for the American version. Most of the game's mechanics work such as applying weapons-based skills on the characters and gaining experience per stat, skill and weapon as opposed to having universal levels. Players might be frustrated at first if they forget to skill lock and randomly lose a preferred attack, but, overall, so far everything has proved to be fun and balanced.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/o1C7pRaq_mM&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/o1C7pRaq_mM&rel=1</a>

Players who will want to look for the game should know the title is a GameStop exclusive and doesn't have a very large print run, so players who will hold on to their games for a long time might want to keep an eye out and see where the title goes in the future. Regardless, while there is a lot of character stills and talking, fans of the series will see Chaos Wars as another reason to fire up the still-strong Playstation 2 and team attack to their heart's content.

Nes: Well then. According to my notes, it says here that we're done for the week.

Lar: Really?

Nes: Yeah ... Time really does fly when you're having fun. I can't believe our first show is over already.

Lar: Well, there's always next week, right?

Nes: I don't know. We could be cancelled before then. We'll have to see how the ratings turn out for our pilot.

Lar: This is a lot of text to go through. Do you honestly think anyone read it all the way through?

Nes: I doubt it. I stopped reading after I knew there was a naked man named Seth in the show.

Lar: No doubt. So what do we do until then?

Nes: You want to go play Shadow: War of Succession?

Lar: Never played it.

Nes: Hee, hee, hee. We'll need a keg for this one ...

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/RjUOeGz7vOo&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/RjUOeGz7vOo&rel=1</a>

To be continued next week?

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