NewNews - Steam Autumn Sale 2013

Official Site: http://store.steampowered.com/

Steam Autumn Sale is here!  And look at the selection for just the first day!  Left 4 Dead 2, Terraria, Rogue Legacy, Sleeping Dogs, The Walking Dead, and Skyrim are all highly notable games while Prison Architect has been working through early access with positive feedback from the community, Anti-Chamber has had many praises for its unique puzzle-solving mechanics, and Outlast for being one of the scariest games to come out recently.  And as usual, there will be a flash sale every 8 hours until the last day December 3rd.  With the sale started and Thanksgiving being tomorrow, I will probably be taking a break the next two days and so should all of you.  Have a safe and enjoyable Holiday and be careful for those going out for Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales.

VGCulture - Lil' Guardian Pyro

Official Site: http://www.sourcefilmmaker.com/saxxyawards/
Source: Youtube Channel Harry101UK

The Saxxy Award is a contest hosted by Valve to give people an opportunity to show their creative side to the world using the Source Film Maker Program to produce a short film.  I don't pay much attention to each year's Saxxy Award, but I came across one of the entries while reading NerfNow.  Lil' Guardian Pyro was winner of Best Overall video from the bunch and I could see why.  It had humor, a sense of drama, action that was also charming at the same time, and that tense moment at the end.  Congratulations to the winners!  Click on the top link to check out the other entries that got nominated!

NewNews - Amazon Black Friday Sale Week

Amazon: Black Friday Sale

Amazon is having flash sales for their games for this year's Black Friday Sale.  Sure you avoid the physical lines in retail stores, but you'll have to fight the internet speed and refresh rate to nab some of the offers as some are in high demand.  DmC: Devil May Cry might have gotten a lot of critical reviews from the community, but that didn't stop it from being in high demand as it sold out this morning in just a manner of minutes of the flash sale starting.  Check the day and time the sales start and start refreshing the page for that specific game and you'll see a "Flash Sale" button on the right of the page.  As long as you claim a copy before they're sold out, you're guaranteed to receive it as long as you buy it within 15 minutes of claiming it.  Keep in mind that Free Shipping is for a purchase of $35 or more instead of the usual $25.  I'm not certain if this is permanent or if it's just for the holidays, but remember this when checking out and looking for free shipping with the product.  Good luck and Happy Sales to you all!

NewNews - Xbox One Launch Games Line-Up

These are the games you can buy/install and start playing on your new Xbox One:

Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag
Battlefield 4
Call of Duty: Ghosts
Crimson Dragon
Dead Rising 3
FIFA 14
Fighter Within
Forza Motorsport 5
Just Dance 2014
Killer Instinct
Lego Marvel Super Heroes
LocoCycle
Madden NFL 25
NBA 2K14
NBA Live 2014
Need for Speed: Rivals
Powerstar Golf
Ryse: Son of Rome
Skylanders: Swap Force
Xbox Fitness
Zoo Tycoon
Zumba Fitness

Sad to say, but I think the Xbox One has a better launch line-up than the Playstation 4 does.  Despite the flack Microsoft had throughout the year of promoting their system, the Xbox One actually has more exclusive titles that interest me.  Crimson Dragon, Dead Rising 3, Killer Instinct, and Ryse: Son of Rome are among the exclusive titles that interest me.  Still, I don't plan to get an Xbox One and will be getting a PS4 much later.  With the Wii U, PS4 and now the Xbox One out, we can finally step into another generation of gaming.

GameLight - Tree of Savior (Project R1)

Source: Youtube Channel steparu

From what I understand, this fantastic looking game is by the same creator (not company) of Ragnarok Online.  Ragnarok Online (RO) actually still exists today and was just recently added to the Steam platform.  Many other games similar to RO has released in the past decade and even a sequel was made, but none of them had quite the same satisfaction, excitement and wonder that RO did.  The creator of RO wants to bring back those feelings in a new original MMORPG called Tree of Savior Online which features 80 classes.  With those 80 classes, a player can advance 10 times.  I'm not entirely certain yet, but it looks like the game isn't a point-n-click from the gameplay videos and looks similar to how the Ys series plays as a top-down hack-n-slash.  The game is said to have an intricate skill tree and attribute level system which opens up many different possibilities of playing.  Perhaps it's similar to Path of Exile where the character starts with a class but can extend out to many different playstyles.  Needless to say, I am extremely excited to see more of the game and hope that we get a Western/International version available for us to play one day.

Source:
-Steparu - Tree of Savior Online Preview

VGCulture - Filler - SSBM Final Destination

Sorry to leave you all with another filler, but it's a fitting follow up to yesterday's post.  Though a lot of fans of competitive Smash Bros. are excited about Project M, those who like to play casually are reminded how some people take the game a little too seriously and suck all the fun out of the game for them.  This little video, although facetious, does a good job of summing up what happens when you play with those who only want to play Smash Bros. seriously:
Source: Youtube Channel swordsman3003

So those worried that Project M just reinforces the competitive nature of the series, let me reassure you that anyone can still have fun with it.  Smash Bros. is like any other Fighting game where it provides a lot of depth in their game mechanics for further competitive play but will ultimately have distinguished skill levels among those who play it.  If you want to play more casually with items on and with special settings, do so.  There are definitely still people who play this casually, and Sakurai has already stated that he wants to produce a true party game that anyone could enjoy for the series.  I'm very excited to see how the next Smash Bros. turns out.

GameLight - Project M (SSB Brawl Mod)

Official Site: http://projectmgame.com/en/
Source: Youtube Channel Project M

Super Smash Bros. Melee is really popular.  It's actually super popular.  It's so highly regarded by fans of the series that play competitively that Melee tournaments are still held over Brawl.  Fans of the series wanted the fast, balanced and competitive play of Melee in Brawl but didn't get it.  Thus, a group of modders banded together to start Project Melee (Project M) which is a mod of Super Smash Bros. Brawl that bring in elements from Super Smash Bros. Melee into Brawl while having a major overhaul on the game's mechanics, character balances, custom stages, and bringing back older characters such as Mewtwo.

To many Smash Bros. fans, Melee is king of the series and people were really hoping to get more of that in Brawl.  Unfortunately, the game went in the opposite direction in hopes of making it more casual.  The goal of Smash Bros. was to be a fun party game that anyone could enjoy.  Through the strong community and fighting game enthusiast behind Super Smash Bros. Melee, the game became a much more competitive and serious game than what the developers had intended.  With slower gameplay, tripping, and such in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it was simply not viewed possible for competitive play.  Despite that, people tried and realized that the characters have vast advantages over others when played competitively.  Meta Knight never left the spot of the highest tier in the game since the game first came out and remains to be the top choice for competitive play.

With the team behind Project M, they wanted to break that balance barrier and create whole new possibilities with all the characters in the game so that there would be more variety in competitive play.  One great example is Sonic the Hedgehog.
Source: Youtube Channel Project M

I was very excited to hear Sonic being added to Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but was very disappointed with how he played when I finally got the game.  I didn't mind that he deals very little damage due to this advantage in speed, but a lot of his attacks have charged up time, a long recovery delay, and a dive kick that can't be canceled that leaves him open or sends him straight down to his death.  Another problem is that he doesn't have many options for finishers.  His Back-Air has a long start-up and his forward-smash is very short ranged.  This makes both of them very situational and not very reliable.  What Project M wanted to do with Sonic was shorten charge up times, shorten recovery delays, give him more options for smashes, and possibly fix priority shots because every character in the game seriously has priority over all his attacks.

The mod has been created so that you don't need a hacked/cracked Wii to play it.  You just need a working Wii with Super Smash Bros. Brawl and an SD Card that doesn't exceed 2GB.  Still, I don't feel very confident about modding over my original game and hope that there will be alternatives such as being able to use the disc and mod files on PC instead.  But I understand that the team behind Project M wants to continue to support Nintendo and the those behind Brawl by preventing piracy, so that's commendable.

I've been playing Melee and Brawl again as I've missed the game very much and am very much excited for the new Super Smash Bros. that's in development at the moment.  I'm just hoping to be able to play Project M until the release of the Wii U and 3DS Super Smash Bros. comes out.  If you're done with Brawl and like what you see in Project M, click on the top link, go to Download and learn how to safely install the mod to your Nintendo Wii.  Project M Version 3.0 comes out on December 9th, 2013.

NewNews - Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Arcade Announced for Japan

Official Site:
http://teamninja-studio.com/teamninja/doa5/ultimate/
Source: Youtube Channel KOEITECMOofficial

Namco Bandai has announced Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Arcade, a version of the game specifically for arcades in Japan.  With that, they added one new character to the 29 character roster: Marie Rose.  She is absolutely adorable and is a practitioner or systema, a Russian martial art.  From what is shown, she might be a grappler (grabs and reversal throws) of sorts.  I don't like playing grapplers in fighting games, but she's so cute that I might not care!  The problem at the moment is that no confirmation for Marie Rose being brought to the West or even consoles has been made.  Team NINJA did leave a message on their Facebook page saying:

"Fighters! We see that you’ve discovered our newest character, Marie Rose for the upcoming Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Arcade. Although this game is a JP exclusive title, we haven’t forgotten about our overseas fighters in the World."

So there's a chance Marie Rose will be released on consoles in the West as a DLC.  I really do not like DLCs, but I'll seriously consider it if it's for this one character.  Japan will be getting DoA5U Arcade sometime this Winter with the addition of Marie Rose.

Sources:

-Joystiq - Marie Rose enters the Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate: Arcade arena

-Shoryuken - Team NINJA Hints at Possible Console Release for Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate Arcade’s Marie Rose

-Dead or Alive Wiki - Systema

NewNews - Playstation 4 Launch Games Line-Up

These are the games you can buy/install and start playing on your new Playstation 4:
Source: Youtube Channel PlayStation

-Angry Birds: Star Wars
-Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag
-Battlefield 4
-Blacklight: Retribution
-Call of Duty: Ghosts
-Contrast
-DC Universe Online
-FIFA 14
-Flower
-Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition
-Just Dance 2014
-Killzone: Shadow Fall
-Knack
-Lego Marvel Super Heroes
-Madden NFL 25
-NBA 2K14
-Need for Speed Rivals
-Resogun
-Skylanders: Swap Force
-Sound Shapes
-Super Motherload
-Trine 2: Complete Story
-Warframe

I'm honestly not very impressed by the line-up of games for the PS4 launch.  Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of great games to choose from this list.  The problem is that a lot of them have been out for a while now or can be played on different systems.  The only games released exclusively for the PS4 are Killzone: Shadow Fall and Knack with indie games Resogun and Super Motherload for digital download purchase.  Even though I might not think this is a great line-up, it's a lot stronger with more choices than the PS3 did.  I just visited my local Target and all PS4 systems and the games for it were sold out except for a few copies of Madden NFL 25.  So the launch for the PS4 looks pretty successful so far.  I'm just waiting on games like Final Fantasy 15, Metal Gear Solid V, Destiny, Kingdom Hearts 3, and a new Uncharted to come out.  In any case, welcome to the next generation of gaming!

Source:
-Joystiq - These are the 23 games in the PlayStation 4 launch-day line-up

GameLight - Senran Kagura Burst

Official Site: http://www.hanzonationalacademy.com/
Source: Youtube Channel ContraNetworkHD

I didn't think the game would ever be brought over to the West, but it has been done!  North America got its digital-only version launched today while Europe will get physical and digital versions sometime next year.  Senran Kagura Burst is a straight-up Beat-em-Up featuring incredibly busty schoolgirl ninjas.  I remember first hearing about this game and saw some of the screenshots to the game.  It looked really dumb.  But then they eventually showed a footage of the gameplay and I saw some combo demonstrations and was then interested.  If you can look past the copious amount of fan-service and you like beat-em-ups, this game can be very enjoyable.  The combat mechanics is similar to Dynasty Warriors where weak attacks can chain into strong ones and a powerful signature attack can be unleashed.  Furthermore, combos can be continued in the air for aerial combos similar to the Marvel vs. Capcom series where the player strikes an opponent into the air and continues another string of attacks in the air.  Animations are fluid and the attacks string together really well so that combat doesn't feel clunky.  The characters do follow the usual animé tropes, but they do give a fun personality to the cast.  The game feels a lot like an animé, overall.  It was a bold move for XSEED Games to bring Senran Kagura Burst over, but I'm glad they did.  There aren't that many beat-em-ups and we've gotten a good amount of them this year.  Senran Kagura Burst is a good addition to the beat-em-ups released this year and hopefully encourages publishers or even XSEED themselves to bring over Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus as well.

VGCulture - Filler - Top 10 Worst NES Games - AVGN

Ahhh, sorry!  I'm caught up with a lot of errands today so it's a filler for today!
Source: Youtube Channel Cinemassacre

GameLight - Dungeonland Free-to-Play

Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/218130/
Source: Youtube Channel RatingTheGames

Dungeonland released earlier this year and it wasn't that expensive.  At one point, it was $2.49 for a sale.  Yet it somehow went free-to-play and re-launched today.  From what I understand, content has been ripped out of it and presented as additional content for Free-to-Play owners while those who previously bought the game has everything.  I think publisher and developers are abusing the term "Free-to-Play" and not really understanding the difference from a "Demo" or "Trial Version".  This "Free-to-Play" version is essentially a "demo" for players to see what the game is like as additional maps, weapons and such are available after paying for the "All Access Pass".  A "Free-to-Play" game should be a fully playable game with additional boosters or aesthetic enhancements.  I know that not all Free-to-Play games are like that, but they should.  Still, it doesn't make too much of a difference as the All Access Pass is still the same price as the game before and is at 50% off for $4.99.

OKAY, so enough ranting by me.  Dungeonland is a Multiplayer, cooperative, top-down, hack-n-slash action game where three players fight through dungeons that randomly generate enemy spawn, loot, and traps.  A fourth player can join and be the Dungeon Maestro to control the monster spawns and such to screw over the players.  The biggest complaint I hear about the game is how incredibly difficult it is.  Difficulty as a challenge is fine, but I heard it's so difficult that it's hard to enjoy.  Perhaps having the label "Free-to-Play" might attract more players to try out the game to keep the online community active.  In any case, I guess I'll give the game a try myself.

NewNews - Buy 2 Get 1 Free Deals (2013)

Every year for the past 2 or so years (maybe more, not sure), Target has had a "Buy 2, Get 1 Free" Deal for videogames right around Thanksgiving time.  It's back again and it's a great deal for those buying the new Playstation 4 and Xbox One since all games count for the deal and people can grab 3 games for $120 instead of $180.  Amazon is having a similar sale for Playstation 4 games on their site.  For those not buying games for the new console, there are plenty of choices for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Wii U, 3DS, and PS Vita at Target for you to choose from.

Target: Buy 2 Get 1 Free On Select Games across all systems
Amazon: Buy 2 Get 1 Free On PS4 Games


Source:
-Joystiq - Target's buy two games, get one free sale spans all consoles
-Joystiq - Amazon offers buy 2, get 1 sale on PS4 games starting tomorrow

NewNews - Taking a small break

I'm taking a break this week for personal reasons and should return next Monday.

NewNews - Steam Sale Dates For 2013?

Whether this is purely rumor or a convincing prank, it's pretty evident to most steam users that there will be a seasonal sale around Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Well it seems that one of the developers that Valve has notified about the upcoming sales to have them put a discount price on their game, which happens to be a greenlit game, has leaked a picture of the message stating that:

"Valve will hold its Steam Autumn Sale from November 27 through December 3, followed by a Steam Holiday Sale between December 19 and January 2."

As excited as I am to know the dates, this causes some problems for people.  For other publishers and developers, letting the public know the exact dates may lower the profits and sales they could've made before.  That may not sound like a great deal for us because the customer wants to save, but we must keep in mind that developers and publishers are trying to break even and make a profit off their hard work.  As for us customers, this leak can cause several changes.  The dates won't change because that's a huge problem, but prices of discounts may change to compensate for the public knowing the dates of BOTH sales.  So instead of having the same sale price for both sales, we might not get as good of discounts during the Autumn sale if the publishers/developers decide to change them and will drop them lower in the Winter sale.  Or they can decide to not have as big of a discount for both sales because there will be people who plan on getting certain games during the sales no matter what the discount is and the price can still be kept somewhat high for the publishers/developers.

In any case, I'm ready for Steam sales.  There's a lot of games I'm looking forward to getting and playing.  I just hope Valve doesn't do something drastic like cancel the Steam sale.  Although, the backlash from the community due to the lack of a Halloween event for Team Fortress 2 and DotA 2 riled people up, so I'm sure Valve doesn't want to cause any more of that.

Source: Joystiq - Rumor: Upcoming Steam sale dates leaked

NewNews - 3 Year Anniversary

It's been 3 years as of today since I started this blog, it's crazy!  I wasn't sure how persistent I was going to be with writing so much from day to day, but somehow I've been doing this for 3 years!  Through these 3 years, we have seen Keiji Inafune leave Capcom and recently start up his campaign for Mighty No. 9 which raised over $4 Million.  We have seen the rise in popularity of indie games and MOBA.  We experienced the return of Fighting games back into the main stream community of gamers.  Tons of MMOs turn Free-to-Play and Valve launches the Steam Greenlight program and lots of games get brought to steam.  A lot has happened and it's kind of wonderful to be part of it.  I wonder how long I'll be able to keep this up.  In any case, thank you for all the support for those who have visited and a Happy third year anniversary to this blog!