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!