Shoryuken Remixed.

Holy Inferioty Complex, Batman. Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix (which shall henceforth be referred to as SSF2THDR) has *finally* hit the PAL PSN. The price is pretty steep in AU$, coming in at AU$23.95, but I still put the money down and purchased it. Have been playing it like mad.

Furthermore, in playing it like mad… I’ve realised how AWFUL I am at the game. Nowhere near as fluent as I am in Smash. Obviously because both require different playstyles. But it doesn’t help that I feel retarded when I’m using a PS3 control when I feel I need an arcade stick to play properly. So naturally, that’s gone onto my rather long shopping list as a future purchase.

Fire Emblem DS and Killzone 2 this week. Hype, also SFIV. So much money going bye-bye. See you guys on the other side!

Congratulations, EA.

So we’ve seen 45 seconds of Dead Space: Extraction on Wii. And in an interview we learned that the game will be an on-rail shooter. So let’s all put our hands together, as it sounds as though EA has successfully extracted all of the tension and atmosphere that could have existed in Dead Space Extraction. Some people could be saying, “ZOMG WHY LMX?!” and I’ll answer you quite simply. Does one imagine a rail shooter as being an atmospheric experience? I certainly can’t remember one. Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles is a good example, that game had no tense moments, no moments where you were feeling engulfed by an eerie, creepy atmosphere. Why? Because you were not in control of your movements, sure there were times when you could deviate left or right. But that isn’t enough. Especially since Dead Space (despite being nowhere near as good as it could have been) on PS3/XB360/PC was a very atmospheric game and really drew the gamer into the horrifying experience. Now we have a on-rail prequel, if they can manage to pull off a remotely similar atmosphere then I’ll be impressed.

But enough of that really, I don’t want to spend my time dwelling on that negative point. Its just yet another game on my “Do Not Buy” list. Which is getting quite long in the Wii section. A shame really, because with so many games apparently coming I thought my Wii would get some playtime. But I may have hoped too much. So far I’m only buying The Conduit, Metroid Prime Wii and Metroid Prime 2 Echoes Wii. PS3 and PC have a large amount of games I need to play through and I may even get a 360 this year. Its dirt cheap at the moment anyway.

Street Fighter IV, winner. Pure winner. I’ll have a review up after I’ve finished playing around in it, maybe in a couple of weeks. Want some time to get to know the game intimately. Love it. Resident Evil 5 is really close as well, so is Killzone 2. OH MY GOD! Too many good games. Not enough time.

*melts*

Back To The Streets This Week…

So apparently Street Fighter 4 has crept right up on me and is hitting store shelves this week, apparently. So what does that mean to me? Time to prep myself for a return to the streets. I haven’t really played a Street Fighter to any depth since the older games but I see SFIV as a brand new chance to get into it. So I’m heavily excited about the game itself. The game itself should also fill in enough time until Resident Evil 5 falls into my lap in under a month now. Man, its gonna be a good few weeks… but enough! I covered how good gaming is getting a few blogs back.

I have yet to pick a character to use in this upcoming Street Fighter, but in the past I’ve been quite the fan of Guile and the usual Ryu. But that doesn’t mean I’m opposed to some Blanka or Bison. But having been out for so long I suppose I’ll have to relearn everything anyway. Which should be fun.

In a perfect world I’d be able to download Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix on the PSN… but for some utterly stupid reason it is currently remaining an XBL exclusive. Mega lame indeed. So, as a result of not having that, I’m so rusty that I’m considering getting the SF games off of the Virtual Console. But I doubt I’ll stoop to that.

Speaking of which, I should really blog about the stuff the Wii has coming up soon… because there is a lot of it. A surprising amount even… but I take every piece of Wii news with a truckload of salt, because the Good Game/Bad Game ratio is heavily tipped against third party developers.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO MY READERS!! Whoever… you are.

So, on that note its time for me to leave. Morale of the blog: Buy Street Fighter IV, it’ll be legend… wait for it..

You’re Out Of Your Vector…

…If you don’t think World Ends With You should have a Wii sequel.

This seemingly one-off game came to the Nintendo DS last year and surprised a lot of people with its visual style, storyline and unique gameplay. And suffice to say, the majority loved it. Now this is an important thing to note because Square was out on a limb here when they put their money on this game. It could have flopped and died, but luckily it didn’t. More people should buy this game if only to support Square stepping out of their safe mansion with a Final Fantasy structure, Dragon Quest wallpaper, and Star Ocean appliances because it doesn’t really happen that often. And when it does happen they usually do it in a safe, and ultimately awful, way (such as Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles or Dragon Quest Swords).

World Ends With You is a brilliant game and upon hearing in an interview that the developement would not rule out a Wii sequel I was overflowing with excitement. I would love to see how the team would utilise the Wii, and not because I’m a Wii fan but because I’m a WEWY fan.

Some may think that a lot of the times sequels can cheapen games or destroy something the original created, but honestly I would have enough faith in the team to come up with something interesting and compelling, a lot like what the original actually was. There are a few different paths they could take when it comes to putting the sequel together.

Explore the backstory of the Game (and I just lost it)

We are kind of thrown into the thick of things in the original, meeting all these characters and doing all these tasks and simply told we are “Players” in the “Game.” What would be interesting would be to explore the past of this game, maybe by featuring the first actual Players or the events leading up its creation. Square love prequels so this is not an impossibility. Only problem is, explaining everything in some stories can cheapen it and as such they’d have to be careful.

New Players in a new location

It is entirely possible the game isn’t limited to Shibuya, or at the very least, its participants are not limited to Shibuya. They could introduce new Players to a new Game. New team running the game, since a lot of the head honcho’s bit the dust in World Ends With You. So, with new people in power could come new rules, new tasks, new challenges and God knows what else. Either way I think potential is there, and I believe that the team could safely work something out to please new entrants to the game and fans of the original.

It must contain moar Sho Minamoto

This is just something I had to throw in there purely on the basis that Sho Minamoto (aka Pi-Face/ Grim Heaper) is immeasurably awesome and I’d love to see more of him. And though it may seem like a little bit of fan-service to bring him back for a sequel, to be fair he did seem to have something going on the original. He had some sort of plot that we never really saw revealed, because upon his return he was quickly dismissed. But maybe that was part of his plan as well. Because I find it hard to believe that developers went through that effort of bringing him back to have him die again. So was Taboo Noise just one phase of his plan? I’d love to find out!! Provided it didn’t feel forced.

These are only three very dodgy suggestions, purely to put out there that a World Ends With You sequel could end up being amazing. But at the same time its important to emphasize that it mustn’t come across as feeling forced which is usually a big risk with sequels. If it feels forced then it will lose its momentum and just kind of chug along.

A lot of people seem concerned about the discussed move from the DS to the Wii. I think it could be pretty interesting. It would lose the dual screen innovation that caught some of our eyes the first time, so the team would have to develop something new with a sequel, perhaps some form of innovative use of the Wii’s specific capabilities, I’m sure they could figure something out with the Wii-remote. But having said that if they can’t then I would be 100% okay with the sequel returning to the DS. As long as the sequel sees the light of day, then I will be happy.

What the factorial are you waiting for guys!!