All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Do you like incredibly tough video games? What if those games also star small, robotic children? Well then, we've got quite the VC in Brief for you this week, as we check out Mega Man 4 -- a game that not only has all of those things, but also teaches us how robots can murder and then "acquire" the abilities of their mechanical brethren. Life lessons, folks -- life lessons.

• Mega Man 4 (NES, 1 player, 500 Wii Points)

Every week, we like to check out what's new on the Virtual Console. We offer VC in Brief as a sort of taste to help you decide whether or not you would want the game in question. We also toss in our own two cents because we're pushy jerks like that.

#drm Capcom acknowledged that copy protection in the PS3 version of Final Fight: Double Impact requires an always-on Internet connection to play the game, and apologized that a notice of such DRM was not given at the time of purchase. More »

#salesget New Super Mario Bros. Wii holds onto its first place position in Japan for another week, outselling every other console game in the nation, including the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 re-release of Grasshopper's zany No More Heroes. More »

click to enlarge
Blizzard has been handing out Starcraft 2 beta keys like free lunch, but it's not just for the benefit of starved-craft fans. "Oh, we don't think of this as a demo," Blizzard's Dustin Browder told me during a recent studio visit, "It's a beta test." So-called testers are contributing piles of feedback data, which has led to nine game patches so far, with more surely in the works. "The Archon has been on my chopping block for months," Browder muttered, referring to the powerful Protoss ground unit.

The focus of my recent visit to Blizzard HQ was not to talk beta, however. It was to preview three new single-player missions from StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty. In doing so, I learned more about how the developer is incorporating at least one other race into the Terran-centric game and tried out some new game-altering mechanics and the new tech upgrade process.

A PSP Mini too simple for its own good.

#ds The formerly Japan-only downloadable DS game that wowed us with its tricky no-glasses-needed 3D graphics appears to be set for a May 17. More »

You know who really needs to be taken down a peg? Those gods, man. Look at 'em, up there. Think they're so high and mighty. We hear Kratos is busy, but we're not too concerned about a lack of potential divine retribution-dealers -- especially since Funcom just attached an imminent May 11 release date to its upcoming Age of Conan expansion, titled Rise of the Godslayer.

The add-on, which can be purchased as a separate download or a retail bundle with the original, expands the game's landscape to include the eastern empire of Khitai, where dangerous, dark magic is all the rage. For more info on the expansion, we suggest you turn to the MMO experts at Massively, who might be able to explain just how much god-slaying goes on in the new content.

Baseball fans –

Before I get to today’s picks, just a quick reminder that yesterday we announced some exciting MLB news on the PlayStation Blog — a new MLB.TV application for the PS3 is available from PlayStation Network and allows MLB.TV subscribers to watch every regular season game live in HD—very cool stuff!

And without further ado, here are our MLB 10 The Show predictions for the National League Central. This division has some good teams and some questions marks which will make for an interesting year in 2010. The Cardinals have the best player in baseball, probably one of the best ever, in Albert Pujols, and with Matt Holliday protecting him in the lineup and Chris Carpenter on the mound, it’s tough not to slot them in as the favorite for first place, and a contender to win it all in October. The Cubs had a tough ’09 season, but hope that Derrek Lee and Carlos Zambrano can right the ship, along with help at the plate from Alfonso Soriano, who needs to bounce back from a sub-par season last year. The Brewers have a legitimate superstar in Prince Fielder, but need a lot of help on the mound. We’ll see if Yovani Gallardo and Randy Wolf can get the job done as the rocks of their rotation. And then there’s the Pirates who haven’t had a winning season in 17 years…yes 17 years! It seems unlikely that they’ll break .500 in 2010, but at least they have some young talent in guys like Andrew McCutchen, might be a sign of good things to come (ok, maybe not).  The Reds, on the other hand, might be turning a corner with big bats in Brandon Phillips and Joey Votto anchoring a strong lineup. We’ll see if they can put it all together and contend for the crown. Lastly, we have the Astros who can usually guarantee 15-20 wins from ace Roy Oswalt. If Lance Berkman and the rest of the team can pull their own weight, they just might have a shot.  
 
Here’s a look at our final National League Central predictions video showing you which teams will come out on top this October according to MLB 10 The Show.

Welcome to The Show!

Addictive arcade game now available exclusively on PlayStation Network.

More content coming to Konami's racer.

For those of you thinking that Capcom's recently revealed Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was born from the strong sales of last year's Marvel vs. Capcom 2 downloadable release, well, Capcom's Ryota Niitsuma has some learnin' for you. "We really started working in development in summer 2008. But all the contract and legal negotiations -- that came way before that, as well. So ... we started to produce this game before the success of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 as a downloadable title," Niitsuma told GameTrailers, speaking through a translator during an interview at Captivate 2010 (found after the break).

Notably, Niitsuma's timeline contradicts statements made by Capcom last May. At that time, Capcom's Seth Killian told us, "What we're hoping is that if people get really juiced about [the MvC2 downloadable release], and we can show Marvel that there's a lot of heat behind this, then they'll open up the door for us to do something with '3,' which is something we'd love to do." Boy, the things a company representative will say to guard an early-in-production title.

[Via VG247]

Sign-ups for the LOCO closed beta to run from April 23 to May 17.

If you build it, hey will come.

#infinityward Cross a few more names off of the Modern Warfare 2 credits as the departures continue from Activision studio Infinity Ward. More »

#delayofgame Fans looking forward to the June release of Metroid: Other can now start looking forward to its August release, as Nintendo delays the Team Ninja developed title along with Treasure's Sin & Punishment: Star Successor. More »

If you're a fan of Nintendo-published games about shooting aliens, prepare for disappointment. Nintendo just announced delays for the North American releases of both Sin & Punishment: Star Successor and Metroid: Other M.

Sin & Punishment has been pushed back from June 7 to June 27 -- a brief delay. The Team Ninja/Nintendo Metroid sequel, however, has been bumped more substantially, from June 27 to August 31. We should have known the June date was too good to be true when all Europe got was a vague "Q3" announcement.
Metroid: Other M, Sin & Punishment: Star Successor delayed

I’m surprised at how high up The Conduit is in comparison to Call of Duty. I really think the sequel buzz is helping to push The Conduit into more homes. I just hope those consumers end up interested in the sequel!

We chat with this year's cover athlete and show off the first gameplay footage.

Nintendo updates release schedule of several titles.

A portion of a WiiLoveIt review… There’s nothing special about it, but if you’ve never experienced it before and enjoy memory games, then give it a try. Obviously, it’s not something you’ll be playing every day, but there’s adequate reason for you to return to make it worth the $2.

#clips Ryu has a crush on Chun-Li, Sakura has a crush on Ryu, Cammy can't seem to keep her clothes on, and Crimson Viper hasn't had her period in eight months. Welcome to Street Fighter High. More »