This Zangief-sized offering contains games, music, art, video… just about every medium you can think of, all dedicated to this classic series and its devoted fans. For $149.99 (on either Xbox 360 or PS3), you get:

Games

-Street Fighter X Tekken (including all character and Swap Costume DLC)

-Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition (with all costume DLC)

-Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

-Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition

Video

-New documentary Blu-ray that highlights the lifelong love affair fans have had with Street Fighter, and how their dedication has affected the game.

-Street Fighter IV, Super SFIV anime movies

-All episodes of the Street Fighter animated series (DELICIOUS!)

-Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie

Light-up Ryu statue

-Brand new statue with light up base. Eight inches tall and frozen in mid Shoryuken.

11 disc soundtrack

-Game music from the past 25 years, including remixes and fan-created music.

64 page hardcover art book

-Containing pieces from fans all over the world.

Ryu’s belt

-Full size martial arts black belt for the aspiring World Warrior. Includes Ryu’s “Furinkazan” in kanji.

Certificate of Authenticity

-Like any good collector’s set, this comes with a lovely piece of paper telling you how limited and special it is. They’re all individually numbered, so get one before they disappear! Arrives on September 18.

Here is the E3 version below:

From what we see here there are some pretty big revisions.  Frist we see that we no longer have the 3DS like tumb nub, in its place there are actual joysticks two of them.  Second the start and select button has changed positions to the right side of the tablet.  Instead of being next to the home botton.  Tjis was probably done for gaming purposes and how your hands rest on the whole tablet itself. There has also been added the WiiU logo and these two squares which I will assume are buttons for some feature. All in all I think this is huge since E3 is around the corner, keep checking as we try to get more info about this leak.

One of the most notable examples I can think of is the DLC for Grand  Theft Auto IV. The Ballad of Gay Tony and The Lost and the Damned were much better than the original game. Part of it I would have to theorize is with the cast and soundtrack available within the game. Most people couldn’t relate to an Eastern European that lives on that side of Brooklyn. err I mean Liberty City (I know I couldn’t) so the character and setting change helped. Also the GTA IV soundtrack was a little bit weak on initial release but with the DLC helping out it became a better overall soundtrack (in my opinion.)

Which brings me to my current situation with Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City and it’s DLC focusing around the good guys that you play as in the multiplayer mode, Echo 6. While there has been an uproar over the selling of DLC that is on the disc, especially in the case of Street Fighter X Tekken, the Slant 6 team has given the first mission for free (which I think might have been on the disc unfinished). The Echo 6 pack includes three missions and features cameos from major RE series characters like Jill Valentine, Carlos, Claire Redfield and Sherry Berkin. Also the mission layout and pacing feels much more complete and thought out versus the original campaign. The characters don’t interact much between each other but there is definitely seems as if there more dialogue. The characters actually talk about what’s going on, part of it I think is they’ve never been through something like this while the Umbrella team knows exactly what’s going on so it is old had for them. With only 4 missions on the book the Echo 6 campaign is shaping up to be better than the Wolfpack campaign.  Which brings me to the question, why wasn’t this included on the disc at launch ? This would have helped the games overall standing with critics who fault the lackluster story.

So what are you to do? Ask the company for more DLC and then  pay for it to get what you should have received in the first place? With companies on the  web and possessing the ability to interact with with fans that’s a distinct possibility which never would have happened during my youth. It’s also a sad sign of the times, where a company can push out a unfinished game and then add on the working components to the game later for a fee or never at all if they feel it isn’t worth it. I feel that the DLC avenue could be a very powerful tool for consoles however right now  companies are still trying to figure it out. My only hope is that they don’t ruin it with  blatant plays for money.

What do you guys think? Have you had an experience where the DLC was actually better than the game for you I’d love to hear all bout it.

The very basis of the game challenges you as you are put in the shoes of Lee, a man who may or may not be good or bad. Regardless of who he was in his past, you are given the freedom to decide who he will be. The game throws clues as to what might be the most natural choices in a given situation depending on who you are chatting with. The characters are full of emotion and the situation is tense.

Designed in an episodic style based directly on the comic book universe, the game heavily focuses on characterization and emotions over action. Your choices directly influence those around you, as well as those you have yet to meet. Fortunately, characters that cross over from the comic have the same personality traits of those from the comic, rather than the show.

Why is this a good thing, and what might those traits be you ask? In general, the characters from the show tend to be misguided compared to their comic counterparts.
Rick, the central character is far more capable of being a leader and makes some incredible sacrifices within the comic. Hershel the farmer is far less a delusional old fool and more himself, a powerful presence. Glenn, is  not a pushover and becomes the arbiter of many key events that occur throughout the comic. Essentially, all characters can think for themselves without having Rick to tie their shoes for them. Events don’t drag on, and the pacing overall pacing is tighter. The show is also restricted on what events can be portrayed due to television, often going on entirely different tangents from the comic storyline, leaving for some confusing plot points.

The main concept behind the comic is essentially a deconstruction of humanity in the face of a disaster, an ideal that the show loses sight of rather quickly. Events that played out in mere pages occupied the majority of the shows two seasons. When you consider the sheer amount of material that is available for TWD, it’s puzzling as to why the show moves along at a snail’s pace. Characters are so helpless that it makes you almost wonder how they survived as long as they have, as they are constantly making poor choices. Small talk conversations seem to go nowhere and certain plot devices lead the show on tangents that end up going nowhere.

The show’s future is uncertain to say the least. So the fact that the game stands firm in the realm of the comic, grants it much immunity. We have already seen strong character development within the first chapter. Clementine, an 8 year old girl you encounter very early on, is more interesting than the entire TWD show’s cast. She’s capable of intelligent decisions and displays rationale for her choices which play smartly into those around her. Telltale Games have taken to designing the world as a duck does to water, or I should say, a zombie does to brains. If you haven’t, do yourself a favor and go read the comic. With episode 2 several months off, now is an excellent time to sink into the world of  The Walking Dead.

-Storm

Video Games Live Creator/Executive Producer and famed video game composer Tommy Tallarico explains, “We continually receive thousands of e-mails a year from families and gamers who would love to experience our show, but find it hard to travel to major cities and have to deal with travel expenses, overnight stays, getting the kids out of school, etc. and we would like to try to accommodate as many people as possible to share in the experience.” He goes on to say that, “Our goal from the beginning has always been to show the world how culturally significant and artistic video games have become. I wanted to create a show for everyone whether you’re a gamer or not. We always keep our ticket prices as low as possible so everyone can come out and experience what we have to offer… in some locations this year due to certain sponsorships the ticket prices are as low as $5 each!”

By performing in both large city theatres/arenas as well as small towns, Video Games Live will increase its yearly touring number which is already between 40 and 50 performances a year. There will be little to no change in the actual show experience except for the fact that the stages and screens may be slightly smaller to accommodate the smaller town venues. Tommy proclaims “We LOVE playing some of the older and classic theatres because it’s a much more up close and personal experience. You can really feel and hear every word from the crowd. It works GREAT for our show and the way we always include the audience interactively.”

In order to start planning the smaller area performances for the 2012/2013 season Video Games Live is asking for help from the fans. Sign up to the Video Games Live Mailing List at www.videogameslive.com and make sure to include city/state/country information along with the games you would like to hear (which will be used to create the setlist for that show). A list of the top 10 cities will be released next month and will be added to the 2012/2013 tour. Each audience member of the 10 cities chosen will receive a free poster, program and Video Games Live album download when they attend the show.

The VIDEO GAMES LIVE: “OFF THE GRID” tour starts this week in the following locations:

March 21, 2012

London, ON

John Labatt Centre

8PM

March 23, 2012

St. Charles, IL

Arcada Theatre

7:30PM

April 4, 2012

Red Bank, NJ

Count Basie Theatre

7:30PM

April 7, 2012

Bethesda, MD

Strathmore Music Center

2PM

April 7, 2012

Bethesda, MD

Strathmore Music Center

8PM

April 14, 2012

El Dorado, AR

Municipal Auditorium

7:30PM

You guys better act now to get your tickets.

For those wondering how the game’s shaping up, here’s a look at the new trailer!

Judging by the trailer, not only does it have 2-4 player co-op featuring the kids we know and love (including some of their alter egos), but it seems to borrow a little of everything from other major successful platformers such as Megaman, Super Mario, Sonic and even the classic Ninja Gaiden titles. Better still, though obviously, all of the original voice actors from the show lent their voices to maintain that unique South Park feel we’ve come to enjoy each time they make the jump into the gaming realm.

South Park: Scott Tenorman’s Revenge is set for release this Spring 2012.

Assassins Creed III is set for a release on October 30th, 2012.

As with any cross/vs game, the roster is pretty size able. Excluding exclusive character content, the roster caps at 38 fighters that cover just about everyone ranging from the flagship characters  (Ryu,Ken,Guile, Chun-li – Jin,Kazuya,King, Bob) and just about anyone you could imagine in between to be asked for. Visually, this game does an impressive job of dodging an “imported feel” bullet by adding more color and life to the Street Fighter cast and pleasingly separating them from their Street Fighter 4 appearances. The Tekken cast has surprisingly translated extremely well into the 2D plane, a feat not seen since the 90′s, very much looking like they belong.

It usually comes off as a far fetch to convince the audience as to why or how two totally different universes should merge together for battle, this title being no exception.  While the story of Pandora’s Box falling to Earth, in UFO/meteorite fashion, isn’t exactly the most engaging delivery; the presentation carries the game very well. Since this is primarily a Street Fighter title, locations and themes are based off the SF world. Character alliances and rivalries on both sides are very entertaining and make a lot of sense almost to the point where these two worlds were destined to merge at some point. Dialogue exchanges look to have received more attention from the developers, keeping introductions and win quotes to act as an icing on the cake for wins.

There are only about 9 stages, all of which are extremely lively and animated with plenty going on in the background that makes this game so fun to spectate as it is to play. It would have been nice to  see more stages considering the themes to each one are pretty good. Outside of Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3, there has been a lot of neglect in this department from Capcom fighters. After winning of each round, stages will either alter or relocate the fighters to a different viewpoint, which is a nice touch but even more so a reason why there should be more stages available to select.

The learning curve of this game is rather agreeable with all ranges of gamers novice through advanced. The combo system isn’t like Street Fighter 4 where the player must perform strict timing “links” in order to do their moves in succession. Instead players can execute combos in the form of “chains”, a manner much easier to move from one attack to the next to create a combo without the strict timing in between. The in-game tutorial does a nice job of covering just about all useful features, non of which are over bearing to learn since most super attacks and abilities are performed in similar motions for all characters.

There was a lot of fear going around about the Pandora system and how it might be an overpowering come back mechanic. However contrary to said fear, this feature is actually quite useless. Pandora is a special ability in which the player, with minimal health, can sacrifice a teammate for a power boost that is only active for 8 seconds. The fact that Pandora’s lifespan is so short in combination with the fact that there is no real significant boost of anything, makes this feature a wasted headline and use of coding.

The gem system however has turned out to be quite balanced and fair. Each character is allowed to equip up to 3 gems that have different properties split into the categories of Boost, Assist, and Special.  These gems require a specific balanced requirements to activate such as landing 3 special attacks, block 5 normals attacks, perform 1 grab in much more. Once activated the player is granted a long list of available rewards ranging from regenerating health, increased speed, boosted damage, stronger defense and far much more in different variations.

There are a couple of modes to SFXT, arcade of course where the player must advance through different stages until reaching the final boss to complete the short story.  Trial mode allows players to test and advance their knowledge with different characters by completing the various assigned moves and combos. Mission mode pits you against the CPU with prerequisites on how the opponent has to be defeated and places certain stipulations under the player that will provide the bulk of the challenge.

SFXT Tekken has a very mixed online feature. The great thing about the online play in this game is players can invite a partner into their session and bring them along for every available online mode in the game, Ranked, Endless Battle and Briefing Room without having to ever split up. The briefing room is an online practice lobby where two players can enter the training mode together to practice the depth of combos this title has to offer and simply just brush up on their skills together. The noted flaw of the online play is often the games sound will desync from the action, buffering out a lot of effects from attacks as well as the music which is very off putting to say the least.

In a nutshell, Street Fighter X Tekken does a great job of being a unique VS game by combining a great mix of other fighters fundamentals without seeming to belong to too much of one specific feel.  Although Street Fighter is the main theme here, the gameplay system encourages gamers think outside of that box and create more unique combos and play around with the system. The game looks just as great as it plays with a large roster of staple characters that will appeal to just about any gamer, not falling short of any options.

OVERALL: 8.5

Yes, that is an arm attached to his head, and yes, that is his headless torso. Also going on: Demons are being shot.

In this third-person action shooter, players are in control of Bryce Boltzmann, a demon hunter who has been alive for over 500 years. This isn’t due to some kind of inheritance, or choice, but his immortality is actually the result of a curse brought upon him by a demon lord named Astaroth. See, he has a penchant for invading worlds (as all demon lords seem to) and the organization Bryce belongs to specializes in sending them back where they belong. After a failed contract that ended with the death of his wife, he’s become a bitter, disheveled man in the passing centuries, but still holds the same demon hunting job, now using his curse as a tactical advantage. When Astaroth surfaces again and nearly destroys a city, Bryce is contracted once again by his agency to take him down. There are some ties in the story with Astaroth murdering Bryce’s wife and how it led to him becoming this sort of anti-hero, but the bare-bones plot and bad dialogue full of cheesy one-liners by Bryce made it hard to care about. Even after the conclusion, it never feels more than a bare bones revenge plot with supernatural elements thrown in, and not a very well put together plot at that.

Immortality is an ability that may make for a lack of tension in a game like this, making it either a lukewarm experience, or one absent of any real challenge. In a wise move, the developers saw to it that his partner Arcadia is there to accompany you for the duration of your missions. This not only provides you with a partner for the game, but also turns her into a VIP because should she die, it’s game over. Though, don’t let that fool you into thinking the game is one large escort mission, because outside of providing the stereotypical blonde chick with a gun role in an action game, she can actually hold her own quite well during the games many action sequences, so worrying about her death never becomes a chore, and you can focus on yourself during conflicts. This leaves you to abuse the power to detach and re-attach your limbs at will, taking enemies out left and right in a variety of ways. Being undead, Bryce is pretty tough on his own, so even when you sustain heavy injuries, your body parts just fall around the area and can picked back up by simply rolling over them. While this may make the game seem overly easy, it’s important to remember that Bryce is only immortal so long as his head is still intact, and some enemies are designed to suck up Bryce’s head for an instant kill, making it less of a crutch than you’d think. When this situation happens, a QTE is initiated to save yourself from these critters. Guess what happens when you fail?

The odd damage and companionship woes are small complaints on their own, but what really makes the game a chore to play through is Rebellion’s insistence on tedious repetition at every turn. Each of the game’s action scenes (and there are many) boil down to walking into an area, watching as the exits get barred, and fighting through waves of enemies until the barriers lift. Occasionally, they try to mix things up with the odd puzzle, some requiring the use of a body part (one of the game’s more creative ideas I wish they would’ve used more), but it’s basically the same “Clear the demons until the exits open, rinse, repeat until boss” formula for large portion of the game. This degree of tedium is exacerbated later on in the game when previously defeated bosses later show up as regular enemies. I couldn’t tell if the developers were trying to be cool by doing this, but it just came off as lazy.

Is this screenshot boring? Blame the game.

This feeling of laziness translates to the games visuals as well. Environments are bland, empty and rarely branch out from the traditional “Lonely Alleyway”, “Subway”, and “Abandoned Factory” archtypes for most of the game. Cutscenes are all done in game and do look well enough to appease the eye as Bryce and company are decently animated, but it’s during the action sequences where the game hiccups. The camera is an unfortunate pain as well, getting stuck on objects or simply not giving a wide enough view of the action. These small annoyances pile on over time and are a pain in a game so reliant on fast paced action, especially when environments are littered with things that can explode with a simple touch. This means, as a player, expect to be sent flying constantly and unfairly, which leads into losing limbs often, leading to more slowdown.

It’s then you realize that it’s unfortunate that the game is so centralized on his dismemberment, because when this happens, the limb loss animation is pretty stale and generic, and more painful to watch repeatedly than what I’m sure being dismembered feels like.

I thought that with all the other types of fail on display, the weapons would have some redeemable quality, but they are just as bland from start to finish. I did enjoy the fact that you can wield a sword and slicing through enemies does have a fun and addictive feel, but even that leaves a sour taste after a while. The gunplay consists of the standard handgun, assault rifle, sub-machine gun, shotgun and grenade launcher fare most shooters are known for. There are hidden versions of these particular guns as well as secret swords that can provide more damage to the enemies, but they come across as very weak amongst the many enemy types regardless of how powerful they appear to be. Once you find the main Grenade Launcher though, there is little reason to go and utilize any other weapon since it does the most damage and hits a bigger radius in its explosion.

Surprisingly, there is multiplayer to be found here, but unsurprisingly, even it falls short of applause, being lazily picked from other, better games. You have Onslaught which is essentially this game’s Horde mode, Fragile Alliance which is a checkpoint based race through enemies, Search And Rescue (glorified escort mission), and finally an Egg Hunt mode which has you looking for civilians to save or treasures respectively. All are made virtually unplayable due to lack of a mini-map, the environments being maze-like and it being all too easy to get lost while playing. Fun!

I really wanted to like this game, and judging by the trailers, I thought it had the potential to give me another unique experience similar to Shadows of the Damned. It’s a shame too, as its off kilter premise and bland, yet endearing characters could have provided an otherwise enjoyable experience. Unfortunately, even the main selling point of the game becomes an overused mini-game by the end, and by then you’ve likelly already realized the game has a throw away story, bland visuals and repetitive gameplay. It’s workable as a rental game, but save your cash for something better.

Rating: 4.0

This review will do what it can to set apart from other BD write ups by omitting any Terminator and iRobot jokes which will most likely be running rampant by like minded folk. However, it’s crucial to understand that a majority of enjoyment to be had from this game is due to the fact that, unlike most shooters, the enemy will does not consist of cannon fodder militia or aliens looks to take over the planet/galaxy. Instead you are placed in a not too distant futuristic imagining of the world, post 21st century, in 2080 where the planet has suffered from devastating geographical disaster such as massive flooding of oceans and seas resulting in major shifts and losses of land across the globe. In efforts to reconstruction civilization and land, labor robots were manufactured to assist in the worldwide revival of what is left of mankind. This all sounds great until the line between humans and robots are thinned when the shocking discovery of dangerous cybernetic beings walking among us in the guise of being human comes to light which happens to be a major violation of government law Clause 21.

The fun begins when you take control of Dan Marshall along side a team of top mercenaries from allied nations in a mission against lead robotics manufacturer Amada Corp in efforts to bring back the CEO who is believed to be behind the creation of the dangerous cyborgs. The story takes an entire chapter to actually kick off to this point but even the tutorial filler is fun as you get to explore and toy around with the interactive feature of the game which actually work surprisingly well, managing the avoid the tact’d on, gimmick feel. Exploring the controls will be nothing really new for familiars of Gears of War, the layout is identical and the feel/movement is akin to Mass Effect 2. This is good due to the fact that these similarities are just about as far as Binary Domain goes in terms of “borrowing”. The next immediate and cool feature you will explore is the chat function.

Players are able to use their headsets to communicate with A.I. teammates in the game and it’s actually very accurate. Should there be any problems due to background noise or the mic simply not picking you up clearly, there are calibration options to optimize this feature. The list of recognized phrases covers just about anything one would say when out in the battlefield such as commands, cries for help, questions and even curse words. The things you say effect your relationship and trust level of the active members of your party, including your actions such as shooting them in friendly fire which will happen from time to time.The voice command system allows you to apologize for blunders like these, saying something offensive and being completely useless to your team during a heated firefight. Should your trust level drop low enough, teammates will refuse to carry out orders and become less helpful in battle but you would really have to go out of your way for things like this to take effect, having no real deep impact on the relationship system.

Each of the characters are pretty entertaining, delivering what you’d expect from such a random assortment of expert mercenaries who have grown indifferent towards the threat of death. At the start of each mission, players are given a new chance to change up the members of their party, similar to an RPG fashion, and interact with all characters throughout the game in different scenes. Dialogue exchanges are always fun enough to want to take part in and each character plays their role without being underwhealming, boring or annoying which happens fairly often in the genre. The way they talk and interact with the player is a great distraction to the fact that sometimes you are simply going from one area to the next, shooting up baddies.

Once the action picks up, it’s enjoyable from start to finish. There is a fresh and fun feel to each firefight, breaking away the armor and limbs of your enemies never wears thin as they will even crawl on the ground towards you until you completely destroy them. The only break away from the move up and shoot formula are action segments where you are firing turrets in high speed chases, driving motorboats or escaping for giant mechs. These segments are fun but some control a bit stiff, breaking off from the fluid game play you would by now be accustomed to which may be a little frustrating but is in no way unplayable.

There is a small portion of customization to enjoy which enables you to either level up a characters main weapon stats or add  to their personal status such as health increases, evasive ability, overall accuracy and much more. Credits earned from kill bonus’ can be spent at random vending stores located around each stage. The options are limited since the slot box for personal customization only allows for about 2-3 additions and cannot be expanded, leaving much to be desired in this field and almost feeling pointless.

Binary Domain is a well executed experience during the flooding of shooters of today. Only suffering from lack of expansion or detailed depth in scattered areas of gameplay, it still manages to keep it’s head above water gracefully with fun action and entertaining characters to assist the player along for the ride. The campaign runs around 9 hours and the multiplayer consist of traditional versus style and horde mode game play which has become the norm for any game with a gun.

Visuals (8) Futuristic 2080 along with Neo Tokyo looks pretty impressive and convincing.  Everything on screen from small to large scale seem to share the same amount of attention to detail which makes the action and story consistently enjoyable. Character models look lively and fully animated during game play and cinematics alike.

Sound (7.5) The sounds of scrap metal, clinking robots and explosions tend to drift into autopilot in your ears after a while but the rel fun comes from the dialogue and interaction with your squadmates.

Controls (8) Following the template of Gears of War, there is nothing here to be found broken or non responsive. Action scenes to tend to stray away from that feel with some clunky controls at times but these moments are so short lived, players won’t have a change to  complain about it before it all over anyway,

Gameplay(8) Fresh elements to the action is what keeps this game afloat from start to finish. Small breaks away from firefights where players can talk with towns people offers a great balance to counter act any feeling of this being another mindless shooter. Strategic elements such as dismembering enemies in various ways allows players to mix up each encounter to avoid any repetitive feelings in each battle. Voice commanding is very accurate and responsive, something that could be an easily welcomed addition to shooters of the future.

Replay (7.5) Once done with the campaign, there is little to no reason to revisit other clean cleaning up some achievements or trophies. Enjoyment of the multiplayer will only peak for those who haven’t really experienced a shooter up until now since this title brings nothing new or holds any lasting appeal.

Overall (8)