I gotta say, I was pretty bummed to not have been able to head to Judges Day this year (as I am every year.) So just imagine my surprise when Sony sent the same build to us today. I basically have about 6 hours for this preview before the embargo lifts, but this is an incredibly small section of the game’s campaign, taking place in 2 distinct areas. I have no idea where this transpires in the story, and as we always do, this will be completely spoiler-free.

The goal for this preview is to detail the gameplay, environment, and pretty much everything BUT the story elements. I’ve opted to turn the lights on as I boot this build up, and actually, I’m pretty stoked that I get to play this on my huge plasma with surround sound, instead of a small monitor and headphones. Let’s get to it!

The first section available is in Lincoln, PA. You start out on a road, but jump into the woods right away. The lighting hits you right away too, as the sun creeps through the tree branches (the sun is at the point that photographers call the “magic hour” which is a great touch for the mood). You can tell immediately that there will probably be a good deal of exploration, as you can search around for items to pick up and add to your inventory. Controls are very responsive, and feel pretty different than those in the Uncharted series. Also, I noticed that I don’t think that you can fire your weapon unless you’re holding L1 to aim (no run and gun.) This probably isn’t a bad thing though, since ammo is scarce.

I come to a fenced-in area, with a small shed off to the side. As I climb to the top of the shed, I find a pipe with scissors taped to the end. This can act as an upgrade to my normal melee attack, and a tutorial pops-up to let me know that I can upgrade any melee weapon, bit that use is limited because items damage when used. For example, I can craft an upgraded melee weapon if I have scissors, a roll of tape, and a Baseball bat. It’s a good use of crafting, especially since it seems pretty simple (unlike some RPG’s I’ve seen.)

I scope a plank resting against a wall, and it seems that’s what I’ll have to use to get farther in to the area. This was tricky since there wasn’t any type of tutorial. I figured that I could use the plank to walk across to the shack that’s inside the fenced area, but I didn’t’ know how to so. I tried a few different things until I put it in the right place, dropped it across the gap between the two shacks, and headed across with Ellie.

At this point, I enter the town, and something spooks Ellie, so we duck into a building. I scrounge a bit, and man, the lighting! The sun is actually heading down into the horizon, and beams shoot through the windows with a glow the permeates anything in its path. Stunning! We go outside, and then I see what spooked Ellie, a zombie-thingy. It doesn’t see me at first, and being me, I shoot at its head (instead of just going past it or melee’ing the hell out of it. My aim sucks, and it grabs me, tearing at my neck… and I’m dead! Yup, this isn’t one of those “I can shake the zombie thingy” type of games. I restart at the checkpoint, and this time, I take the bastard out with a couple of headshots, but another is nearby and makes a run for me. This time, I’m ready and take it out with ease. I can tell already though, that you definitely want to avoid conflicts at all costs.

The town is deserted, and plants have started to grow over everything. As I’m searching a garden for items, I noticed that if there are more than one item in arms reach, you pick everything up at once instead of each individual item (THANK YOU!) There’s nothing going on here though, and the lack of movement is downright creepy. It’s one of those “it’s too quiet” feelings. Then, a slight music cue and I freak out! Of course, nothing was there. Damn you Naughty Dog.

Ack! Another of “the infected.” Since I’m a wuss, I waste a molotov cocktail on it. I’d crafted a couple earlier just in case. I’m sure that I should have just melee’d it to take it out, buuuuut that molotov did the job. I’ll regret this choice later on, or at least I expect that’s the case.

I fall into a trap set by the man we’re looking for, and all hell breaks loose as you defend Ellie while she attempts to cut you down. The infected move in from all around, and running away makes a LOT more sense then trying to kill them all. The action is crazy, and yeah, I died a couple of times along the way. This requires a lot more finesse than straight-up gunplay, so obviously it’s not normally what I play, and that’s a good thing.

There are a few stealth elements at your disposal. You’ll have the ability to pick up things like bottles and bricks, and instead of throwing them directly at someones head, you can throw it in an opposite direction to distract them, allowing you to slip by. Also, there’s an ability (deemed ‘Listen Mode’, which can be disabled) to hold R2, making the screen fade to black & white, and activating a sort-of sonar. You’ll be able to see outlines of your enemies through objects and walls. You’ll be relatively vulnerable while doing so, but it’s an excellent way to strategize what you’re going to do next. As seen in past demos, the enemy AI is completely contextual, so if you show that you have skills with your gun, they’ll actually back-off and either run away, or attempt to regroup and flank you. From what I played, this feature is the real deal too. They reacted quite differently in the two playthroughs.

On to Pittsburgh now. It starts at a point seen in one of the trailers, with a man acting as if he’s injured. Joel guns the truck to get away only to be rammed by a bus. The action gets intense immediately, as Joel and Ellie are both accosted before they can get out of the truck. A lucky headshot on another enemy, and they quickly back off to rally themselves. This gives me time to creep a bit and get into a better position. I only have 2 shells in my shotgun but I figure that if I take one out with it, the others may scatter.

After I take them all out, Ellie and Joel explore a couple of the buildings, and we find a workbench, offering me a chance to upgrade my weapons etc. The crafting system is very straightforward and easy to use, which makes me happy. That ends the second area of the preview.

What ‘The Last of Us’ is not is derivative. It’s not simply Uncharted with infected enemies, it’s not Resident Evil, and it’s not the standard “Zombies” game. The gameplay is much more deliberate, requiring you to scrounge for supplies as much as possible. There’s a good deal of exploration, and unless you hold L2 all the time, you won’t be running everywhere by default. The dialogue between Joel and Ellie doesn’t feel forced, and fits the mood of the situation nicely.

In the short amount of gameplay that I experienced, it hits every note in terms of pacing and mood. The use of sound has a drastic impact on your psyche as you move through the overgrown areas that you need to traverse. Sounds are used sparingly though, which actually affects the player even more. The action is visceral and impactful, and the brutality of your situation makes you feel the . ‘The Last of Us’ plays with your head, and as a hoard of infected race toward you, just try to remember that shooting them is the last thing that you’ll want to do, especially when you realize that you only have 2 bullets.

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After being teased by Dice and EA with the “prepare 4 battle” videos, we are
finally being treated with gameplay of the upcoming Battlefield 4. The first thing I noticed,
and anyone who watches the video notices, is that the graphics look so much better
than the previous games. It’s not just a small jump in visuals though, as the Frostbite 3 engine is
simply stunning. From the beams of light coming through and old building illuminating
the dust to the violent explosions and character models, everything just looks so much
better.

The combat looks like what you would expect from a Battlefield game, I did
notice that the main weapon being used had a medium range sight and iron sights
offset to the side. I’m not sure if DICE would incorporate this into the multiplayer for
balancing reasons, since for now it’s all speculation.

Later into the demo, we see a firefight in a construction site and witness a
new gameplay mechanic. We can now spot enemies and our squad mates will provide
cover fire, allowing us to flank around and catch the enemy by surprise or call in fire
support from a helicopter. I can’t tell if this will be available at any point in the game or if
it will be only in certain parts. The fight in the construction site leads up a building and
lets us see the real destructive nature of Frostbite 3. While the crumbling of the building
was clearly scripted, the blowing out of windows and chunks of wall looked amazing. I
really hope DICE can deliver more in terms of destructible environments than what was
in Battlefield 3.

The last thing that was showcased was a driving sequence that reminded me of
the driving in Medal of Honor: Warfighter. I noticed while driving, you could take
alternate routes on your way to your destination. Hanging out the driver side of the
vehicle to shoot a grenade launcher at an attack helicopter is always a plus in my book!

My final opinion on this gameplay for Battlefield 4 is quite favorable. The new Frostbite 3
engine looks great, but they did show PC gameplay. When I went to look at the pre-
order, I didn’t notice a pre-order spot for next generation consoles. But I’m sure they will
announce more later on, maybe at E3?

Today it was announced that there will be a Heavenly Sword WipEout mash-up stage coming to PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale along with the previously announced character DLC of Kat(Gravity Rush) and Emmett Graves(Starhawk).

Exact release date for the DLC is unknown, but it will be arriving early next year and will be free for the first 2 weeks.

Expect in-depth coverage on PlayStation All-Stars later this week on the site and podcast.

So what does everyone think about the recent DLC announcements for PlayStation All-Stars?

Glenn’s Report from Santa Monica Studios
One of the reason that I’m in the Los Angeles area this week was to attend a press event for the new DLC for PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. As described above, we were able to play with two new characters, Kat and Emmett, and check out the new level as well.

Kat (Gravity Rush/Gravity Daze) is very quick, and her moves are almost “poetic” in a way, flowing from one to the next. She’s best in close-quarters, and really isn’t a threat at all from a distance. Your best bet with Kat is to focus on combos, and even now some people have found some interesting ways to chain into more combos by using her telekinetic abilities. Her Supers, as well, are best when in close, except for her Level 3 of course. She’s very quick, and can be a handful to control, but if you can master her, she be devastating. I’d probably compare her to Dante the most, but overall very different from his mechanics.

Emmett Graves (Starhawk) is a bit slower and more strategic than most of the roster. His punch movement is quite deliberate, and like Sweet Tooth, you’ll have some items at your disposal. As is the core of this game, they’ve kept Emmett true to his Starhawk roots even integrating Build & Battle into his arsenal. For example, Up + Triangle allowed Emmett to call-in a drop-pod, which revealed an automated machine gun turret. You can also call other items down, and if you can get good enough, multiple items can be strewn across the playfield, up to a certain limit though (just as in Starhawk with the limit on Rift Energy.) His Level 1 Super is pretty similar to the range of Kratos, but his Level 2, as my opponents found out last night, can actually be incredibly effective if all three of your opponents are in close proximity. His Level 3 is really badass too, but I don’t want to give that away (it works better as a surprise.)

A new level was also revealed, named “Fearless” (also the name of the level in Heavenly Sword that the pillar is in,) You start atop that iconic pillar that everyone remembers from the early demo for Heavenly Sword. The fighting is fierce in this section, as the terrain is a bit more narrow, since it drops off on both edges. It then crumbles as the ropes break, ending next to a track from the Wipeout series. Platforms are more prevalent here, but again, the arena is a bit narrow, especially since the track on the right side of the screen is electrified, shocking any combatant that is thrown into it. Another peril on the right side are the racers themselves, which will slam into anyone unfortunate enough to be standing next to the track when they race by. I gotta say, this level in particular is really great for any fan of PlayStation. When that camera pans in from afar to reveal that legendary battleground from Heavenly Sword, it’s a pretty great feeling.

Both DLC characters will be FREE for the first couple weeks of release, so even if you don’t own the game, grab them “just in case.” No actual release date has been set yet, but they’re shooting for ‘Early 2013′ at the moment.

Check out Episode 297 of the podcast when it hits on Thursday or Friday of this week, as I sat down to talk to Omar Kendall, Game Director for PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. We go in-depth with the mechanics of both new characters, the new level, and we talk about the new patch hitting soon.

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We got an extended preview of single player and hands on with two multiplayer modes for the upcoming Gearbox game, Aliens: Colonial Marines during a closed door session at New York Comic Con the other night. Gearbox President and CEO, Randy Pitchford gave us some background on the game and how it all came about.

The team are all huge fans of the movies and they’re incredibly excited to be doing an in canon sequel to the films. The idea is to make you feel like one of the Marines in the movies but have the experience of the characters be all new. The original film was roughly a three month shoot with a fifteen million dollar budget and they’ve already spent three times that on the game.

At the preview were Design Director John Mulkey who worked on the stealth-fps game No One Lives Forever and the original F.E.A.R.. along with Chief Creative Champion, Mikey Neumann who wrote Brothers in Arms, rewrote Borderlands from Pitchford’s original script, and has now written Aliens: Colonial Marines.

Also on hand were Gearbox co-founder and Chief Creative Officer Brian Martel and the venerable Lance Henriksen who played Bishop and Weyland in the Alien franchise. Martel had a meeting with Ridley Scott at the start of the project to discuss the overall franchise and where their story could fit in. Apparently as the meeting progressed and Scott got deeper into the old storyboards and notes for Alien he became more and more animated and excited about the project. Maybe not coincidentally, Prometheus was announced shortly after that initial meeting.

Set after Alien 3, a battalion sized force of Marines is sent to LV-426 to find out what happened to the last expedition. If you remember the part in Aliens where Ripley asks how long after they’re declared overdue before a rescue and she’s told seventeen days. That’s the opening the team at Gearbox used to build the story and keep it as part of the canon. We saw a real attention to detail when it came to the events of the movies and how everything would fit which will come up again later.

At the end of Aliens, the colony reactors blew wreaking havoc in a roughly thirty kilometer radius but of course, the derelict ship with thousands of eggs was about a thousand kilometers away from there, leaving the door open to plenty of chaos and carnage in the game. As Pitchford said, with a battalion sized force of about four hundred soldiers arriving on the Sephora, sister ship to the Sulaco, expect “plenty of red shirts”.

The full campaign runs roughly eight to ten hours and can be played solo or co-op with up to four players online or split screen much like Borderlands. During the single player portion, we saw a group of Marines on the Sulaco. You’ll board the ship early in the game and reach the bridge, which was not seen in the films. In the section we saw, the ship was rapidly falling apart with fire, doors being blown out, hull breaches and more. You’ve stumbled on to the Weyland-Yutani corporation’s plans and their soldiers, seen at the end of Alien 3, are busy sabotaging the ship and trying to kill you. Oh, and by the way, Aliens are loose aboard the ship as well.

On screen, you’ll see a minimalistic HUD with grenades, ammo, health and armor. An all new engine was built specifically for this game and it’s already looking great at this early stage of development. They just hit Beta and they’re currently cleaning things up and ironing out bugs. The lighting is all done in real time and it looks fantastic, with steam and smoke, electrical effects and fire all playing a part in how you move through levels.

The Aliens are already looking quite detailed along with their attacks. You’ll have to melee them back if they get to close to you, otherwise the spray of their acidic blood will strip away your armor, then your health and you won’t last long. We also saw some new Xenotypes, including one with a much larger head that can charge like a bull, take much more damage and quickly tear you apart.

The other section we saw took place down on LV-426 and was much slower and suspense filled. You’ll see the aftermath of the explosion with a massive mushroom cloud in the distance. The engine renders outdoor landscapes particularly well with lightning and water effects. You’ll come across the APC that Ripley drove out and eventually had to abandon and then find that Hadley’s Hope was not completely destroyed in the explosion.

Another synthetic Bishop is, of course, along for the ride and as you explore what’s left of the Hadley’s Hope, you’ll find collectible audio logs and dog tags. Your teams reaches what’s left of the Operations Center from the film and you’re sent out to place motion sensors around the perimeter. The suspense and exploration come to the forefront as you move from room to room, well aware of what took place here while the marines you’re controlling are not. You’ll see face huggers in jars, the room where Ripley and Newt were sleeping when Burke locked them in. The mark on the wall where the face hugger was pulled from Ripley and blown away is still there, in the correct place. The sentry guns in the hallway with all their expended ammo are in place and one of your Marines comments that it looks like “someone put up a helluva a last stand here”. The attention to detail is exciting for a fan of the movies and you can really see that this is a labor of love for the guys at Gearbox.

The sensors will start to go offline and Aliens will begin to swarm you in some intense action that mirrors the firefights in Aliens. You’ll also have challenges available such as “Kill 15 Xenomorphs With Your Sidearm” or “Kill Ten Face Huggers” which add XP for upgrades and such that carry over between the single player and multiplayer portions of the game.

From what we saw of the single player campaign, Gearbox really knows what they’re doing and they’re going to great lengths to ensure accuracy when it comes to environments and the events of the films the preceded the game.

For the multiplayer, we got to play a Team Death Match, with Marines versus Aliens and Escape Mode. We also learned that a number of the actors from Aliens provided voices for the multiplayer with the notable exception of Bill Paxton. On a side note, I ran into one of the developers the next day and he told me that Paxton, who was there for a panel on Saturday, came by the booth and got into the exosuit cargo-loader replica for a picture.

In Team Death Match, the key to survival for the Marines is sticking together. Since the Alien’s only weapons are themselves, they need to rely on the element of surprise and the ability to pick off players that end up on their own. They can climb walls and ceilings which is key because as I watched both sides before playing, I noticed that nobody on the Marine side ever looked up, they just didn’t expect any attacks to come from that direction. I suspect that this will change very quickly as people get their feet wet in multiplayer matches.

The other advantage the Alien side has is a sort of real time 3D radar like in the new Batman games. They can essentially see the Marines through the walls allowing them to plot how best to attack them. It’s this critical balancing that made the matches so much fun. Marines can pick apart Aliens at a distance so finding a way to surprise them is critical, whether it’s dropping from the ceiling, hiding in a vent until they walk by or just coming up behind them. We also saw that one player on the Alien side would randomly spawn as the Bull type Alien with the ability to take a ton of damage and plow into a group of Marines. This helps the Alien side separate tightly packed groups making them easier to attack.

Escape Mode is also Aliens versus Marines but this time, a number of objectives need to be completed within an allotted time to escape the map. You’ll need to keep your Marines together as you move from spot to spot, opening doors and such. The cool thing about this mode is that when your soldiers go down, they’re still able to function in a sort of last stand effort. Laying on the ground firing at any attacking Aliens while their health slowly drains. Someone in the squad will need to save them before they die because once that happens, they’re out for the match while everyone on the Alien side keeps respawning.

Both modes played great despite the minor technical hiccups we encountered along the way. The multiplayer was actually completed before the story and they’ve been spending the majority of their time on balancing everything and it shows. The attention to detail in the single player campaign and the hard work that’s going into the multiplayer has me really looking forward to the full game when it releases next February 12th.

When Injustice: Gods Among Us was announced at E3 this year, I could not help but formulate a few concerns in addition to the sheer excitement and anticipation I felt for its release.  Sure the trailer was amazing, but was NetherRealm Studios just making another Mortal Kombat with a super-hero skin slapped on it?  We’ve already seen some of these DC icons in action, brought to life by the same developers, in the mediocre Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.  Would the exclusion of the MK feel be enough to differentiate this title?

Then I thought that maybe a fresh, brand new fighting experience was not the appropriate aim for this sort of project.  NetherRealm Studios proved their capability to build on old ideals and gameplay mechanics with their latest work, Mortal Kombat, which became hugely successful on consoles and translated extremely well to the Vita.  The game was great because it did not try to incorporate different fighting stances, weapons, or mid-fight mini-games that served to interrupt rather than accentuate the gameplay.  2011’s Mortal Kombat became a fan favorite because it maintained the gory 2D roots while solidifying the addictive combo system.

Injustice: Gods Among Us stays true to the tweak and repeat formula that worked for Mortal Kombat.  The underlying MK feel is there, but enough innovation, style, and control changes have been included, creating massive potential for another “greatest hit”.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with Mortal Kombat, the block button has traditionally been mapped to a shoulder button, and the four face buttons represent the four main attacks; high punch, high kick, low punch, and low kick.  In Injustice, the back button serves as your block mechanic, much like Street Fighter.  Only three of the face buttons represent your normal attacks and the fourth performs an action unique to each character.  While playing as Green Arrow, this unique button shot an arrow at my opponent.  I was able to aim the arrow in any direction I wanted by simultaneously pointing with the analog stick or d-pad.

The special move mechanic was closely related to that of Mortal Kombat’s with some combination of two directional buttons and a face button resulting in something fancy.  Down, forward + X or down, back + triangle will be the sort of commands we can expect to see in our moves lists.  One shoulder button performed a throw while the other interacted with the environments.  I could not experiment much with the environment button mainly because Nightwing was kicking my ass, but based on the combos I’ve seen in trailers, I think it will be a very satisfying way of keeping a combo string going.  Each character has a meter at the bottom of the screen that fills up as the fight progresses.  It seemed to be sectioned off in three parts, but I am unsure as to how or if each part can be used.  When the meter is full however, pressing both triggers at once unleashes your character’s super move, much like MK’s x-ray attacks.

The movement was fast paced and the controls were very responsive.  The environments looked great while the character models were both detailed and animated.  Sorry kids, but there were no bloody super-hero fatalities … at least not in this version.  The characters that have been announced so far are:

• Batman
• Catwoman
• Cyborg
• The Flash
• Green Lantern
• Green Arrow
• Harley Quinn
• The Joker
• Nightwing
• Solomon Grundy
• Superman
• Wonder Woman

Aside from the most recent announcements, Green Lantern and The Joker, all of the above characters were playable in the build at NYCC 2012.  Judging by Mortal Kombat’s current gen rosters, I believe that we can expect many more at launch in April 2013, most likely followed by some DLC characters down the line.

Overall, I was impressed with the presentation of Injustice: Gods Among Us at New York Comic Con this weekend.  The game was playable on PS3s and 360s alike, and a Wii U version will also be available.  Mortal Kombat characters are always refreshed when they make a reappearance whether it be because of a few new moves, combos, or updated visuals.  I’m confident that we will not see the same Joker, Batman, Green Lantern, Superman, Flash, or Wonder Woman that we experienced in the lackluster Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.  NetherRealm Studios did a phenomenal job incorporating Kratos into the PS3 and Vita versions of last year’s Mortal Kombat, suggesting that the developers are highly skilled in truly representing other IPs.  He even had a special move that used a QTE!  Injustice: Gods Among Us was already a day one purchase for me and actually being able to play it only solidified my decision.  This will be the type of fighter that is played differently by experts, veterans, and beginners, but thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Here’s a quick video with some of my impressions of the new Pulse Wireless Headset for the PS3 (and as you’ll see, it works with anything that has a standard headphone jack too!)

The Pulse Wireless Headset is released the week of September 25th, 2012 for a retail price of $149.99. Look for the full review later this week.

SNK Playmore announced that starting TODAY (Aug 28th) until September 25th, that these select titles will be 50% off the normal price for both PS3 and PSP.

PS3: Was $8.99 -> Now $4.49

PSP: Was $6.99 -> Now $3.49

Also available is the initial 10-game bundle for PS3, now just priced at $39.99!

The complete list of games for SNK PLAYMORE’s NEOGEO Station End of Summer sale, available on both PS3 and PSP:
ALPHA MISSION II
ART OF FIGHTING
BASEBALL STARS 2
BASEBALL STARS PROFESSIONAL
FATAL FURY
LEAGUE BOWLING
MAGICIAN LORD
METAL SLUG
METAL SLUG 2
SAMURAI SHODOWN
SHOCK TROOPERS
SUPER SIDEKICKS
THE KING OF FIGHTERS ’94
THE KING OF FIGHTERS ’95
THE KING OF FIGHTERS ’96
WORLD HEROES

For those of you not familiar with the Neo Geo, it’s truly unique in the fact that the titles in the arcade cabinet are exactly the same as those for the home system. The home unit started in Japan as a rental-only system, but people quickly started offering huge sums of money to buy one instead, so SNK decided to release the system as home console. It was definitely cost-prohibitive, with the console (including a game) hitting $600 and games at $200 each, but enthusiasts (like me) snatched them up as soon as they could.

The community has continued to thrive even to this day, with an incredible hardware modding push for both the consoles and to use the cheaper but identical (except for a few extra pins on the cart connector) on the home consoles. I myself have had my home unit modified with full component video out, full stereo audio out, a universal BIOS that allows me to switch region settings and other cool features. Also, there are adapters available for the home units to allow use of the arcade carts, which on-average, are considerably cheaper. While the standard price for a home (AES) cart was around $200, the arcade (MVS) carts are attainable at anywhere from $20-$70.

Here’s a quick take on the games listed:

Definition of ‘SHMUP’ – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHMUP

* ALPHA MISSION II – A very fun vertical SHMUP that allows for two simultaneous players. The action is frantic, as the player upgrades a multitude of weapons and power-up’s. The soundtrack is pretty memorable as well.

* ART OF FIGHTING – While the first one definitely has some limitations (you can only choose from 2 playable characters,) Art of Fighting is a different take on the fighting genre by introducing a light story into the mix. It was also unique in the fact that it showed-off the mindblowing scaling by zooming the screen in-and-out on-the-fly. It was a good game, but pretty thin, especially when compared to the later entries in the series.

*BASEBALL STARS 2 – One of my favorite Baseball games of all-time. Everything has been updated, from much better visuals, bigger characters with more unique attributes, and a fun progression mode through all of the available teams in 1-Player Mode, or go head-to-head in 2-Player. This time around, only 1 stadium is available, but that doesn’t take away from the charm of this must-have. Unlike the first game, you really need to manage your players more, especially the pitchers, who will get tired throughout the innings. Even worse for the pitchers, if they hit the wrong player with a pitch, he’ll rush the mound and clobber the pitcher, leaving him in bad shape. And hey, you even get powered-up bats to use! Seriously, I love this game and still play it on a regular basis.

* BASEBALL STARS PROFESSIONAL – A semi follow-up to the NES original, Baseball Stars Professional is all-out arcade fun. This is a definite purchase for anyone that loves Baseball.

* FATAL FURY – The first in a long line of popular fighting games, it brought a unique twist to the fighting genre by allowing the fighters to engage in two separate planes.

* LEAGUE BOWLING – You MUST buy this game! This is by-far one of my all-time favorite games, not only on the platform, but of all-time. Allowing players to play in split-screen, the action is fast and addictive. BUY THIS GAME!

* MAGICIAN LORD – The reason that I bought a Neo Geo originally. This is an action-platformer that displays beautiful visuals, a memorable soundtrack, and the unique ability to use power-up’s to transform into multiple characters. One of the coolest features of the Neo Geo was that the memory card for the Home console was completely cross-compatible with the arcade unit, allowing you to save your progress even in the arcades. I used to walk down to the local Quiktrip every night during one summer, throw a burrito into the microwave, and drop around $5 on this game. It’s incredibly challenging in later levels as well.

* METAL SLUG – The first of an incredibly popular action-platformer, at first blush, Metal slug is a Contra clone. But what you’ll find is a great blend of action, strategy, and bits of comedy blended together for a larger than life battle.

* METAL SLUG 2 – The sequel to the VERY successful side-scrolling platformer, Metal Slug 2 added additional weapons such as the Laser, fire bombs (to take the Zombies out), the Camel Slug, and even the Slug Fighter which a VTOL jet fighter. The game once again is bigger than life with frantic action and great visuals. Unfortunately, it also comes witha lot of slowdown. Metal Slug X was actually released soon after to fix many of the issues that this one came with. It’s a good game, but I would almost just stick to the original Metal Slug for now.

* SAMURAI SHODOWN – Again, the first of what became a very popular fighting series, Samurai Shodown offered slower and more deliberate gameplay while displaying visceral hits and finishing moves.

* SHOCK TROOPERS – Think ‘Midnight Resistance’ without the joystick that can be twisted. It’s played form a 3/4 overhead perspective, and has a lot to like. 8 different characters are selectable, each with their own weapon loadouts. As usual with almost every Neo Geo game, this can be played in 1 or 2 players, and is a blast to play. Skip it on PSP though and stick to the PSP, simply because of the control scheme.

* SUPER SIDEKICKS – A long-running series on the platform, it’s arcade Soccer, and it’s really well-done. This one’s an absolute blast to play!

* THE KING OF FIGHTERS ’94 – While not as popular as KoF ’97, this is one of the favorites in the KoF series.

* THE KING OF FIGHTERS ’95 – The second game in the King of Fighters series. The biggest difference from ’94 is the replacement of the US Team with the Rivals Team. This also means that the character Lori Yagami, who quickly became a favorite in the series.

* THE KING OF FIGHTERS ’96 – This time around, changes have been made to some teams, and the graphics definitely improved. UNfortunately the game was criticized for the lack of balance. Best to steer-clear of this one.

* WORLD HEROES – Ah World Heroes. This was probably the closest to an actual clone of Street Fighter 2, but created with simplicity in mind. Only 3-buttons are used in this one, Punch, Kick, and Throw. The longer you held a button, the harder the punch or kick would be. The big addition to the game was called “Death Match”, in which you’d fight waves of fighters until you were eliminated. This mode was pretty fun, but that went away quickly. When it first hit, I really liked this game, but playing it nowadays is a chore. Steer clear.

A few weeks ago, at the Sony preview event in New York City, i got a much closer look at Wonderbook and the first title being released for it, J.K. Rowling’s Book of Spells. Set apart from the rest of the hubbub of the preview space, Wonderbook was given a more intimate setting with a couch and a rug and a curtain blocking out the frenetic pace outside.

People were encouraged to come sit on the rug in front of an open Wonderbook where they could try it out for themselves. I wandered in with our friends from PSNStores.com, Eric and Elle. The setup was much the same as we saw during the E3 Press Conference. Eric sat and got a hands-on demonstration while I watched and talked to one of the other reps for the game.

The book itself feels,really sturdy and well made, there’s nothing cheap about it, which makes sense when you consider that the target audience for Wonderbook is kids. It’ll have to stand up to the punishment of kids playing with it over the long haul. The cover itself has a matte finish and a rubbery texture which serves a twofold purpose. The first is to cut down on glare and reflections so the camera will be able to see it in varying lighting conditions. The second is to give the book some grip on coffee tables and such so it isn’t sliding around all over the place while it’s being used.

As you can see from the pictures I took below, the pages are all essentially AR cards similar to what came with the Vita but more sophisticated. The book is twelve pages long giving you six ‘spreads’ side by side when you lay the book flat. When setting it up, you need to ensure that the camera can see both you and the book. At that point, a digital zoom is employed to focus on story elements and bring everything to life.

Book of Spells will have seven chapters in total and each chapter will be a full pass through of the book, at which point you close the book, open to page one and start the next. Each chapter has four spells to learn and you’ll start with a history of the spell in a paper theater style presentation. You’ll learn the incantation (Forgetticus!) and how to cast the spell using the Move controller which is overlaid with a wand on screen. While I watched, someone yelled out the spell while flicking their wand. I asked if that was necessary, did the microphone in the PlayStation Eye pick up what they were saying? The answer given was, sadly, no. Since the game is aimed at a younger crowd, they didn’t want them to get hung up on pronunciation of some of the stranger spells in the Harry Potter universe.

At the end of each chapter, you’re given a test where you’ll need to combine the four spells you’ve learned in order to pass. The view on screen changes to a picture in picture where you’ll see yourself looking into the world and you’ll need to successfully cast spells through the opening to complete your task. If you do, you’ll get a conundrum in the form of a poem written by J.K. Rowling which will open up something special for fans of the series that’s being kept under wraps for now. With twenty spells in all, that would mean that two chapters are unaccounted for. We do know that if you get through all the chapters and pass all the tests, you’ll get to a hidden chapter at the end of the book with a surprise aimed squarely at hardcore Harry Potter fans.

Watching people play it was, pardon the pun, a magical experience. Faces would light up with a sense of excitement and wonder. Seeing pages come to life in a 3D space in front of you on screen is very exciting and feels like more than a novelty. You can actually pick up the book and move it around and it doesn’t skip a beat. You can even see the next pages if you open them just a crack, it just never breaks the illusion. Wonderbook is shaping up to be another one of those Sony products with incredible potential.

Two more books have already been announced, the first of which is Diggs Nightcrawler which is a more narrative driven story about a detective who’s a bookworm. He lives in Library City and somehow, all the stories have been messed up. It’s up to you to help him in figuring out what happened and how to set it right. It has a fantastic noir feel to it as you can see in the screens below.

The second, just announced at Gamescom, is Walking With Dinosaurs in a partnership with the BBC. It’s another outstanding idea with loads of potential to draw in families in an educational and fun way. The key to all of this, as always, will be in the marketing, a place where Sony has fallen short in the past. More often than not, Sony seems content to let a product stand on its own with minimal marketing to back it up. I believe it hurt the PS3 at launch, it hurt the Move controller and it’s hurt the Vita so far.

A major marketing push will be critical to the success of Wonderbook. Sony can’t kick back and assume it’ll sell simply because it has J.K. Rowling’s name attached to it. This needs to be shown off in as many outlets as possible leading up to the first release and bundling it with a PS3 would be a big help as well. Parents need to see it in action to understand it’s value and special nature. Wonderbook has massive potential but it’ll only take off if people know it exists and understand what it can do.

So Insomniac announced a new Ratchet & Clank game and I was thrilled, they said it would be a sort of Tower Defense game and I was crestfallen. Tower Defense? Really? To say I was skeptical would be a massive understatement. What I’ve seen however, has made me a believer.

Full Frontal Assault is still a Ratchet & Clank game at it’s core. You still have the variety of fun and wacky weapons at your disposal, Groovitron anyone? The story goes something like this, you’ll be heading down to three different planets to fight off the Grungarian Marauders, a nasty bunch of mercenaries that Quark has employed in the past. Weapon pods have been dropped from orbit beforehand, but due to a glitch, they’ve dropped all over the place and malfunctioned. You have a base with two entrances that you’ll need to protect. Between waves of enemies attacking, you’ll have time to explore the surrounding area, looking for bolts, weapon pods and enemies.

Finding weapons is critical for defending your base. You’ll pick them up on the battlefield or collect them from weapon pods. The pods are interesting in that unlocking them gives you a choice between three random weapons. Strategy comes into play here as you may never see these weapons again. You really have to choose carefully, balancing what weapon you’re most comfortable with and what might be the best choice to defend you base in later levels.

Like all Ratchet & Clank games, you’ll be able to upgrade your weapons through use, and you’ll be using them a lot. You can set up defenses with turrets along either of the two ‘lanes’ into your base. When enemies begin attacking, you’ll see two lanes side by side on the right side of your screen glowing to alert you as to where the next wave of enemies is coming from. I saw a setup with flame turrets and mines that slow time. You’ll find that some enemies target the defenses specifically, forcing you to deal with them first, while others are just marching towards the entrance to your base.

You have a weak barricade over the entrance to slow enemies down that get that far along with a last ditch weapon I saw triggered. It turned all nearby enemies into sheep that fart fire. I was told that they probably wouldn’t be sheep by the time the game ships this Fall but they’d be something funny that will fit right into the Ratchet & Clank universe.

The gameplay looks fast and frantic at times and always felt like good old Ratchet & Clank from what I saw. Along with the Grungarian Marauders, there will be appearances by a few enemies from past games which should make fans very happy. You play as Ratchet, Clank or Quark in any number of modes, earning medals, armor and perks. There’s a single player campaign, local co-op or competitive with 2 player split screen, and even online co-op and competitive. The campaign will be roughly Quest For Booty size across three planets. With the randomized weapons and all the upgrades available, it’s designed for multiple playthroughs so it should definitely keep people busy.

Everything I saw got me completely turned around on this game and I’m now really looking forward to it. It felt much more like a Ratchet & Clank game than a straight tower defense game which made a huge difference for me. Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault will release this Fall exclusively on the PlayStation Network.

The Just Cause (or Josh Cause) franchise just got a breath of fresh air. Ok, it didn’t get a new game or new DLC but Square Enix decided to give its new game, Sleeping Dogs, some extras involving Just Cause 2. Below is what I am talking about:

Available in-game from launch, players browsing protagonist Wei Shen’s safehouse wardrobe will gain access to a unique new player outfit… a Just Cause 2 clothes set. Featuring Rico Rodriguez’ trademark look, players stepping out onto the streets of Hong Kong dressed as the King of Chaos will gain a distinct boost to their action hijack ability, allowing them to perform stunt-style takeovers of enemy vehicles from an even greater distance.

This exclusive Just Cause 2 clothes set will be available in-game from launch across all formats upon detection of a Just Cause 2 game save on the machine’s hard drive.

This game looks insane and is definitely one of my most anticipated games of the year! What say you? Leave a comment below!