A NEW new age of heroes!

It's coming. IT'S COMING!

http://www.tu4ar.com/

Capcom linked site counting down to... something. It's got a big 2 behind the countdown. The site name is "tu4ar", which as my esteemed colleague Rag` points out, stands for "Take you for a ride". As in the crazy character select music from MARVEL VS CAPCOM 2! w00t! Looks like it will be ending at midnight on 29th of April too, so not long to go!

Right now I'll take a straight XBLA port with online play. I'd also LOVE it to be HD remixed, but given that it took Udon forever to jazz up 12 characters with fairly limited frames of animation, and MvC2 has over 50 more intricately animated fighters, I think that's probably unlikely.

While I'm dreaming, I'd REALLY like to see an announcement for a 3rd game in the series, using the SF4 engine. With Dante, Viewtiful Joe, and Samonosuke filling out the Capcom side, and Daredevil, The Thing, Human Torch, Silver Surfer etc added to the Marvel line-up. PLEASE Capcom?

Still, whatever it is, I'm jazzed. Time to dust off the old team-ups on DC in preparation methinks.

GONNA TAKE YOU FOR A RIDE! *TRUMPETS*
GONNA TAKE YOU FOR A RIDE! *TRUMPETS*
GONNA TAKE YOU FOR A RIDE! *TRUMPETS*
GONNA TAKE YOU FOR A RIDE! *TRUMPETS*
*repeat to fade*

Shit New Wii Fitness Peripheral Shocker

Do you live in a sterile environment? No carpets, no wall hangings, no lighting, no coffee table?

Does your family all stride around barefoot, despite the freezing floor?

Is your wife an automoton? (she's wearing socks to cover her android toes)

Have you spawned Joe Fucking Pasquale?

Do you all want to make playing games more difficult, less fun, and feel the need to waste 25 quid on something you'll use once and never again?

Congratulations, jOG (jesus christ...) is for you. The latest pointless add-on for the Wii, jOG (man, that's sooo annoying) allows you to control your on screen movements by jogging! Yup, Wii Fit mania has finally turned the nation's shitty peripherals purveyors completely mad.

Who the fuck wants to play Madworld by running on the spot? No-one does. Not even that little shit in the jOG (AAAAAAARGH) promotional imagery. Or his slightly demented looking sister.

Wii games are already a hassle to play with their floaty imprecise controls, so why on earth would you want to remove the one part that generally worked - ie, the directional stick controlled movement - and replace it with something else imprecise and aggravating?

Surely not many of us sane gamers would. Unfortunately however, as proven by Wii Fit's incredibly tenacious grip on the top of the UK's gaming charts, there's plenty of casual gaming lunatics who like anything remotely capable of attaching to their Wii so they have an excuse to dust the bloody thing off once every three months, so I fully expect jOG (KILL KILL KILL DIE DIE DIE) to do horribly well. And then sit wretchedly unused and unloved alongside the Balance Board and the console itself until Christmas, when the advent of Wii Babyz Party Fun Dance Petz Sports-a-thon: FIT! gets the console out again so everyone can laugh at Aunt Maude falling over the couch after two sherries.

*sad face*

Girls Generation Allowed

For my sins, I can't get enough of cheesy girly j-pop. Morning Musume and Mini Moni started it, but seeing as Momusu are a shadow of their former glory and Mini Moni are no more, I've got to look elsewhere for my "more oriental girls than you could shake a stick at dancing in unison and singing in cute voices" action. And Perfume can't do it all on their own, even with songs as good as Polyrhythm, Ceramic Girl, and Electro World. Enter Girls Generation...

Or SNSD as they're sometimes called, they're a Korean bunch, so I suppose K-pop is a more accurate description. They all appear to have been cloned in some kind of leggy, slim, perfect hair girl making machine, which is something I need to get myself. They also seem to share a hive mind, such is the unity of movement on display. I fear for the world if they ever get military upgrades.

Regardless of anything though, they're a fuckton better than Girls Aloud. There's no Geordie Pop Princess Racists for a start. Not one of them looks like a lesbian Vulcan. And there's not a single pasty white and ginger Paul o'Grady look-alike. Thank god.

Anyway, I'm currently on about my millionth listen, and I think I may have affected my cognitive processes. My brain may well be leaking.

GEE GEE GEE GEE!

Ridge Racer Real

So it was first truly nice sunny day of the year yesterday, and I had an errand to run out Bradford way. Perfect excuse to go for a run in my beloved Mitsubishi FTO.

Running along nicely, tunes on, window down, warm sunshine thawing out my frozen winter bones, and soon enough I'm coming up to Bradford airport.

Now, for those of you (again with the pretending that anybody reads this...) who don't know it, Bradford airport runway goes over the road from Harrogate to Bradford, so you have to drive under it through a tunnel. This is my favourite bit of the road, as it temporarily splits into two lanes as it passes under the runway, allowing me to: A) gun it past any slow moving vehicles, and B) hear my 5Zigen A-Spec exhaust make a proper racket as it reverberates off the tunnel walls.

Just as I'm coming up to the roundabout before the tunnel, a jet takes off from the runway. The sun beams through a cloud. Samurai Rocket from Ridge Racer V kicks in on the stereo (OK, so I lined that up myself, but still...). I thump down two gears and thunder past a caravan and a Volvo, rocketing through the tunnel and making a very loud noise.

PURE Ridge Racer. If I'd managed to drift it round the roundabout beforehand, I'd have probably died of a happy overdose there and then.

So, this has me thinking, what other real life videogame experiences can I have? I certainly don't fancy re-enacting Call of Duty, and Resident Evil would scare the shit out of me. Street Fighter's out, as I don't like being punched. Hmmm...

Jill's alive!

And I've just rescued her ass!

Hurrah for me. Hurrah for STARS. Hurrah for Capcom. They didn't kill the master of unlocking after all.

Sandwiches all round.

*happy*

Dirty Ken

I'm sure it's been said a million times on a million forums by now, but fuck sake, Street Fighter IV online is awash with a sea of backflip/Hadouken/Hadouken/Shoryuken/Jump heavy kick/Sweep/Shoryuken spamming Dirty Ken playing shitbeetles.

Out of over 30 matches yesterday, nearly all where against Ken. Those that weren't were Ryu. Or Sagat. The tactics remain unchanged. Fireball, fireball, fireball, oh you're close enough for a leg sweep/uppercut, rinse and repeat.

While it CAN be beaten, it's not much fun - there's no chance to learn to play against any real skill or tactical ability, and there's certainly no chance to try and learn how to fight the new contenders, or anyone other than the Shoto brigade.

Sometimes you might get really lucky, and you'll get stuck with an Akuma player, convinced that the Raging Demon himself is all they need to beat everyone online. He's generally not, at least from what I've encountered, with spammy jump back air fireballs attempting to chip away at you from afar. If you DO damage them and they get an Ultra Charge, nine times out of ten you can enjoy the sight of Akuma standing in a corner, jiggling like a hyperactive child as they vainly attempt to spam out his Ultra move. You can see it coming a mile off. *yawn*

Capcom really shouldn't have bothered redoing all the classic characters in 3D, or adding the Alpha brigade for the home version. The new characters barely get a look in either, and those of us desperately seeking a game with a bit more tactical play, balanced combat and less shoto-spam are left having to stick to playing a few friends.

Chun Li wants to play, but not with Ken. He's a scrub.

It has arrived!

The postman has just been. Bearing gifts of enormous joy. Yup, my promo copy of Street Fighter IV is here, and I'm now the happiest miseryguts in all of gameville!

Why did it have to arrive the day before Valentine's though? Conflict ahead!

I'll just have to Shoryu Reppa the wife. Or buy her some flowers and gifts and a nice meal, althought that takes time out of my day when I could be playing. Choices, choices...

See you online!

Capcom strike a low blow - Street Fighter DLC

Capcom announced the DLC packs for Street Fighter IV yesterday. As you'd expect there are costumes for the characters. As you'd expect if you were a cynic who doesn't really like this whole DLC malarkey, there are multiple packs of costumes, each costing about £3!

4 different packs in fact, at £3 each, adding a not exactly cheap £12 onto the game price. Considering you only get 5 costumes per pack, could they not have just stuck them all into one bundle for a fiver? Or only had two packs at the £3 pricepoint, meaning fans don't have to stump up quite so much cash for stuff that really should be on the disk already - it's announced, they've got screenshots and the game's not out yet so chances are you're paying for an unlock key rather than actual digital content not already included on your copy of the game.

To be fair, they've bundled them sensibly, with all the girls together, and all the shotos together for example, so you CAN practically just buy the ones for the characters you like the most, but it's still a bit steep.

They have knocked up a free add-on called the Championship pack though, featuring new modes and other stuff, so that takes some of the sting out.

I know this is the way games are going - micro transactions are a fantastic revenue stream for games publishers, offering decent rewards for little effort - but I don't have to like it. And neither do you.

Unfortunately, I'm such a SF sucker that I know I'll end up buying them all. I mean, who can possibly withstand the allure of Blanka in a safari suit? And that, I guess, is precisely what keeps the DLC debacle rolling.

Yup, it's my fault.

This Bat-ter be good. Oh dear...

As a kid I had a few different heroes, all of whom I've wanted to be at some stage or another. Luke Skywalker, Indiana Jones, Spider-Man, Mark from Battle of the Planets, a ninja, Batman; basically my comic book, cartoon and movie heroes.

Throughout my gaming life I've always jumped on the products featuring my favourite characters, more often than not finding them sorely wanting. The Star Wars games have been bad for a long time, while Indy hardly ever gets an adventure worthy of his whip-cracking skillz (and NO, Lego Indy does NOT count.) Spidey's been raped to death by Activision for years now, although the original 3D game on PlayStation was pretty damn cool. BotP don't have any games to my knowledge, although they have cropped up in Tatsunoko vs Capcom which I love. Only ninja have been truly well served really, with Tenchu, Strider, Shinobi, Ninja Gaiden and more bringing the wall running cherry blossom botherers to life in fantastic style.

Which leaves us with the Caped Crusader, and the reason for this post. Fans of the Dark Knight were well served back in the ZX Spectrum days, with not one, not two, but three fantastic games from the mighty Ocean software. Jon Ritman's original isometric adventure is probably the most highly regarded amongst 8 bit gamers, but for me it was the dual sided tape, dual adventure of the second Ocean Batman game that really brought the comics to life. With the Penguin on one side of the tape (or floppy disk), and the Joker on the other, the game was a flip screen affair with each room having it's own comic panel layout, and a caption telling you what it was. With chunky sprites and comic presentation, it was, to my young mind, the perfect comic book game.

It's aged horribly I imagine, but at the time, it was exactly what I wanted from a Batman game - batarangs, detection, fighting, exploration, a bit of humour from the camp tv show, and classic villains. It even had front cover art by the great Bob Wakelin, which to me was a sign of guaranteed quality back then.

Anyway, that's enough nostalgia - what prompted all this waffle was the screenshots of the latest Bat-game; Batman: Arkham Asylum. It looks incredible. Utterly incredible. The bat's pyjamas. The Penguins plums. Big chunky bad-ass Batman, comic book but realistic long faced Joker, stealth, bone crunching combat, gadgetry, and a back up cast of Batman's greatest and deadliest foes. It can't go wrong. It MUST NOT GO WRONG.

Yet, I'm wary, i've been burned before. The past few Bat-games have been awful, and the Mortal Kombatcrew recently co-opted the mighty cowled vigilante to try and give their dying beat'em-up a touch of class. Batman was made to look foolish, as was anyone who bought the shitty thing. And worse, it's published by Eidos, who haven't had a decent new game in years. Only the tidy revamp they've given Chesty Larue in the recent Tomb Raider outing gives me any hope. Well that, and the sheer majesty of the screenshots released so far.

Bat-fingers crossed Bat-fans...

Day at Capcom!

So, as part of my real job, I was lucky enough to get invited over to Capcom HQ in London to play some Street Fighter IV and Resident Evil 5. What a hardship eh?

So last Friday, I got the 7.30 train to London Kings Cross. I like the train, as long as you can get a seat.. Perfect time to read Watchmen, listen to my Walkman and drink coffee - which is preceisely what I did.

Rolled up to Capcom in Hammersmith at lunchtime, and was promptly taken to a downstairs room, where the sight of not one but two gorgeous Taito Viewlix cabinets greeted me. Few seconds later, Street Fighter IV was up and running, and I was all set!

Played the arcade machines for a good few hours, and despite having already been lucky enough to play it in Tokyo in September last year, I still found myself totally sucked in. It's just that damn good. The flow, the character, the feel, it's just classic Street Fighter.

The new characters aren't bad either, with Abel and Crimson Viper offering some different styles for the SF series. El Fuerte looks like he'll have the ability to really frustrate and confuse people in VS matches, but he could take a serious bit of practice before you'll get the hang of him - lots of running around and linked leaps and throws. VERY different from the other characters in the game.

Afterwards I got to to try my hand on the Xbox 360 port of the game, and I;'m pleased to report it's pretty much arcade perfect. Additional modes are present, as well as a heap of extra characters including Sakura, Dan, Cammy, etc, but you have to unlock these in the game itself before you can use them.

It's already my game of the year. And yeah, it WAS one of my games of last year, but that was the arcade, and this year is the console version. It deserves multiple awards, plaudits and as much love as I can give it.

Resident Evil 5 I'd already played a chunk of thanks to the Japanese demo on 360, but it was still nice to see the opening section and see how the action begins to unfold. I WON'T spoil it for my non-readers, but I think it's safe to say if you're a fan of RE4, then 5 is going to blow you away!

I didn't go away empty handed either - nabbed myself a nice little Street Fighter IV promo box with a Chun Li figure, move cards for the characters and a Street Fighter IV USB memory stick! Score!

Oh yeah, before I forget - my Street Fighter IV preview over at GAME website is here!

Street Fighter - Legend of Chun Li movie poster.

Pretty much anything Street Fighter gets me excited - comics, games, toys, anime, pencil cases, etc. But the upcoming movie "Street Fighter - The Legend of Chun Li," this I'm not looking forward to.

It was bad enough having the not particularly Chinese Kristen Kreuk as Chunners - yeah, she's half chinese Smallville nerds, now shut up - and bad enough that she's sparrow thin and couldn't kick her way out of a paper screen.

The movie poster though, that's the final kick in the face. After countless fantastic box fronts throughout the game series, with some amazing artists over at Capcom and their new buddies Udon, surely someone somewhere at Capcom or the movie company thought something better could be done than this...


It's just... wrong. The font, the logo, the caption, the silhouettes, the faces. And jesus, Michael Clarke Duncan, guaranteed shitfest. And is that supposed to be Vega/Balrog?

I just don't get it - using faces on a poster makes sense if it's some big names sure, but that's just a bunch of C listers. Fair enough Kreuk might bring in the Clark Kent brigade, but they probably don't like SF anyway - not enough goody two shoes all American bullshit going on for them.

Still at least there's no Van Dammage or Kylie Fucking Minogue, but this is going to stink.

artificial construct's best of 2008 part 2

2008 was a solid year for gaming, with the "next-gen" consoles hitting their stride somewhat, and plenty of quality releases across all formats. The return to the arcade scene of one of the true daddies of gaming certainly helped make 2008 shine, that's for sure. So in no particular order, here's my top 5 retail/arcade games of the last year!

1. Devil May Cry 4 - Over the top and as stupidly insane as ever, DMC 4 is my most played game from 2008. A whopping seventh of the year was taken up by Capcom's stylish action game, and while it was not quite the hardcore coolfest of DMC 3, the fourth game in the series still managed to shine. New character Nero's grapple ability mixed up the gameplay nicely, while Dante's late appearance in the game merely reminded you just how cool he is. Awesome stuff.

2. Rock Band 1 and 2 - Trumping Guitar Hero in no uncertain terms (in my opinion,) Rock Band made living room jam sessions a reality for all, and showed just how much fun you could have with a group of people, some plastic instruments, and a fridge full of drink. Everyone fancies a go, it just depends on how much social lubricant they require before they feel ready to blow your ears off with Bon Jovi. And drunk singers are always great. Fun for everyone, only a complete misanthrope would hate it.

3. Space Invaders Extreme - Take the most famous game of all time and change it from an out of date dull-fest into a pulse pounding high-score grasping one more go beast you say? On Nintendo DS? It's bound to be shit I hear you cry. How wrong you'd be, if you were reading this and crying out, which you're not, so this is all just me talking to my imaginary games luddite readers. Anyway, I digress, as Space Invaders Extreme is the bollocks, the nuts, and the nadgers. Pure shooting heaven, trippy visuals, and lovely tunes - what more could you want? Oh, space marines? Fuck off back to Gears with you.

4. Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise - Almost didn't make it into my top 5, as I only got round to buying it on the 27th of December in the sales, but like the previous game, VP:TiP is more addictive than candy, crack and Veronica Mars. Master romancing, variant finding, oddity evolving, sour taming, chilli growing, pond digging excellence - you simply CANNOT turn it off once you get started. "Just one more species before bed," you'll say, until many different coloured Fudgehogs later it's dawn. "Just one more before work..."

5. Street Fighter IV - I couldn't have a top 5 for 2008 without it tbh. It might not be easily playable anywhere outside Japanese arcades currently, but it's out, and I've played it, so as far as I'm concerned it goes in. Easing back the depth a touch of SF3 a touch to allow new players back in, SFIV takes the series into 3D succesfully, retaining all the tight gameplay and visual touches the games are known for. Ryu, Ken and the original SF2 cast are joined by a few Alpha upstarts, as well as some all new pugilists, and it all plays magnificently. The home release is my most wanted game of 2009 too. SHORYU-REPPA!

artificial construct's best of 2008 part 1

Not that anyone reads this blog, so quite why I'm bothering is beyond me, but here's my favourite stuff of 2008. That I can remember.

Album - an antiquated concept perhaps in today's download and MP3 biased music world, but it's still nice to pick up a CD, especially when it's as damn sublime as Bon Iver's "For Emma, Forever Ago". Bought on the strength of it being referred to as "melancholy" in the Guardian Guide one weekend (I can't resist a good dose of melancholy), this has definitely become my favourite disk of the year. Fragile vocals delivered in a eerie falsetto, minimal production and rythmic accompaniment, ghostly guitars, and some quirky/icky lyrical choices combine in one almost perfect package. Re: Stacks is the tune of choice for me, but Lump Sum, Flume and For Emma all deserve a mention. And Skinny Love.

Oh fuck it, all of them. Just buy it already.

Single - Kings of Leon "Sex on Fire". Yeah, I know, me and every other person with ears. Still, it's a belter, and only the deaf and people with dreadlocks are left untouched by it. And people with dreads clearly have no taste, so their opinions are automatically null and void.

Epic chorus, insistent drumming, and a hookline that will stay in your head for fecking days. Brilliant.

Movie - "The Dark Knight" Another populist and popular choice, but for once it deserves all the hype. Sure, Bale's bat-voice becomes a little grating after a few watches, and there are plot holes a-plenty, but it's definitely the best comic book movie yet thanks to it's gritty tone and Heath Ledger scaring up the screen in a truly demented turn as the Joker, and gives all the rest of the franchises a clearly defined goal to aim at. And completely miss, knowing the state of Hollywood and comic books.

Games, comics, and whatever else I've enjoyed in 2008 in the next post.

TOO. MANY. GAMES!!!

Been waiting for Tatsunoko vs Capcom to arrive, but due to the Xmas post it and the fact it was coming from Hong Kong I decided to pick up some other stuff in the sales to play.

Ordered Far Cry 2 for 18 notes online, as my bro said it was good stuff. Tip top, but that's something else I've got to wait for.

Bobbed into town to get the food shopping and ended up grabbing a few CDs (Spiritualized's "Songs in A & E" and Ida Maria's "Fortress Round my Heart"), then hit up Woolies to see what was left. Not a fucking thing unsurprisingly, unless I wanted an electric fan, some odd plates, or enough Bratz dollz to sink a ship.

Had better luck in GS though, nabbing Viva Pinata Trouble in Paradise, Midnight CLub LA and Bangai-O Spirits for under 50 quid!!! Retails loss is my gain, boo-ya!

Get home all excited with my new purchases, and the postman has been. TvC is here, and now I've got more stuff to play than your average game store.

Gah! GAH! GAAAAH!

Suppose I could look at it as a cup half full kinda deal, but that's not in my nature...

Anyway, I'm off to stove someone's face in as Ryu and Ken the Eagle. Yay!

Having fun Wii play together...

So Christmas has come and gone, and having spent a few days at the in-laws and eaten and drunk too much, I also got to witness the Wii in full-on family party action.

It finally makes sense when you see everyone in the room having a go at Wii Sports Bowling. Anyone can pick it up, from my 4 year old niece to her 60 year old grandad, and everyone was having fun. Good times guaranteed.

Problem is though, how many times will it get played outside a family gathering? My wife's parents aren't renowned for being gamers, and i can definitely see the novelty wearing off. Also, how many games will they buy? Sure Nintendo got the money for the console sale, but they seem happy enough with Bowling and Golf, and I doubt they'd be bothered to stump up £30 for another game that they probably won't play much. Revenue stream ended!

I should have put a bet on - £10 it's gathering dust by February. I know ours certainly was last year.

I reckon around the country there's thousands of the buggers sat in family living rooms, destined to join the ranks of unused must-have consumer electronics like the Breville toaster, the juicer, the rowing machine, and many more.

Ah well, there's light at the end of the tunnel for this gamer in the form of Tatsunoko vs Capcom, which can't arrive quick enough, but for everyone who got one on Xmas day I can only say I'm sorry.

Hope Santa brings you a decent games machine next year.

Chun and Jun.

Some great artwork from Capcom's Wii fighter, Tatsunoko vs Capcom, featuring everyone's favourite massive thighed oriental policelady and my personal favourite Gatchaman.

The game works on Gecko OS so I will be getting as soon as someone sends me a copy of Zelda Twilight Princess to hack the Wii.

Dream teamups ahead - Ryu and Viewtiful Joe, Chunners and Batsu from Rival Schools, and Ken and Jun from Gatchaman (or Mark and Princess if you were a Battle of the Planets fan like me) :D

Finally, something worth playing on the bloody machine! Yay!

Prince of Persia - an American Iranian on rails

Dear me. Deary deary me. What the fricking hell have they done to Prince of Persia?

The original remake (now there's a sign of the current videogame times) was a belting 3D reinvention of the classic acrobatic adventure, putting you in full control of a brooding but gymnastic Persian aristocrat. The series quickly went off the boil, with the brooding becoming full blown emo-metal angst and the shabby combat taking precedence over the sublime platforming. Meh.

The promise of a second restart for the series, using an advanced version of the Assassin's Creed engine and lovely cartoony cel shaded trickery excited many fans of the series, but I was holding back - Creed had been a bit of a let down, fantastic to look at but ultimately dull and repetitive. Even the inclusion of a virtual Kristen Bell couldn't save it.

So i held off, and picked it up yesterday for rent. I'd heard it was easy and the game held your hand to a degree, but jesus. Sweet christ, this is just a joke. I'm all for makig games accessible but the one button control system (press A to do everything *almost*)and the inclusion of Elika and her magical abilities have made this latest outing completely un-Prince of Persia. Sure you still leap and cavort across walls and girders, swinging from pillar to post and occasionally mashing buttons for some once again unsatisfactory copmbat, but it just never really feels like you're involved.

If you fall Elika saves you, if you can't make a jump Elika pushes you over, if you get injured she heals you. You tap one button to jump, hold it to run up walls, tap it again to change wall or scamper across roofs. Upside down. Yup, the Prince has decided his previous gravity defying shenanigans were too grounded in reality, so now the spritely chap can scamper across ceilings. >_<

The game even awards the first chunk of achievements simply for playing. I got about 110 points for various things such as "Starting the adventure" and "Talking to Elika". I half expected one for pressing a button or saving a game. Totally lame.

And all of this hand holding and simplified control is outweighed by the fact that the Prince and his companion are now about as Persian as the cast of High School Musical, and just as fucking annoying.

I RENTED this and I still feel hard done by. Pretty graphics really can't save this one.

Avoid people, avoid.

Games price madness!

Is it just me, or have the recent price decreases across the board on videogames made it almost impossible to think pre-ordering a game is a good idea?

Pre-ordering always seems a bit mad to me anyway, unless it's a truly limited edition or an import obscurity, but if you were unlucky enough to pre-order or buy any of the Christmas big releases in the last few weeks on launch day, you've basically lost a small fortune.

Just about every single game released has dropped in price a week later, sometimes by as much as 50%. It's fucking insane tbh.

Credit crunch, retail panic, or the idiotic tendency of the software industry to release EVERYTHING IN ONE MONTH - whatever's causing it, it's a double edged sword for the punters. Bargains are to be had for the patient, but those must have games could end up costing you twice what they would if you can't wait.

Surely all this is teaching customers is that if they wait, they'll get it cheaper? Seems that way to me - I really can't bring myself to buy a game on launch anymore, as I'd rather wait a week and save a tenner. Or more, depending on how desperate the publishers are for sales or the retailers are for footfall.

Anyway rant over. I'm off to play Prince of Persia - rented for 3.95 for a week.If it's half as easy as the reviews claim, I reckon I'll rinse it no worries. Certainly better than paying 40 or 25 or whatever it is this minute.

Which means more beer in my fridge. Winner.

Rogue - Japanese style.

Instantly the most wanted thing on my masive list of wanted things, Kotobukiya's statue of Shunya Yamashita's design of Marvel Comic's X-hotty Rogue (phew)is not out for 7 months, but will be the object of my desire until I have it. That's a lot of time for desiring shit. >_<

Honestly just look at it! Pre-order get!

Order it here -
Toys Logic - Rogue figure.

They killed Jill!

Well, gotta make a first post about something, so it might as well be of earth shattering importance.

New Japanese advert for Biohazard 5 (Resident Evil 5 for us pesky Western types) shows Chris Redfield crouching over a grave. Jill Valentine's grave. Can't imagine her famous unlocking skillz will come in much use inside a coffin.


Me am cry.