Most Wanted 2010

Meant to do this the other day, but as usual I got distracted. Attention span of a fruitfly me. Anyway, 2010 is in full swing, and here's what I'm looking forward to in the wonderful world of videogames. As usual, there's no big hyped stuff like Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Bioshock, or Alan Wake. I'm contrary like that...

1 - Bayonetta. Yes, it's already out. Yes I've already completed it. But it was my most wanted game for 2010, so it's going in. Besides, I'm making this list up on he fly, and I'm struggling to come up with anything at all at the moment. If I don't put Platinum Games' incredible stylish action pervathon in, I may as well switch off the netbook right now.

With all that said, Bayonetta kicks ass, so I was right to want it so badly. It's Devil May Cry taken to the nth degree, and done with such ridiculously over the top joie de genre. Filled with arch nods, knowing touches, and acres of fan service, Bayonetta is a love letter to gamers, and a thank you for the music to Sega. It's also an amazing fighting game. Winner all round, and likely to end up my game of the year. And it's only January. Jinkies.

2 - Super Street Fighter IV - Quelle surprise - like there was the remotest chance this wasn't going to feature. My most played Xbox 360 game gets an overhaul this year, with 8-10 new characters from Alpha, 2 and hopefully 3, new stages, new ultras and more. Can't come quick enough for me, although I'm sure it'll drive me up the wall as much as the last one did when I take Chun-Li (or hopefully Ibuki or Makoto) online... Still, day one for sure.

3 - Aliens vs Predator - If this turns out good, it's going to be absolutely incredible - 3 way mutliplayer carnage between tooled up but terrified Marines, maniacally mandibular Aliens, and the galaxy's hardest chameleon rastas. That's if it's good mind, as Rebellion haven't been on a hot streak of late, and SEGA aren't renowned for their quality control either. Bayonetta may be a sign of things to come from the once great publisher, or it could just be a glitch - Platinum were never going to put a foot wrong after all. Still, here's hoping. I'm a sucker for the Aliens and Predatorwith those films guaranteed a place in my top 5 "Movies I will watch whenever they are on telly, despite having them on DVD" So yeah, please be good.

4 - Halo Reach - Halo 2 and 3 were great fun, and ODST was a much played game in my household last year, but the engine is looking old, and the gameplay is feeling more than a little tired. Fingers crossed Halo Reach will fix both those issues. Judging by the teaser trailer released the other month, the game should look pretty tidy, and with the rumoured co-op squad play and online multiplayerness (is that a word?), the gameplay looks set to recieve a much needed shot in the arm too. Can't wait basically. Any chance to blast the Covenant while wearing that armour is fine by me!

5 - Split/Second /BLUR - Two possibly stunning racing games, one from Disney's Pure studio, and the other from "newly free from MS" Bizarre Creations. I say possibly, because despite the interesting premise for both, promising trailers and previous form from both developers racing games live and die on their handling model, and until it's actually in your hands, you just never can tell. BLUR interests me more simply because PGR 4 was amazing, but the addition of weapons could spoil the racing broth. Time will tell.

6 - Sonic & SEGA All Star Racing - Another one that really is walking the line, S&SASR has one great thing going for it (SUMO are developing, and they rarely put a foot wrong), and plenty of things conspiring against it being any cop it all. First off, it's a Sonic game, and they've not been good since the dawn of fucking time. Secondly, it's got Tails in it. The little twat. Thirdly, it's a karting game that doesn't feature Mario, so chances of it actually being remotely playable are slim. However, as mentioned SUMO are in charge, and it's apparently based on the OutRun 2 engine, so I'm remaining cautiously optimistic. I must be mad.

7 - Last Guardian - If anything's going to make me buy PS3, it's this. ICO and Shadow of the Colossus are two of the best games of thelast decade, so hopes are high for another magical adventure. The few screens and the short trailer released so far raise as many questions as they answer, so I fully expect this to be shrouded in mystery up until release. Which is nice. Makes a change from endless hype and countdowns to bloody countdowns to sodding announcements of a shitting teaser website, that's for sure.

8 - Ray Storm XBLA - Gotta have a shooter, and while Espgaluda II is on the way from Cave, I'm not sure if that's getting a multi-region release, never mind a PAL one. Ray Storm was great on PlayStation back in he day, and a Hi-Def rehash will do very nicely thankyou Taito. Just don't cock it up like Bubble Bobble please.

9 - Afterburner Climax XBLA- Another SEGA title. Seems I'm always ready to forgive and forget with the big blue. Still, it would be churlish to hold a grudge when they're bringing Afterburner to XBLA. A conversion of recent(ish) coin-op Afterburner Climax, it's pretty much business as usual - pilot your F14 jet through wave after wave of enemy fighters, launching an improbable number of air to air missiles at all and sundry. Fast, bright, blue sky fun, with Mach 2 military ordnance? I'm soooo there.

10 Phantasy Star 0 - Jeezum crow, it's SEGA again. A long time coming for us poor PAL fools, PS0 is by all accounts a sterling return to Dreamcast form, and I've missed the days of Ragol and tooling about as a robot girl with a huge rifle. Not entirely convinced it will work on DS, but I've been surprised by the capabilities of the wee handheld beastie before. Fingers crossed again.

Capcom working on Natal project.

Capcom are working on a secret Natal project according to the company's Christian Svensson, who claims it's a built from the ground up title, and not an existing game with slapped on Natal support.

Intriguingly, he also says that the game is a revival of an older franchise we've not seen in a while, which certainly piques my interest. There's a fair few games from the company we've not seen in a while, but I think a motion controlled version of Onimusha with it's sword swinging combat would be the most likely - it was a big franchise for quite a while, and it certainly seems more likely to be resurrected than something like LED Storm or Forgotten Worlds that's for sure.

Personally though, I'd like a new Strider game. Go on Capcom, you know it makes sense. Ninjas. Huge swords. Acrobatics. Full body motion sensing. It would be awesome! Actually, unless Natal is a world away from Nintendo's Wii wavey controls, it would utterly shit, so maybe I don't want it after all.

Space Karting 5!

Sega's forthcoming Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing just got that bit more interesting to me, thanks to the inclusion of the wonderfully sassy Ulala of Space Channel 5 fame! Oh, and some chap from Crazy Taxi, but honestly, I could never see the appeal in that particular game.

Still, always nice to see old Dreamcast characters coming back, and with Samba from Samba De Amigo and Ryo from Shenmue also appearing, I may just have to pick this up. Just a shame they had to ruin the 360 version with sodding Banjo-Kazooie, the boggle eyed dopy faced, lazily designed piece of Rare shit that he is.

Super Street Fighter IV new trailer gives up the goods!

Another week, another new trailer for Super Street Fighter IV, and boy, is it a doozy.

New features shown include the ability to have 2 different Ultra Combos per character, which should mix things up nicely, and a third costume option for every character too. Zangief's Mech look is SOOOO X-Men Colossus, I'm fully expecting a cease and desist from Marvel!

Anyway, take a look.

Video Games | Super Street Fighter IV | Exclusive Features Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Top five games of 2009

I did intend to post this in 2009, but I was too busy drinking, eating, and generally enjoying myself away from computers and the internet to get around to it. So, here it is. Good job no-one was awaiting this with baited breath (or at all), as I'd hate to be responsible for anyone's death. Actually, scratch that, it's a blatant lie.

Another unapologetically 360-centric year end top five from me for 09, but that's hardly surprising - I've only got a 360 and a DS these days. The Wii REALLY doesn't count, and has been turned on about 3 times throughout the entire year. Pathetic box of crap that it is. Anyway, on with my choices.

5 - The Beatles: Rock Band

It helps being a big fan of The Fab Four, but The Beatles: Rock Band is a brilliant Rock Band game in it's own right regardless of your feelings on the band. A great selection of tunes from across the legendary group's (remarkably short) history, lovely stylised visuals, previously unheard soundbytes from John and co, and full downloadable albums available throughout the year all combine to create a music game I keep coming back to again and again, and thanks to Ringo's idiosyncratic drumming style, I can even manage to keep time on the skins. Yay!

4 - Resident Evil 5

Capcom set themselves a hell of a standard to beat with the utterly sublime Resident Evil 4 back on GameCube, and it shows - Resi 5 is basically the same game with improved visuals, different enemies, and a co-op feature. Sadly it doesn't quite match up to the majesty of it's prequel, but there was still enough fun tackling the infected hordes with Chris Redfield and new counterpart Sheva Alomar to keep me playing for weeks. The return of Mercenaries mode was most welcome, and the co-op feature was good with an online partner too. Shame it sucked in offline thanks to a ludicrous bordered split screen, but you can't have everything. Oh and it had Jill, so I was sold. Looking forward to more Valentine action with the forthcoming DLC mission packs in 2010, so Resi 5 hasn't done giving just yet.

3 - Modern Warfare 2

I had a real struggle deciding between this and Halo 3: ODST. I LOVE the Halo design, the armour, the weapons, the dual wield, and the overall feel, and ODST was a pleasant return to the universe, albeit from a slightly skewed perspective. Firefight mode was freaking awesome fun too, with wave after wave of Covenant dying for (and of) a bullet through the cranium. Oh, and it was packed with Firefly cronies, so basically all the boxes were ticked.

Modern Warfare 2 though, it just blew every other FPS this year out of the water. Sure the story was bewildering nonsense, and it still suffers from the shooting gallery syndrome, but it's done with such incredible polish it hardly seems to matter. The new Spec Ops mode was a brilliant touch too, adding much needed single and co-op longevity to a previously online-centric game. Speaking of online, it's as much fun as ever if my friends playlist is anything to go by, although I've only dipped my toe in that murky water once. And lost badly. Regardless, any game that makes me play it through three times in quick sucession is definitely a winner, and MW2 is that game. I tried not to like it, cos everyone else did, but it was just too difficult. Modern Warfare 2 rules

2 - Street Fighter IV

I've written a few blogs about SFIV in the last year, and it genuinely affected my well being. Love/hate/love/hate over and over again. Getting wound up online by endless Shoto spammers, then finding new tactics and enjoying myself. The Sagat flood of April 09. The sheer brilliance of Championship Mode. It's been a while since I've played it tbh, because the online competition was getting beyond my skills, but it's still got a special place in my heart. I LOVE Street Fighter, and IV is no exception. It just can't quite make the top spot, which will surprise a few people. Or would if anyone was reading yadda yadda yadda.

Anyway, I can't wait for Super Street Fighter IV this year, so clearly the infatuation goes on. Chun Li will be back. Oh yes. She will...

1 - Batman Arkham Asylum

Surprise! I didn't have high hopes for this game. Sure, the graphics looked fantastic, but with the last decent Batman game appearing on the bloody Amiga, it's fair to say that a Caped Crusader based videogame being my game of the year has come as a bit of a shock. It's warranted though, as Batman: Arkham Asylum has been put together with real love and care, and it shows. It looks fantastic, with a chunky Batman facing off against a gangly clownish Joker, or a slinky sensual Posion Ivy. The voice work is brilliant, especially Mark Hamill, as the Clown Prince of Crime. The stealthy "Invisible Predator" sections work amazingly well too, with Bats picking off thugs one by one from hidden vantage points in the ceiling, under floor grates, over ledges etc.

For me though, it's the feeling of BEING Batman that shines through; the selection of gadgets at your disposal, cleverly unlocking as you go through a series of sensible plot developments rather than just "LEVEL UP!!!"; or the incredible combat system, which truly makes you feel like the hardest man alive. I know it took some knocks for being a one or two button system, but the context specific moves coupled with the intuitive countering system create some epic punchups.
When you chain a few punches together, countering a swiftly closing-in goon, leapfrogging another, swirling your cape to disorientate a knife wielding henchman, finishing with a hard handed "face meets concrete" takedown, you ARE The Dark Knight. Awesome stuff.

So that's that, my favourites of 2009. Most wanted for 2010 coming up tomorrow, bet you can't wait.

*sigh*

Skimpy, busty, ninja lady!

Regular non-readers of this waste of time will no doubt be totally unaware of my Marvel comics obsession, nor my love for Kotobukiya's Shunya Yamashita Marvel statue line.

None of that matters though, as the next figure in the range is my absolute favourite Marvel X-girl, beating Rogue, Kitty Pryde, Emma Frost and all the rest by virtue of being a smoking hot ninja chick. I'm easily pleased. Yup, Psylocke is on the way, as I already knew, but the first images of the sculpt have been revealed.

Not entirely sure I like it as much as the Rogue from last year if I'm totally honest - I'm a sucker for the Jim Lee look for Betsy, which I guess is a lot colder and harder than the Yamashita style. I'd also have preferred to see a Psychic Knife or some TK butterflies rather than twin swords, but it's still pretty decent. And pretty. Ms Braddock doesn't get enough love in the X-Men comics imo, and they can never really decide what the hell to do with her from one week to the next, chopping and changing her powers at a frankly silly rate, so it's nice to see a figurine.

As long as she stays a ninja in that costume though, I'll always be a fan. >_< I really need to get out more...