Championship Manager PC No More?
By Ben / 2010-09-07 17:44:33
Personally I thought last years Championship Manager was pretty decent, but it was never going to be a stretch to imagine it not really selling well.
Well it seems that Beautiful Game Studios may have found more success with the digital download versions of the game, including the iphone and PSN, as the PC version is on indefinite hiatus.
"With the market shrinking it was quite a risky or dangerous situation to be in. So we took the decision to put the PC game on hold and build up our business in other areas." said Beautiful Game Studios boss Roy Meredith
Good luck to them, I hope they find a format that suits the game as it deserves better than to die purely because it's not quite as good as Football Manager
By Ben / 2010-09-07 17:44:33
Personally I thought last years Championship Manager was pretty decent, but it was never going to be a stretch to imagine it not really selling well. Well it seems that Beautiful Game Studios may have found more success with the digital download versions of the game, including the iphone and PSN, as the PC version is on indefinite hiatus.
"With the market shrinking it was quite a risky or dangerous situation to be in. So we took the decision to put the PC game on hold and build up our business in other areas." said Beautiful Game Studios boss Roy Meredith
Good luck to them, I hope they find a format that suits the game as it deserves better than to die purely because it's not quite as good as Football Manager
Free Level Cap Increase In Claptrap's Revolution
By Ben / 2010-09-07 15:25:54
This is a nice touch. The next DLC for Borderlands, Claptrap's New Robot Revolution , includes a level cap increase.
However, if you don't fancy paying the 800 Microsoft Points or £6.29 it costs, then you'll be pleased to know that the level cap will be available as a free patch on the 28th September.
By Ben / 2010-09-07 15:25:54
This is a nice touch. The next DLC for Borderlands, Claptrap's New Robot Revolution , includes a level cap increase.However, if you don't fancy paying the 800 Microsoft Points or £6.29 it costs, then you'll be pleased to know that the level cap will be available as a free patch on the 28th September.
By Ben / 2010-09-05 17:57:14Like buses, we don’t have a video game film for months, then we get 3 right next to each other (Resident Evil Afterlife comes out next week). The difference between this and Tekken/Resident Evil is that King of Fighters is one of my very favourite franchises. So, no pressure then.
I can’t think of many of the videogame films I’ve reviewed for Loading Screen that that show such disregard for characters likenesses and backstory. I know it wont matter to non-fans, but seeing Iori and Mai together, Terry working as a short haired CIA agent, and Rugal fighting wearing ice hockey kit does the film no favours. Mai using electricity rather than fire, Rugal dressing as Geese for a while, fan-favourite Terry turned into a laughing stock, and the fights all taking place in an alternative dimension, they‘re all just wrong.
Which brings us nicely to the plot. Fights in the King of Fighters tournament take place in another dimension, which combatants are transported to whenever they are challenged. The exact details are slightly fuzzy, but this ‘other’ dimension contains the Orochi, a demon of sorts that grants great power at the cost of your soul. Rugal wants this power to become the King of Fighters, and snatches the 3 magic artefacts needed to release the Orochi and take over both dimensions.
It’s not a great plot truth be told, worse than the very similar Mortal Kombat. It’s also littered with some pretty poor acting, Kyo is the chief culprit, but Maggie Q as Mai is also guilty of some laboured lines. It may be that the script was changed late in the day as there’s a few instances of over-dubbing lines. It could also be because the script is terrible, Ray Park doesn’t strike me as an actor of great self-awareness, and it’s probably for the best as some of the lines he’s given are humiliating.
Saying a cobbled together video game film has dodgy acting, a weak plot, and horrible dialogue is pretty much a given, and it’s also not really the sort of stuff that’s going to make or break the film. A much bigger issue is the pace of King of Fighters, scenes go on for far too long, and it feels like 40 minutes before anything actually happens. In truth there’s action in the first scene (prefaced by a Mai shower scene, which may or may not be a nod to Street Fighter), the problem is that the fighting is so mundane it’s only memorable because Mr Big is rendered unconscious by banging his head on a wheeled aluminium rack.
There are some films where a lack of character development and staggered story progressions can be forgiven, video game fight films generally fall into that category. Because of this trundling through scenes the film feels much longer than its 90 minutes, not helped that the first 70 of these are tired and uneventful. Things do improve though, with the epic final fight between Iori, Kyo, Mai and Rugal being genuinely enjoyable. I’m not sure the payoff is so great it excuses the rest of the film, but had King of Fighters had a few more moments of that quality this review would read very differently.
The only other positive things I can think to say is that Orochi Iori is well done and suitably brutal, and that once the characters move into the ‘other’ dimension they do start to resemble their digital counterparts more… Apart from Kyo. It’s bizarre that they’ve willingly gone for an Asian female lead, an Asian in one of the more senior roles (Iori), yet hired the most American actor they could find as Kyo, it‘s not like an Asian heavy cast is going to affect the box office for this. Not to dwell too much on Tekken, but they at least cast an Asian actor as the lead. Oh, and Park arguably makes a better Geese than Rugal, but that’s not a compliment.
A final note of credit for King of Fighters is that the actors all seem believably capable when it comes to the martial arts, it’s just a surprise that the combat is so insipid coming from a Hong Kong action film director. The first 70 minutes leave King of Fighters amongst the worst films I’ve reviewed for Loading Screen, the last 20 minutes in the top half, but it‘s not enough. One to avoid, especially if you’re a fan.
I can’t think of many of the videogame films I’ve reviewed for Loading Screen that that show such disregard for characters likenesses and backstory. I know it wont matter to non-fans, but seeing Iori and Mai together, Terry working as a short haired CIA agent, and Rugal fighting wearing ice hockey kit does the film no favours. Mai using electricity rather than fire, Rugal dressing as Geese for a while, fan-favourite Terry turned into a laughing stock, and the fights all taking place in an alternative dimension, they‘re all just wrong.
Which brings us nicely to the plot. Fights in the King of Fighters tournament take place in another dimension, which combatants are transported to whenever they are challenged. The exact details are slightly fuzzy, but this ‘other’ dimension contains the Orochi, a demon of sorts that grants great power at the cost of your soul. Rugal wants this power to become the King of Fighters, and snatches the 3 magic artefacts needed to release the Orochi and take over both dimensions.
It’s not a great plot truth be told, worse than the very similar Mortal Kombat. It’s also littered with some pretty poor acting, Kyo is the chief culprit, but Maggie Q as Mai is also guilty of some laboured lines. It may be that the script was changed late in the day as there’s a few instances of over-dubbing lines. It could also be because the script is terrible, Ray Park doesn’t strike me as an actor of great self-awareness, and it’s probably for the best as some of the lines he’s given are humiliating.
Saying a cobbled together video game film has dodgy acting, a weak plot, and horrible dialogue is pretty much a given, and it’s also not really the sort of stuff that’s going to make or break the film. A much bigger issue is the pace of King of Fighters, scenes go on for far too long, and it feels like 40 minutes before anything actually happens. In truth there’s action in the first scene (prefaced by a Mai shower scene, which may or may not be a nod to Street Fighter), the problem is that the fighting is so mundane it’s only memorable because Mr Big is rendered unconscious by banging his head on a wheeled aluminium rack.
There are some films where a lack of character development and staggered story progressions can be forgiven, video game fight films generally fall into that category. Because of this trundling through scenes the film feels much longer than its 90 minutes, not helped that the first 70 of these are tired and uneventful. Things do improve though, with the epic final fight between Iori, Kyo, Mai and Rugal being genuinely enjoyable. I’m not sure the payoff is so great it excuses the rest of the film, but had King of Fighters had a few more moments of that quality this review would read very differently.
The only other positive things I can think to say is that Orochi Iori is well done and suitably brutal, and that once the characters move into the ‘other’ dimension they do start to resemble their digital counterparts more… Apart from Kyo. It’s bizarre that they’ve willingly gone for an Asian female lead, an Asian in one of the more senior roles (Iori), yet hired the most American actor they could find as Kyo, it‘s not like an Asian heavy cast is going to affect the box office for this. Not to dwell too much on Tekken, but they at least cast an Asian actor as the lead. Oh, and Park arguably makes a better Geese than Rugal, but that’s not a compliment.
A final note of credit for King of Fighters is that the actors all seem believably capable when it comes to the martial arts, it’s just a surprise that the combat is so insipid coming from a Hong Kong action film director. The first 70 minutes leave King of Fighters amongst the worst films I’ve reviewed for Loading Screen, the last 20 minutes in the top half, but it‘s not enough. One to avoid, especially if you’re a fan.
Killzone 3 Gets Release Date
By Ben / 2010-09-03 15:40:23
Well, an American release date, but I'd wager ours will be in the same week, if not month.
Killzone 3 hits American stores on 22nd Feb 2011, which is a tuesday, so possibly the 25th for us.
The only other thing to mention is that I do find it odd when you get such specific release dates months before the game is even finished
By Ben / 2010-09-03 15:40:23
Well, an American release date, but I'd wager ours will be in the same week, if not month.Killzone 3 hits American stores on 22nd Feb 2011, which is a tuesday, so possibly the 25th for us.
The only other thing to mention is that I do find it odd when you get such specific release dates months before the game is even finished
Duke Nukem Forever Definitely Coming In 2011
By Ben / 2010-09-03 14:29:24
So here's what we know, Duke Nukem Forever is coming out on the PS3, 360 and PC, and is due to finally see the light of day at some point in 2011.
The game is currently playable in some form, as it was playable at PAX and viewable on UStream via 2K
From the Ustream video it's hard to judge graphics or frame rate, although both seemed up to speed. But I did see the triple barrelled machine gun make a return, as do toilets and reflections. There's lots of outdoor areas, drawing on a white board, and some vehicle driving
By Ben / 2010-09-03 14:29:24
So here's what we know, Duke Nukem Forever is coming out on the PS3, 360 and PC, and is due to finally see the light of day at some point in 2011.The game is currently playable in some form, as it was playable at PAX and viewable on UStream via 2K
From the Ustream video it's hard to judge graphics or frame rate, although both seemed up to speed. But I did see the triple barrelled machine gun make a return, as do toilets and reflections. There's lots of outdoor areas, drawing on a white board, and some vehicle driving
Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury Coming To XBLA
By Ben / 2010-09-01 15:29:31
I've never really been too keen on Bangai-O, that said I'm happy to see it's done well enough over the years for a HD version to be released.
Called Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury, the game is due in November and will include a level editor and online leaderboards.
I can see the online leaderboards being a huge success actually, possibly more so than the multiplayer it seems to lack
By Ben / 2010-09-01 15:29:31
I've never really been too keen on Bangai-O, that said I'm happy to see it's done well enough over the years for a HD version to be released.Called Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury, the game is due in November and will include a level editor and online leaderboards.
I can see the online leaderboards being a huge success actually, possibly more so than the multiplayer it seems to lack
XBox Live Prices Set To Rise
By Ben / 2010-08-30 17:39:38
You may have already received the email giving you the bad news, but the cost of XBox Live subscriptions is set to rise.
To be honest, if you're British and reading this then it probably wont affect you too much (yet...) unless you buy your subscription by the month. If that's the case then it's going up from £4.99 to £5.99
The American's are hardest hit, with their monthly rate jumping from $7.99 to $9.99, 3 months $19.99 to $24.99, and the full year $49.99 to $59.99
There's a lot of people saying they will now abandon Live once their subscriptions run out, and given that we're getting to the point where people will be buying their second or 3rd console, maybe they will start picking up 3rd party games on the PS3 or PC (or Wii I guess). But then as always with these things, people say a lot of things, and I dare say come the release of Gears of War 3 et al, they'll be back on board
By Ben / 2010-08-30 17:39:38
You may have already received the email giving you the bad news, but the cost of XBox Live subscriptions is set to rise. To be honest, if you're British and reading this then it probably wont affect you too much (yet...) unless you buy your subscription by the month. If that's the case then it's going up from £4.99 to £5.99
The American's are hardest hit, with their monthly rate jumping from $7.99 to $9.99, 3 months $19.99 to $24.99, and the full year $49.99 to $59.99
There's a lot of people saying they will now abandon Live once their subscriptions run out, and given that we're getting to the point where people will be buying their second or 3rd console, maybe they will start picking up 3rd party games on the PS3 or PC (or Wii I guess). But then as always with these things, people say a lot of things, and I dare say come the release of Gears of War 3 et al, they'll be back on board
Reach For The Stars
By Ben / 2010-08-30 05:05:49
I don't really know what to say about this, but here goes.
Microsoft have cobbled together a celebrity team to face off against a team of experienced (I assume) gamers to promote Halo Reach.
Because the celebrities wouldn't stand much of a chance on their own they've been assigned a captain, 17-year-old Lewis Chapman from Newark in Nottinghamshire. Young Lewis is going to be taking charge of Jason Bradbury from the Gadget Show (a decent gamer from what I've seen), R'n'B artist Mr Hudson, T4 presenter Jameela Jamil, England rugby player Ben Cohen, and occasional England captain Rio "Brapp" Ferdinand
While Chapman used his time to try to spur his team on, saying:
"I would like to say to my new team members, 'Get practicing! You might be celebrities, but you better be good on the night!"
Rio decided to take a far more antagonistic path saying:
"His or her voice won't be as deep as ours. They'll be squeaking and telling us exactly where to run and who to shoot,"
I'm sure your captain really appreciates being merked like that Rio
By Ben / 2010-08-30 05:05:49
I don't really know what to say about this, but here goes.Microsoft have cobbled together a celebrity team to face off against a team of experienced (I assume) gamers to promote Halo Reach.
Because the celebrities wouldn't stand much of a chance on their own they've been assigned a captain, 17-year-old Lewis Chapman from Newark in Nottinghamshire. Young Lewis is going to be taking charge of Jason Bradbury from the Gadget Show (a decent gamer from what I've seen), R'n'B artist Mr Hudson, T4 presenter Jameela Jamil, England rugby player Ben Cohen, and occasional England captain Rio "Brapp" Ferdinand
While Chapman used his time to try to spur his team on, saying:
"I would like to say to my new team members, 'Get practicing! You might be celebrities, but you better be good on the night!"
Rio decided to take a far more antagonistic path saying:
"His or her voice won't be as deep as ours. They'll be squeaking and telling us exactly where to run and who to shoot,"
I'm sure your captain really appreciates being merked like that Rio
Oh If Only
By Ben / 2010-08-25 16:24:45
Unfortunately the below video isn't in game footage (click the 'Show' button), rather an animation designed to look like Mushroom Hill (Act 2) from Sonic & Knuckles.
Maybe one day we'll see a Sonic game like this, meaning no disrespect to Sonic 4
Show/hide video
By Ben / 2010-08-25 16:24:45
Unfortunately the below video isn't in game footage (click the 'Show' button), rather an animation designed to look like Mushroom Hill (Act 2) from Sonic & Knuckles.Maybe one day we'll see a Sonic game like this, meaning no disrespect to Sonic 4
Show/hide video
You Dont Have To Wait Thong For More DeathSpank
By Ben / 2010-08-23 15:00:49
Not too sure what I make of this. On the one hand I'm quite enjoying DeathSpank, on the other a sequel now is a bit too soon, I mean we haven't even done the review for the first game yet.
Either way the sequel "Thongs of Virtue" is due on September 21st (PS3) and 22nd (360), and will cost 1200 MS points, so probably £10 on the PS3 the same as the first game.
Thongs of Virtue producer Hamish Millar told Gamespot
"By doing two games back to back, we didn't get the opportunity to listen to everybody's feedback and try and incorporate that,... But what we did do is take a bit of a guess at what we thought was going to come out of the releases."
We can expect new weapons, new locations and new enemies, and hopefully a bit more variety in the tasks you're set.
By Ben / 2010-08-23 15:00:49
Not too sure what I make of this. On the one hand I'm quite enjoying DeathSpank, on the other a sequel now is a bit too soon, I mean we haven't even done the review for the first game yet.Either way the sequel "Thongs of Virtue" is due on September 21st (PS3) and 22nd (360), and will cost 1200 MS points, so probably £10 on the PS3 the same as the first game.
Thongs of Virtue producer Hamish Millar told Gamespot
"By doing two games back to back, we didn't get the opportunity to listen to everybody's feedback and try and incorporate that,... But what we did do is take a bit of a guess at what we thought was going to come out of the releases."
We can expect new weapons, new locations and new enemies, and hopefully a bit more variety in the tasks you're set.
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