I’ve heard a lot of Kingdom Hearts fans say they aren’t sure if they’re going to get Re:coded or not… The excuse I’ve heard most often is, “It’s adapted from a cellphone game” which is fair… because it’s the truth, but those people are forgetting that “they” also sometimes put awesome games like Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune on cell phones as well. I think they also forget how much better cell phones are than ancient Gameboy’s that also managed to be awesome.

So to remove the mystery from this review, I’ll start by saying this is probably my favorite Kingdom Hearts game… but the true meaning of this statement is locked into the details! Which is just me trying to trick you into reading the rest of my review… because I apparently care to have every word I’ve ever written to be read.

Now, to understand why this one was my favorite, is to understand the type of gamer I am. I love video games with my entire artificial heart, but I feel like a jerk playing them because they take so much of my precious, precious time… and this game worked with my schedule perfectly! The story is so simple that you can skip 90% of the dialog and still have a good understanding of what’s going on… and the gameplay, magic, and level up systems are equally comprehensive.

I don’t think it’s any secret that the story is a little thin, but to be honest, I’ve never really cared why I was killing a demon, just that I was doing it. That’s what I liked so much about old video games, the simple concept of, “which way are the bad guys” is all that you really need… I’m not saying that’s exactly what this game did, but that is how I played it, and I had fun… one final issue I’d like to address while talking about the story is, I realize that most Kingdom Hearts players are playing for the story, and I think that if that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll find that too… I found that the character interactions were very well composed, and the game literally takes you through the motions of the first game, while playing Sora, and gives you the opportunity to play Cloud… so they are definitely still giving the fans what they want.

Another good aspect of this game was that it didn’t only give you the traditional Kingdom Hearts game play. Some of the worlds had 2D side scroller maps, and one world was played like a true RPG, (Kind of a blend between Final Fantasy, and Mario RPG… which I think is such a good idea) and the Kingdom Hearts parts weren’t a drag either, there were plenty of boss battles, and it was high paced and entertaining. (Except for a short stint, when they take away your keyblade and you have to control Goofy and Donald by shouting at them… I thought that was kind of stupid.)

The magic system was good for the type of game it was… I mean, Sora didn’t go through as many changes and fighting styles as he did in Kingdom Hearts 2, but this game wasn’t long enough to merit that type of system… The fact that I never had to go back and level up was a good enough trade off.

This is the perfect game to play right before you go to bed for a few weeks… that’s what I did, I had about 12 hours of playtime, but I’m sure that it could be turned into thirty hours or more if you wanted to beat it perfectly, (which I plan on doing… There is some after game story, that I’ve already started on) I’m giving this game a rating of 8 out of 10. It was really fun.

You can get it on Amazon through this link Here!

Not a whole lot of action going this week, but at least there’s something.

Multi-Platform:
Rock Band Country Track Pack 2
Kevin VanDam’s Big Bass Challenge

DS:
Junior Brain Trainer 2

Since I’m not even sure why I bothered posting it this week I’ll include a small Video Game Quick Hits so there’s actually something to read. Three reasons for this: One, are there enough people still playing Rock Band to warrant releasing these supplements; two, I don’t actually know if that fishing game is coming out tomorrow or not (GameStop says 2/1/11, Amazon says 3/29/11); and three, there aren’t enough quick hits for a full article either. How I hate the post-Christmas games drought…

In very sad news, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars has been pushed from February 15th to March 22nd. While it might be good if they just need some extra polish, games that are delayed multiple times usually tend to not be very good. If they’re still suffering glitches this late in the game I wouldn’t expect them to be completely ironed with an extra five weeks. On the other hand, Traveller’s Tales isn’t really known for poor quality.

The folks at Namco-Bandai have made it known that a sequel to Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is at least a possibility, if not already in the works. Basically the game didn’t do well financially, but did get critical praise and has many loyal fans. This has the company hopeful that continuation of the post-apocalyptic adventure game is a good move.

Oddworld: Abe’s Odyssee, much like Stranger’s Wrath, is getting an HD remake on PSN. It will be a 2D sidescroller in a 3D engine. The Oddworld series is an odd thing in itself. Not everyone knows about it, but it’s following is huge and the fans are drooling for the possibility. The idea that strong success for the remakes could mean a true sequel after all these years is almost too much to hope.

Sony recently mentioned that over 69 million users have registered for the PSN. That’s a pretty impressive number. What’s equally impressive is that their own division, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE), has generated 6.5 million game downloads. That’s just SOE. Which is why I took notice when I got their announcement for these planned PSN titles.

Plants vs. Zombies has been gaining a huge fan base since it first released for PC in May 2009. SOE has teamed up with PopCap to bring the popular tower defense title to PSN. The best part? It’s coming next month.

While that’s the only one of their six announced games I am familiar with, the rest seem like they could also be worth following. Acceleration of Suguri X Edition has a mouthful for a title but that probably won’t stop anyone at BSR!, especially since it’s about our robot brethren. This is another team up with the Rockin’ Android (Qlione) crew. In great anime style, you play a scorned robot tasked with battling other robots in arcade action.

I don’t know much about developer Fire Hose Games but they’ve got a PSN exclusive scheduled for March. Slam Bolt Scrappers looks like some crazy, kinetic, fighting fun – mixed with some city building. Not sure how that’s going to work but it sounds entertaining. Lots of bright colors and more even more colorful characters should keep this on your radar.

In Akimi Village from Ninja Bee (A World of Keflings) you are trying to rid Akimi Island of gloom. That’s pretty much all I’ve got on it for now. It involves finding blueprints and building resources so I’m thinking perhaps an RTS?

Another spring exclusive, Sideway, comes to us from Playbrains and Fuel Industries. The player character is Nox, a 2D artist, moving through a 3D New York. Again, I don’t much about this one, but the downloadable games market is a great platform for artistic developers and this seems like that sort of title.

Finally, Rochard from Recoil Games looks to be your fix for puzzle-solving exploration. John Rochard, a miner with some gravity bending ability, finds proof of extra-terrestrial life. Gravity-bending puzzles with aliens? How can I not be excited?

I know, I know. I just did one of these yesterday, but I just found a bunch of announcements this morning too. I’ll try to keep it short.

You’re here, so I assume you already know about Zombietron’s coverage of NGP. It has… potential.

Bethesda has four games dropping this year. You already know Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is coming in November and Rage in September. The other two, Brink and Hunted: Demon’s Forge, recently got release dates as well. Brink (FPS) is coming May 17th. June 1st brings us Hunted: Demon’s Forge (RPG).

Yesterday I announced Max Anarchy from Platinum. My apologies, as I was misinformed. While everything else in the announcement seems correct, the game will actually be called Anarchy Reigns.

Heavy Rain is being adapted to film. I’m not sure how I feel about it. This game blew my mind. I was literally edging on tears more than once. I’m not even sure how someone could make a cohesive film out of the branching storylines. But since it’s happening here’s the details: Warner Bros. is developing, they’ve fast-tracked it (possibly meaning a Christmas release but more likely next spring), Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne are producing, and David Milch (Deadwood, NYPD Blue) is writing the adaptation.

While it hasn’t been officially announced, three more characters are seemingly confirmed for Mortal Kombat. I can’t get the actual video up right now but if you search for “Mortal Kombat Inside the X-Ray” you should find it. The three new characters are Baraka, Liu Kang, and Ermac. Seriously, did anyone actually think Liu Kang wouldn’t be in it?

The other fighting game coming soon, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 , also has a new character announcement. I’m still not sure why they’re bothering since the leaked Twitter list is obviously dead on. Either way, Hsien-Ko and Sentinel are probably the last announcement unless they start talking DLC.

Taking a turn here for SOCOM 4. I never got into this franchise, but it is now scheduled for April 19th. And if you preorder at GameStop you can get the “Abandoned” throwback map pack for free. No word yet on preorders from other retailers.

With L.A. Noire coming out in May it seems about time Rockstar get the website up. It’s running now and they’ve published the first (of many, presumably) character dossiers, Coroner Malcolm Carruthers.

Finally, if you played Final Fantasy XIII and have been looking forward to the sequel, I hope you haven’t deleted your save game. The developers have said they want to reward those who played the first game, but have not disclosed what that means. While they have promised the new game will explain what happened to Lightning, this mysterious poster doesn’t seem to shed much light on it.

Thanks to Kotaku for the images.

For those who didn’t follow it via LiveBLog last night, Sony dropped a few big announcements in their Japanese conference. I figured I’d save you the time of routing through my bad jokes about Mountain Dew and how late it was and summarize my thoughts and the overall announcement.

The first big announcement from the evening was Playstation Suite. A mobile based gaming platform that puts Playstation software onto the Android Platform. In conjunction with the Suite release they are releasing Playstation Certified, which is their way of controlling and making sure content is ready to work on ALL platforms. I never thought I’d see a gaming company give into Apple, but this in my eyes is total proof. The iPod touch and iPhone has never in my eyes been a “gaming platform” at least on a serious level. Maybe games to kill time while waiting for a class to start, or a bus, but never something that I would consider to be a dedicated gaming experience that I normally seek out. However, I do feel that Sony is smart to put their content on Android. Using cross platform they’ll be able to quickly and easily sell more content, instead of relying on the possibility of their new device being 100% successful. Judging by the release of the PSP GO which failed for multiple reasons they can use the additional income brought through the Suite to keep the content afloat. The PSP Go would have done much better if they would have provided a method for those who already had the physical copy of the game to get a digital copy. Their other huge fail was that the online marketplace did not have enough content to rival even the small library of the existing UMD games. That’s a hard sell to tell a consumer to trade in or give up their huge library of titles, re-buy what they’ve already paid for, and then add the insult of saying, but there’s a good chance a lot of those aren’t available yet. If they want Playstation Suite to succeed they need to make sure that there is a TON of digital content available. Not just piles of garbage, and not just Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja, they need a huge amount of solid Playstation Titles running on mobile devices. Resident Evil, DarkStalkers, The Final Fantasy Series. Real solid games that made the Playstation console what it is.

Let’s move onto the big announcement. Code name NGP for Next Generation Portable. Releasing in the Holiday season (for Japan presumably, they weren’t too forward with the international details.) Packing a powerful A9 4 core processor, 2 mics, 2 cameras, 2 analog sticks, teh wifi’s, 3g, blu-tooth, a full touch screen on front, a full touch pad on back for control. It’s an amalgamate of every internet rumor we’ve seen for the past 6 months. Using flash based memory and of course access to the Playstation Suite this system will game with graphics better than the previous PSP of course, and visuals just below the PS3. Judging by the videos posted last night at Kotaku via UStream the visuals do look pretty promising. Here’s a hardware cheat sheet from Kotaku to catch you up on the Specifications of this nifty gadget.

First of all I will predict a United States Price of 299.99. With all the hardware they’re packing there is no way that Sony can match the Nintendo 3DS price of 249.99 and stay profitable matching price would also weaken their claims that this is the best tech on the market when it launches with better hardware than Nintendo’s (which has been their marketing angle in the past). Plus… the amount of hardware that Sony is loading on doesn’t come cheap, $299.99 would still be a subsidized price.

Here is my initial impression of the handheld. It’s a lot of awesome, with a few bad features, and not enough software support out the door. Every game shown last night was either a tech demo of a current PS3 game running on the system, or a port of one that was being developed with “new control style”. That’s what Nintendo did with the Wii and it worked great for mom dad and younger daughter, but their is no way that that same audience will drop $300 on a handheld that ports rated M games from a more mature game system. I’m hoping that actual real software support hits the PSP2 or NGP or whatever they decide to call it by launch. Not just ports but new IP that we can all play, enjoy and sink our teeth into. The second main concern I have with the handheld is the touch pad on the back. Let me reference the Motorola Backflip. This handy phone had a touch pad on the back used to navigate menus when you didn’t feel like utilizing the touch screen. It’s precarious position basically caused you to move the cursor all over the place even when you didn’t want to. Enter the NGP with the same style interface, I’m using their new interface to comment on a friends gaming habits, aaaand my cursor jumps out of the text box. I’m running through an intense battle in Kill Zone, aim and shoot, aim and wait…. why is my guy spinning around… DAMN YOU TOUCH PAD! I really think putting in the touch pad wasn’t the best move.

Finally I think the location based gaming is going to be pretty sweet. Using GPS location and the ability to transmit your gaming information to a central source, will allow others to see what communities and neighborhoods are playing on their NGP. It’ll be huge in Japan, not so sure how well it will work stateside where our gaming audience seems to be more introverted and less interested in what everyone else is playing, and more focused on what they can do to make those guys look bad.

Anywho, I think the future will bring interesting news for us in regards to the NGP, and that Sony is trying something different from a digital release side.

Think I’m wrong? Agree with me? Make yourself heard below.

Here is Sony’s release trailer for the system.

First things first, Sony released update 3.56 for PS3 last night. I haven’t run it yet (but my PS3 is back from YLOD) and there’s probably not much to say. The only change announced from 3.55 is a security update. Most likely this is in response to the recent hacks.

Another recent PS3 update comes from Call of Duty: Black Ops. Besides adding new contracts to the rotation and a pre-match LAN timer, Patch 1.06 has a laundry list of fixes. For more info check their official forums.

In need of a patch is the highly anticipated Mass Effect 2 for PS3. Not only did Sony gamers have to wait until last week to get their hands on the game, now they’re being burned again by a save bug. Bioware has acknowledged the problem and is working on a solution. In the meantime, I’m glad I was waiting for GameFly on this one. Not only does the game seem to have a tendency to corrupt your save file around the 30 hour mark, but some players have even had it crash their entire hard drive, requiring a reformat. Bioware has asked that affected players report the details of their experience to help them get a handle on the problem.

Dead Space 2 got a big announcement on its launch day. A planned DLC release called “Severed” will feature Gabe and Lexine from the Extraction offshoot. No word yet on a price or date. What seems to matter most to internet people though is the question of whether this stuff should be announced so early in the game’s life. It brings up the constant argument of whether this should have been included in the game instead of charging extra for DLC. I’m of two minds on this one. First, it’s a side story and probably shouldn’t be part of the main game (never mind that it might not actually be finished which is why it’s not scheduled yet). On the other hand, people who are on the fence may just want to wait for the special version that will come out in 6-12 months for the same price and include all the DLC. I’d love to be a fly on the wall in a meeting that makes these decisions just so I can see the actual statistics they use.

Platinum Games (creator of Bayonetta) showed off their newest game to Famitsu. Max Anarchy is being talked about as an online combat game. An offline campaign and co-op mode is also offered, but the multiplayer is expected to be the main draw. Jack from MadWorld (Wii) will make his return in this game, though it’s unclear if the two stories are connected. Max Anarchy is scheduled for Fall 2011. It is Platinum’s first online game.

Speaking of online, shooter fans are excited for Killzone 3 scheduled for February 22. An open beta for the multiplayer should be announced soon, but you can also look forward to getting a shot at the single player mode a week before launch. Two versions of a demo will be released on February 16 (or February 9 for Plus members). The 2D version will also preview the split-screen co-op. The 3D demo is the same level, without the co-op feature. Both will be Move-enabled.

Anyone excited for LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars? Of course you are. And if you’re not, you need to be taught the meaning of the word “fun.” If you’re already stressing about how long we have to wait until February 18 this new webdoc won’t help.

If you’ve seen the supposedly leaked trailer for Batman: Arkham City and hurt yourself in excitement about Batman and the Joker teaming up, you’d better put your geek boner back where it belongs. Warner Bros. has confirmed the video is a fan-made fake. Doesn’t mean it isn’t awesome though. If history is any indication you can now expect a new, real trailer from the studio very soon to combat the hype.

Seems to it for the now. I’ll be back with more when I hear it. Meantime, I’m off to watch that webdoc again.

This is still in the barest sort of rumor phase right now but I’m passing it on anyway.

The unconfirmed rumor from an “insider” at Official Playstation Magazine is that the PS2-era Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater will be getting the HD Collection treament a la God of War and Sly Cooper. All three of these games won Game of the Year through many outlets when they were first launched. This entire series really helped define the PS2 generation.

As I’ve stated before, I love this concept of upgrading classic games to HD on Blu-Ray. God of War collection was a great way to play those games again (or for the first time). The Sly Collection is in the drawer at home waiting for me to finish AC: Brotherhood (which is now on hold as my PS3 died yesterday – taking it to the shop today). The Team ICO Collection is scheduled for this year and the recently announced Tomb Raider set is planned for a March release. Plenty of other titles are being batted around by internet fans, including Kingdom Hearts, Hitman, Call of Duty, etc.

Are you excited by the idea of MGS in HD? With full trophy support? Should it be the original versions or the Substance and Subsistence editions? What about VR Missions?

With the seasonal slowdown in game releases I’ve decided to expand beyond PS3 for the release announcements. I’m going to try covering all the current consoles when I can but I reserve the right to screw up ocasionally. I’m also going to try limiting my sarcastic editorials but I don’t expect to succeed in that respect. So, with no further ado:

Multi-platform:
Dead Space 2 in regular or Collector’s Edition
Two Worlds II (GameStop is advertising a “Royal Edition” next week for $100)

Nintendo DS:
Paws and Claws – Marine Rescue

Sony PSP:
Lord of Arcana

Slow week as is normal for January. Let me know if you like the new format. Should I stick to Sony, keep it eclectic, increase or decrease the spin?

Today’s VGQH has a little more business news than usual, but there’s some interesting game stuff as well.

Disney-owned developer, Propaganda Games has closed its doors. Based in Vancouver, this studio was cut in size significantly after its planned Pirates of the Caribbean game was shelved in October 2010. Since then they have released Tron: Evolution along with some DLC. They were also the developers behind the 2008 reboot of Turok (a flop).

Elsewhere in the games business, Konami is in expansion mode. While they have owned a majority of Hudson (Bomberman, Adventure Island, Diner Dash) for some time, they now have plans for a full take over. Current CEO, Michihiro Ishizuka, will be resigning on March 31st and replaced by Konami’s Kazuhiko Uehara when Konami gets the whole kit and kaboodle on April 1st. While a name change is expected, it’s too early to tell what this will mean to any of Hudson’s games or franchises.

The latest title from Tim Schafer’s Double Fine is Stacking. You’ll know the developer from Brutal Legend and the adorable Costume Quest. In this downloadable game you’ll be controlling Charlie, a Russian stacking doll that can jump into, and take over, larger dolls. It’s kind of a nutty concept but it has possibility. The game should be on the PSN on February 8th for $14.99 (and the equivalent point value through XBox Live). Hopefully playing as a Russian stacking doll won’t be as creepy as looking at them.

Isaac Clarke’s armor from Dead Space 2 is getting some extra usage in another anticipated sequel, Dragon Age 2. I’ve seen some weird crosovers in my time but this one is definitely in the top ten for odd pairings. Included in the Dead Space 2 box is a redeemable token for the special armor (sans plasma cutter). The armor is made to fit into the Dragon Age universe with specific character requirements (high dexterity and cunning) and bonuses (rune slots, critical damage, etc.). Dead Space 2 is out next week and Dragon Age 2 is coming March 8, 2011.

In the seemingly never ending laundry list of Activision being an asshole, their suit against EA has taken another nasty turn. I’m not qualified in any way to comment on what’s legal and not legal when it comes to the suit, but a recently surfaced email from EA does seem pretty shady – if it’s true. According to the email from Lincoln Hershberger of EA, he had asked Vince Zampella (formerly of Infinity Ward) to delay a Modern Warfare 2 map pack until after the release of Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Zampella allegedly complied. Activision’s accusation of tampering implies that this was illegal, besides just being a shitty thing to do. Seems odd to me, but I’m no lawyer. According to EA, the email is legit, but it was sarcasm. Take it from me, sarcasm doesn’t get read very well in print. Regardless, Bobby Kotick is a dick and I don’t really care how offended he is. I’d just like to see the whole Activision drama get over itself and start making decent new games with some innovation and new IP instead of Guitar Hero 47.

Meanwhile, if you can’t wait to line Activision’s pockets further, they’ve got three developers hard at work on Modern Warfare 3. Well, according to the LA Times anyway. While you should definitely expect another annual release of the CoD franchise sometime near the holidays, Activision hasn’t announced anything.

The newest addition to the list of games no one asked for, World Snooker Championship Real 2011 has been announced by Koch Media and scheduled for release next quarter. They’ve even signed three time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan to star in the game and on the cover (probably because he’s the only person on the planet that admits to playing snooker). Expect this chart-topper to set new records, especially in the U.S. where so many people have even heard of the game. [Please note, despite this being a real announcement, this is actually a callback to my sarcasm statement above.]

In the alternate world of games everyone’s been asking for but are now afraid to play since it’s been in development for a century, Duke Nukem Forever has finally been given a release date. The long-awaited date of May 3, 2011 is actually very close.

Another exciting release date is March 15, 2011. Well, exciting if you’re anticipating Yakuza 4 that is. The next iteration in the Japanese crime franchise has four main characters and a stronger focus on the old ultraviolence.

And, probably the most exciting of today’s quick hits (at least for people around my age), is that Mortal Kombat has also gotten a release date. The magic day is April 19, 2011. But wait, there are outlets in the U.K. saying April 18th. Which is it? Could be a regional difference but that would be odd since the U.S. is usually a few days ahead. I don’t for sure, but as a fogey that remembers the older games, I predict the reboot will mark the return of Mortal Monday (that means the 18th).

Here’s the new trailer from FFXIII-2, looks pretty as usual, will it hold up tho? I guess I should actually play through XIII before I start snapping judgement down.