To be honest, after not having enough material to run the final 2011 edition of VGQH, I wasn’t expecting much for today’s issue. But it’s actually pretty robust. Which is good, because the easy temptation to replace last Friday’s (or today’s) news would be to run some sort of breakdown list from 2011. But, I kind of hate building those lists. I can certainly tell you a few games that I enjoyed in the last 12 months. But I didn’t play them all and I’m also a fairly specific gamer. My list would obviously be skewed to the point of likely being offensive. After all, I can’t include Battlefield 3 or Modern Warfare 3 on any list because I don’t play first person shooters. Besides, HyperZord, Zombietron and CitizenBot have already done a perfectly good job with their lists in various categories. So if you need a breakdown, check out theirs. If you just want your first fix of gaming news for the year, read on.
Twisted Metal fans that weren’t already looking forward to the newest entry in the series next year may have reason to perk up. The darkest, most seriously creepy entry to franchise is making a return on PSN. And Twisted Metal Black will be available for free when you buy a new copy of Jaffe’s latest car combat lunacy. So, if the last game’s seriously disturbing cutscenes did the trick for you, but you’re still intrigued by the less psychotic tone of the next game, this is the best of both worlds for you.
Despite somewhat critical reception of the first episode of Sonic the Hedgehog 4, Episode II appears to be on the way to PSN and XBLA in 2012. Very few details are available. You can watch the trailer on -fG25R976U” target=”_blank”>Youtube, but it doesn’t actually show anything. No gameplay footage, no character art, nothing. The important thing to note is that Miles “Tails” Prowler will be returning in the latest episode. Metal Sonic is also planned for Episode II.
We’ve discussed online media piracy several times on Big Shiny Robot! It’s always a hot topic and it doesn’t need to be. If you want something, pay for it. If it’s not worth the asking price, buy used, wait for price drops, rent, pitch in with friends, etc. There are lots of ways to consume your media, at relatively low cost. If you’re a pirate, please stop. Because piracy leads to laws like SOPA. This anti-piracy legislation is likely to pass, especially with support from companies like Marvel and Sony. If you want to know more about the legislation, read CitizenBot’s article on Marvel’s support. I’m actually only bringing it up here because of Sony‘s recent support and the response from Anonymous. You may remember Anonymous as the group most likely responsible for the prolonged PSN outage last spring. As you’d expect from these people, their immediate response to anti-piracy legislation is to threaten, once again, to hurt Sony’s users through hacking their accounts and denial of service. All systems are hackable, but I think they’ll find the task a little more difficult this time around as Sony was very thorough in their security upgrades after the last breach. Furthermore, if I may exit my pseudo-journalistic poise for a moment, these people just need to fuck off! I’m opposed to SOPA as I think it’s too extreme, ineffective, serves as way too large of a door for government censorship, violates due process, and seems designed to prevent start up businesses. However, launching a digital assault on Sony doesn’t change the legislation, won’t change their support of it, and ultimately attacks me, a consumer who dislikes the proposal just as much as the hacker. So allow me to use this platform to ask for three things. First, Anonymous, please go fuck yourself and let me play the games I willingly pay for in peace. Second, Sony, please reconsider your support of this legislation and be proactive in finding a less mercenary way to combat piracy. Third, people of the United States, please contact your congresspeople and ask that they not support this draconian measure. [Note, Anonymous posted some sort of video screed announcing their hack plans. If you want to see it, go find it, I’m not going to boost them by linking it.]
The upcoming fighter crossover Street Fighter x Tekken from Capcom has had a couple of new characters accidentally spoiled. In an XBox Marketplace screenshot promoting the game two unannounced characters appear, M. Bison and Ling Xiayou. The two characters are not actually fighting in the shot but Ling and Bison are visible as Heihachi’s and Dhalsim’s tag partners, respectively. Bison is a little hard to make out because of the small portrait but it’s definitely him. The addition of these two combatants brings the game roster to at least 30. The game is set for a March 6th release.
I’m not sure how much to put into this rumor, but it appears God of War will be making its return later this year. Actually, I believe that part. Why would they ever consider stopping such a powerful franchise? The part I’m questioning is the possibility of online co-op, with the second player taking the role of Kratos’ brother, Deimos. Maybe I shouldn’t doubt it so much. Co-op is very different from competitive multiplayer. Online death match in this series would just be stupid, but co-op? I might actually enjoy that, even if it does seem unnecessary. Another pertinent question is who is Kratos killing now? Isn’t the entire pantheon of Greek mythology already bleeding at his feet?
As someone who’s never owned a Wii (what? I don’t have kids or old people living with me) there are only a small handful of games I feel I’ve really “missed” from Nintendo. Among those is Epic Mickey. I know it didn’t necessarily review as well as I expected, but it seemed like a fun and interesting take on a classic version of a character that’s sort of gone missing from pop culture recently. It also appeared that it would utilize the Wii’s motion control in a useful and effective way, something beyond flailing. All of this leads to me actually being a little excited for the rumored sequel. Epic Mickey 2 appears to be expanding platforms. The latest issue of the Disney newsletter accidentally spilled some details on the game and has since been edited with all mention of the game being redacted. However, this is the internet age, and once something hits the wire there’s no going back.
“Disney Epic Mickey 2 is the latest game in the critically acclaimed Disney Epic Mickey videogame series. In this all-new action-platforming game available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii, Mickey embarks on an epic journey and is pulled back into a world filled with Disney’s forgotten characters.
Players can choose to play single-player as Mickey or for the first time players can also choose 2-player split screen mode. In the 2 player mode one person can play as Mickey wielding magic paint and paint thinner to dynamically change the world and the second player can play as Oswald the Lucky Rabbit – Walt Disney’s first cartoon star – with the power to fly like a helicopter and use electricity to fight or friend enemies and solve challenges.
Team-up and choose your path to save this forgotten world because the choices you make will alter the story and change the end of the game!”
I’m thinking this might be the first time Oswald has ever been playable in a video game? I know Disney had to reacquire the rights to the character to make the first game, so this might only be the second game where he’s even featured. Notably, the announcement only indicated the three platforms, but does not specifically say anything about motion control. Will the game require the Move or Kinect? Will motion be an option, but not required? And why no mention of Wii U? I’m definitely looking forward to hearing more and will relay it here in VGQH as soon as I hear something.
And that ends the year’s first edition of Video Game Quick Hits. There’s fighting news, car combat, Disney, and even a little editorial rant from me. I’d say that’s not a bad start to the new year. Thanks for reading, and let’s have a toast to another great year of awesome games – starting with Mass Effect 3 in March, currently my most anticipated title of 2012.
Credits: The new post pic comes from an opinion article by Harry Robinson from August 2007 on the Funneled Web.