MGS4 Language Locked

PS3 games may not have any region-locking, but it’s quite fortunate that Metal Gear Solid 4 will have a worldwide release this coming June. According to Konami rep Ryan Payton, the Blu-ray disc’s so full of MGS4 stuff that there’s no room for alternate language options. So, the US game will have the English language track and nothing else, while the Japanese version will have only their own native language track. NO English subtitles either in the Japanese game. What does that mean for the Asian release? We just may have to spring for the US game, ladies and gents. This is kind of a bummer, though I really have no problems with David Hayter and the English cast… the choice was nice to have. Oh well.

Better get those copies reserved fast.

More Soulcalibur IV Characters Revealed!

Xianghua’s back!

Gamesradar just posted some new pics of the upcoming Soulcalibur IV. Three new fighters are revealed- spritely Xianghua, staff-wielding Kilik and the monstrous Lizardman. The character models sport some quasi-modern fashion, but for the most part look pretty slick as usual. Still not much on any gameplay news or video footage yet, but this is something to chew on for a while. With SCIV headed to stores in June, it should be a full month of gaming with MGS4 also scheduled to hit on that month.

Check out larger versions of the pics here.

Kilik returns as well.

MGS4 Unleashed on June 12

The guns start firing this June. FINALLY!!!

Yep, it’s confirmed… Konami’s mega-sequel Metal Gear Solid 4 and finale to the adventures of Solid Snake will arrive worldwide on June 12. Awesome! In the US, 80 GB PS3 bundles will come with the game and the Dual Shock 3. In Japan, there will be special editions that come with Blu-ray discs with tons of special content. It’s gonna be MGS4-madness this June! Well, here’s the official press release from Konami with details on this uber-game…

KONAMI DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT REVEALS DETAILS FOR METAL GEAR SOLID®4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTSEL SEGUNDO, CA – February 28, 2008 – Following opening remarks made during the General Session at the 2008 Destination PlayStation retailer event in Scottsdale AZ, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. confirmed several new initiatives related to Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, including a North American street date, online multiplayer, and pre-sell program. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is the final chapter in the saga of Solid Snake which sends him around the world in pursuit of his arch nemesis, Liquid Ocelot. Armed with new gadgets and abilities, Solid Snake must shift the tides of war into his favor, using the chaos of the battlefield to infiltrate deep into enemy territory. In his globetrotting final mission, Snake must sneak deep into enemy locations in the Middle East, South America, and other corners of the Earth to foil Liquid Ocelot’s plans for total world domination.
Street DateOpening remarks revealed that the final chapter in the saga of super spy Solid Snake is expected to arrive in stores in North America on Thursday June 12th, 2008. “Blockbuster events and premieres are a tradition of the summer,” said Kazumi Kitaue, Konami Digital Entertainment Inc. Chairman and CEO. “We anticipate that Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots fits that bill perfectly, and consumers will be waiting in line to get their copy of the game just like it’s a hit Hollywood movie.”

Metal Gear Online Starter PackIt was also confirmed today that Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots will launch with the Metal Gear Online “Starter Pack” supporting online gameplay. In addition to the single player experience, gamers will also be able to take the action online with up to 16 players and battle it out using the latest weapons and stealth techniques.

Pre-Sell ProgramBeginning April 2008, consumers that pre-order Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots will receive the Metal Gear Saga 2.0 DVD, containing a Prologue that recaps the Metal Gear franchise, a 20th Anniversary retrospective, character bios for Big Boss, Liquid Snake, Solidus Snake, and Solid Snake, plus a collection of international trailers of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. This pre-order package also contains an insert with a download code and special instructions for accessing the Metal Gear Online beta test when it goes live in late April. This special pre-order package will only be available while supplies last.

 

So what do we do until then? Go and play the first three MGS games, that’s what! Dust off those old PS1 and PS2 discs and get stealthin’. By the time you finish, it’ll be June.

Tekken 6 lands in Texas

As pointed out by one of our readers who commented on the previous article, all is not lost for US Tekken fans… if you’re in Texas. Planet Zero arcade in Houston, Texas, has Tekken 6 already, which is either a US version or the International game, since according to Tekken Zaibatsu the cabinets come with card readers for data card use, records and customizations.Well, that’s good news. I still hope the PS3 game is coming soon though. 

Streetfighter IV Home Port to Include More Fighters, Extras

Wired just posted an article and interview with Yoshinori Ono, the man behind the development of Streetfighter IV. The lengthy and meaty piece goes on to reveal the man’s thinking behind his somewhat retro but progressive new entry into the hallowed fighting game series, as well as some thoughts into the past and future of the franchise.

According to Ono, he believes that Streetfighter III became a game that was the territory of an ‘exclusive club of players’, so casual gamers needn’t bother to play (Poppycock). SFIV seeks to make the game accessible to more players of all skill levels.But despite the back-to-basics principle that SFIV seems to be working on, Ono’s parting words give hope to those (like me) wanting the return of some other favorites aside from the original World Warriors. The home version of SFIV, if and when it is confirmed, may include Sakura (SF Alpha) or Ibuki (SFIII… WOOHOO!) or even more extras since there is a lot more expectations from home ports.

That’s good to hear… Ibuki will sell this game to me, honestly. Right now, I’m still on the freakin’ fence with the game’s meager roster.More on this as it happens. To read the whole Wired article, go here.

Solid Release Date?

The wait isn’t over yet, but at least we know it will be.

According to Kotaku, Metal Gear Solid 4 has apparently been given a release date- June 12, 2008. This is according to Destination Playstation, a retailers-only conference on all things Playstation. Supposedly the US release will come with a hardware bundle of an 80 GB PS3, MGS4 and a Dual Shock 3 controller. Pretty slick.

Anyway this is pretty cool news- the game arrives on the day before my birthday! I’m hoping by then Soulcalibur IV will also be around, and at least news of when Tekken 6 will be coming home. There’s still a need for Konami to totally confirm this bit of news, so stay tuned for any updates.

Odds and Ends

I just got off about a week’s worth of overtime at work, so excuse the lack of heavy updates. Anyway, here are some random thoughts, snippets and fragments of gaming stuff…

Several Streetfighter IV vids are showing up on sites, and I still find the action a bit weird. Seems like everyone who is demoing the game SUCKS at playing. Also, Ryu looks freakin’ UGLY. Like he’s got something jammed up his butt-ugly. Good thing the girls look fine. I’ve heard that Crimson Viper seems to be based on Angelina Jolie, based on her ample lips. Chun Li’s got a cute face as always, but her large-ish hands and more-than-ample thighs will probably polarize players. For the record, I think she’s fine.

According to the latest Podcast from Hideo Kojima’s official site, the mammoth opening movie of Metal Gear Solid 4 will be composed of both CG and live-action, and will feature commercials of the many PMCs (Private Military Contractors/Companies) that will appear in the game as your primary opposition. The intro’s the capstone on the project, the last thing to get attached. Hopes are high that the game’s nearing true completion for it’s release this 2nd quarter.

Virtua Fighter 5R’s still quite a mystery, but I am loving the new outfits for the girls in VF5 Version D. Aoi’s got a pink dress with a skirt that finally lets her show off her legs, while Pai and Eileen’s costumes open them up for ample panty shots (!). Don’t feel jealous, girls, since manly-man shark hunter Jeffrey McWilde’s new costume is a speedo. GYAAAH!

Fans have been asking forever for a Final FantasyVII remake… and it exists- just not in the form we all thought. Some passionate fans have created- get this- a NES version of the game, which is an amazing feat by any measure. The game of course isn’t point-by-point perfect (Vincent and Yuffie don’t exist in it) but manages to cram FFVII’s main story and a ton of gameplay into a NES cartridge. Pretty awesome! It’s unofficial though, so don’t expect to find this on Play-Asia. Check out an in-depth article on the FFVII NES port here.

That’s that for now. More gaming stuff later!

‘Severe’ Violence in Samurai Spirits Sen

Oh-kay! While the previous videos of Samurai Spirits Sen (now known as Samurai Spirits: Edge of Destiny) have been, shall we say, bland and unspectacular, this latest video posted at Gametrailers is certainly NOT. The vid starts off with a kick-ass CG cinematic of the classic Haohmaru intro, with the wandering samurai slicing a tree and two lighted stone pillars around him. It then switches to a montage of combat, which eventually reveals… BLOOD. LOTS of blood. Blood gushing from defeated fighters’ backs as they fall to the ground, blood gushing from the stump of a warrior whose hand has just been hacked off… blood spouting from a fighter decapitated… blood from a fighter who’s been cut in HALF. It’s quite gruesome stuff- even me, desensitized me- was startled. Mortal Kombat did this all the time, just not in this quality and intimacy (the camera angle was pretty close in, albeit aside from the blood and the severed parts, there aren’t any gory details like guts or stuff).

The 2-D Shodowns did have fighters getting cut in half, but that wasn’t really anywhere near as graphic as here. Gore fans will love this, but… frankly… I’m not of this persuasion, and I have to admit I’m kinda disturbed. I am certainly not looking forward to seeing cute anime babes like Rimururu or Nakoruru getting beheaded or bisected. This is another matter similar to the situation in Ninja Gaiden II… maybe there’s a bit too much blood there. Maybe that’s a bit too excessive. If you can’t really show it to kids, maybe it’s a bit much.

Anyway, this is one way to get people to pay attention to your game. But really, give me lovely animations, lifelike reactions and graceful martial arts moves over gore and blood any day. More on this anyway, when it happens.

Oh, right. Check out the video for yourself here.

Tekken 6 (Arcade) Cancelled in the US, Part Deux

Okay, another blow to the US arcade gamer hoping to find Tekken 6 soon. According to Foxfire, a poster on the Tekken Zaibatsu forums, the arcade owner of Greenbriar Arcade (a Namco arcade), Derek Williams, has stated that there are definitely no plans of bringing Tekken 6 stateside in arcades. Apparently it’s just not feasible and just too expensive. Never mind that arcades in countries like the Philippines has the game…

If this is indeed true- and it seems to be, given that the only Tekken 6 machines in North America are in Canada (which are imported Japanese cabinets that have no customizations… blech), there seems to be only one bright side- conceivably this should mean an earlier release of Tekken 6 on PS3 to make up for the absence in arcades. I prefer the home version to the arcade anyday, in any case. More on this as I get it.   

SFIV Gameplay Blowout!

Gametrailers just posted several cam footage vids of Streetfighter IV gameplay, featuring pretty much all the available characters and stages, so check ’em all out. I’m quite impressed by the very smooth 60FPS animation, the spectacular effects and the very expressive character graphics. Still not sure about the pace of the fights, which seem to be a bit on the slow side. Still, I’m an animation and eye candy addict, so I’ll never piss on a game that looks great and moves great. I’m still hoping for more characters to be revealed soon though- this roster is just too slim for my tastes, as I’ve mentioned. Anyway, head on over to Gametrailers’ video page here.