Pikachu will be Invading Times Square on Sunday.
Nintendo will be holding a special Pokémon™ event Sunday, March 14, 2010 from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m at Toys”R”Us Times Square, to celebrate the launch of Pokémon™ HeartGold Version and Pokémon™ SoulSilver Version.

According to Nintendo’s press release, the Broadway Plaza will be covered in Pokémon™ footprints, which participants can follow to learn more about the game.  Makes sense, because information about the new Pokéwalker™ accessory will be included as well.

Can’t make the walk to Times Square?  You can train and get stronger at nearly any nearby Toys”R”Us store on launch day, as most stores will be holding their own Pokémon™ events as well.  They might even have a few Pokémon™ related sales (but you didn’t hear that from me!).

(Press release available at GoNintendo)

The filing described Activision as demonstrating “astonishing arrogance and unbridled greed,” and accuses the company of terminating the pair in order to avoid paying them “substantial” royalties from last year’s Modern Warfare 2 release, heralded as the biggest launch in entertainment history.

Via Plugged In

This isn’t exactly the first lawsuit filed against them, but it is the first to use that kind of language about them. The creators were also allegedly fired unfairly fired by Activision last Monday, however Activision states they fired West and Zampella for breach of contract and insubordination.

The lawsuit at the moment has Activision possible paying up at least 36 million to the creators and as well POSSIBLY giving up their rights to the Call of Duty franchise as a whole, making this lawsuit quite important to Activison’s future.

You might have noticed him mentioned on Nintendo’s official website.  You might have even seen some rather sketchy videos showing him in action.  Now, Capcom has released some official footage of Mega Man’s rival in action.

Click the image to watch video

The video is in Japanese, but the DLC is scheduled to be released worldwide.  Bass Mode (or should that be Forte Mode?) should be available in the US on the 5th of April, 2010.

(Video available from GoNintendo’s YouTube Channel)

Flight simulators don’t get a lot of attention on console systems, but the Wii, with its motion controls, seems like an easy fit for the niche genre. The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces tries to take advantage of the Wii’s unique control scheme for high-flying dog fights across a variety of missions. Whatever the developers might have set out to do, they seem to have crashed and burned; this is one jumbled and wholly unmemorable game experience.

The Sky Crawlers is based off of the anime (which, in turn, is based off the novel series), but surprisingly, this plot does not translate at all. Very little is actually explained as far as the story is concerned, and what is explained is generally bland and boring. The story is so slow to start that it never seems to leave the ground; by the end of the game, it feels as though virtually nothing has happened. Rather, the game tries to use a character driven story, placing emphasis upon the pilots and their struggles and dreams. The only problem is, the characters are neither interesting nor well-developed, so there’s virtually no reason to care about any of them, least of all yourself, the typically silent protagonist. It’s a shame because, had the plot been further developed, there could have been some interesting and insightful commentary made on the nature of warfare. As it is, though, it comes across as a mess, one that generally inhibits you between missions.

Line up your cross hairs carefully, or the picture of the enemy base doesn't count.

The crux of the gameplay is in soaring through the sky, shooting down enemy planes, tanks, and boats. The game strives for realism, giving you a variety of head-up displays (HUD) that monitor you speed, altitude, direction, and, of course, radar for scoping out friendly and enemy planes. These displays are certainly useful when you pay attention to them, but it’s also just as easy to ignore them completely. The details they supply are generally unnecessary; you can discern the essentials from just playing the game, and when you are just beginning, they feel like needless complications. When you get down to shooting enemies, it can be a lot of fun, or extremely frustrating because of the controls (more on that later). You cannot lock-onto enemies, but you can execute tactical maneuver commands (TMC) to position yourself behind the enemy. Even with these abilities, though, the gameplay falls stagnant quickly; almost every mission devolves into the same goal of shooting down all enemies, one by one. There is some variety, such as escort missions or taking pictures of enemy bases, but even these differences feel paltry at best.

One interesting aspect that the game does provide is a variety of planes to fly. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses; some are especially agile, but weak defensively, while others have poor stability but a ton of firepower. Each plane has a distinctive feel, providing different approaches to the action. Even a variety of planes cannot change the repetitive gameplay, though; trying out different planes is a fairly small addition to the game. You can also customize each plane with a number of parts, such as stronger guns or reinforced armor, unlocked by earning high scores in missions. It’s great to have a wide range of options–you can figure out what scheme suits you the most–but every plane, no matter the specs, suffers from the awkward controls.

Earn a high score to unlock more parts and planes.

The controls might have been the saving grace of this game, but instead they end up being the final nail in the coffin. They’re awkward, often unresponsive, and take a lot of practice and experimentation to master. With such a short game, much of that experimentation is simply not worth the effort. Gesturing with the nunchuk controls the plane’s movements, while the Wii remote controls acceleration and brakes. The nunchuk is not nearly accurate or responsive enough to handle this heavy duty, and the result is a frustrating experience where you are constantly fighting with the controls to make the plane move correctly. Turning is a pain, and with no lock-on targeting, shooting down enemies is a lofty challenge early in the game. TMCs are really a lifesaver in that regard, but they can’t fix everything. There is the option of using the GameCube or Classic Controller, but then you are exchanging awkward movement controls for awkward button mapping–there’s no upside here.

The presentation is a bit of a puzzle. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with it–the frame rate is solid and everything appears to move smoothly–but there’s nothing interesting or impressive about it either. The only notable features are the anime cutscenes that are interspersed throughout missions, but even these are somewhat basic and bland. Aurally, the game is similarly unremarkable; the background music is decent while you’re playing, yet at the same time so completely forgettable that you’ll be left wondering if there was any soundtrack at all. There is a lot of voice acting in this game, which is actually done rather well for the most part–a godsend, considering there is simply so much dialogue in the game. Unfortunately, with such a weak plot, even decent voice work cannot enliven the droning hum of chatter that is constantly buzzing in your ear.

Charge the maneuver meter to execute better TMCs.

With only a handful of short missions, the game is over before you know it–five hours, tops, with barely half of that time actually spent in the cockpit. You are able to conveniently replay missions whenever you like, though, further pushing your pilot skills and giving you a chance to try out all of the many planes. Additionally, unlocking planes and parts, as well as customizing them, can add a significant amount of replay value. The real question, though, is why would you want to go through the trouble? These incentives hardly draw you into replaying a handful of dull levels with difficult controls.

The problem with The Sky Crawlers is that it doesn’t go anywhere. The finished product feels more like an introduction, and what little gameplay there is quickly grows stale. Neither the game’s story nor its presentation makes up for the lackluster action, and with such awkward and problematic controls, it’s best to leave this game in the dust.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars

I don’t have a PS3, but I played this game cooperatively with a friend of mine who happens to own a PS3 and this game.  I have played an entire play-through of the game; however, I haven’t really experienced the online aspect of the game.

Above is the introduction sequence in the game introducing the various classes.

The game takes place on a distant trash covered planet craftily called Pandora, where there seems to be no intelligent life other than some animals.  The main enemies you face are some indigenous animals as well as bandits and the Lance military from the Atlas corporation.  Humans settled on Pandora to open up what’s called the Vault, which is supposed to hold alien weaponry as well as riches.  The player has a holographic image called the guardian angel that guides you through your story quests throughout the game.

To be honest, the story of the game is an unoriginal concept, and its conclusion is extremely disappointing.  The main story ending was extremely disappointing.  There are plenty of side stories that are humorous and add to the game, so don’t let the main story scare you off.

Borderlands introduces a unique genre mix that really stands out in 2009 gaming.  The game combines first person shooting elements found in many games in the 3rd generation of gaming with unique role-playing elements.  The entire game focuses on completing various missions and side quests and you gain experience, money and a possible reward for completing the mission.  As with any typical RPG, once you have a certain quantity of experience points, you level up.  As you level up, you gain more health and the weapon availability increases as well.  There will be times where you feel like you’re kicking ass and then you enter a group of enemies where you will be on your toes on the brink of dying.  In general, the game does an excellent job balancing the AI skill level in retrospect to your level.  You also have the ability to choose missions that are above your skill level for the added challenge, but even the trivial missions can pose a challenge.

You do have a main story quest, but this game isn’t about rushing to the finish.  As I said before, the main story isn’t the selling point of the game.

The shooting aspect of the game is well done as the game gives you a wide variety of weapons to choose from.  There’s many different types of weapons, so you will often find yourself experimenting with new weapons.  Many enemies drop weapons, and you will find weapons in various chests hidden throughout the world.  The game also features a well-designed economy where you can buy and sell your weapons.  Selling your unneeded weapons is crucial since you have a limited inventory. Gearbox claims that Borderlands has about 18,000,000 (yes; 18 million) weapons in the game.  As you level up, you will find better weapons in the various shops and chests scattered throughout.  You can also find experience in random challenges, which are basically in-game achievements.

As you use a certain weapon type more often, your weapon proficiency will increase, allowing you to get a better feel for the weapon.  For example, the more times you use a sniper rifle, the more accurate it gets overtime, regardless of the specific weapon stats.  This is beneficial to a player who may prefer a specific weapon class, but becomes frustrated due to their skill or the stats of their desired weapons as it becomes better over time as it’s used more.

If you saw the introduction video on the top of this review, you may have noticed the four different protagonists.  The player can choose one of the characters or classes and play as them throughout the game.

Each class has notable differences and talents:

The Berzerker has the ability to literally smash enemies.  He becomes invincible for a short amount of time.

I played as the soldier on my playthrough, and the soldier equips a turret to fend off enemies.  The turret also has a small shield that can protect him (and his teammates if you’re playing multiplayer).

The Siren class allows you to speed-walk and turn invisible for a set amount of time.  When she reappears, she causes a small blast that damages nearby enemies.

The Hunter is basically a sniper and has a pet hawk that will attack enemies when summoned.

Once you level up, you gain a skill point which you can spend on your skill tree for your character’s ability.  Even at the game’s maximum level capacity, you will have some missing points on your skill tree, so the players must strategically spend their points on the skills they want.

I played as the soldier class and I spent all of my skill points on the Scorpio Turret.  Some of the skill points can be spent on defensive and offensive aspects of your character that doesn’t necessarily have to focus on their ability.  Different players will have different strategies on how they will level up their character, and in my opinion, this is a crucial part of the game.

Obviously, you can’t spam your special ability, so there’s a cooldown which differs per class.  Some class mods (which can be found or purchased) and skills allow you to reduce the cooldown.

Controlling your character is very straight-forward on both the 360 and PS3 versions of the game.  In fact, both consoles have identical controls and it’s very similar to other shooter controls.  I’ve never played the PC version of the game, so I’m not sure how dynamic the PC controls are.  One complaint I found with the general controls are the driving controls.  The steering is too sensitive on the vehicles, and it’s quite frustrating when you find yourself stuck in between something.  You can use melee attacks to free your vehicle from some of those sticky situations, but more often than not, you will be running back to the vehicle spawn, which can be extremely frustrating.  This is even more complicated in the vehicle battles with other bandits who are on vehicles.

The game never really punishes you.  You’re given a shield and health; however, both can deteriorate quickly if you’re facing a myriad of tough enemies.  When your health is fully down, you have an opportunity to second wind or get up with 10% of your health back if you kill an enemy.  If you don’t kill an enemy as you’re dying, you get re-spawned to the last checkpoint.  The game is very forgiving, and more often than not, you will probably die throughout the game.  You do have to pay a respawn fee, which varies by how much money you have.

All in all, the game features excellent gameplay with rewarding shooter and RPG aspects that indulges the player in a fun experience.  The vehicle controls could use some improvement, and I felt it was a major drawback in the gameplay experience.  Some people may think that the missions are redundant, and many of them are.  The game may feel somewhat redundant after a while, but I feel that they do an excellent job balancing the missions with unique missions.  There were a couple of times where we were somewhat bored with what seems like mundane missions.

In my opinion, this game is designed for co-operative multiplayer gameplay.  To be honest, playing it by yourself can be a little boring.  The more people there are, the more fun there is.  And the game does factor in quantity.  If there are more players, then there are bound to be harder enemies.

I played it on splitscreen, and I didn’t really notice any framerate issues other than render times when entering a new zone, which frankly doesn’t take that long.  The HUD is a little annoying on splitscreen, since the select menu is the same size as a fullscreen game.  You have to pan around with the right control stick, which can be mildly annoying and inconvenient, particularly when you’re comparing items in a shop.  You can set the splitscreen to be horizontal or vertical and the HUD will adjust accordingly.  I found it better to set it to horizontal, simply because of the menu HUD design.  You also have a more panoramic view in combat with the horizontal splitscreen layout, but you obviously lose sight of what’s above and below you.

In multiplayer, if someone is down, you can actually revive them before they respawn.  This leaves you vulnerable, but that added co-op ability enhances the multiplayer gameplay in itself, since you do need all of your teammates to fight some groups of enemies due to the difficulty curve when you add players.  Also, in multiplayer, all of the players will share experience point.

If one player kills an enemy and earns 100 XP points, everyone earns those XP points, so it keeps everyone relatively at the same level.  There are some challenges that are individual, but otherwise, the cooperative gameplay pretty much keeps all of the players on the same level as each other.

When playing online, you can play with up to 4 people, and obviously you will play with a full screen.  The HUD will show your teammates health and notify you if they’re dying and require revival.  I’ve never played online to be honest, but from what I’ve gathered, it plays really smoothly and it really depends on your ISP as far as how bad the lag is.

You can also duel your teammates by melee attacking them and allowing them to melee back to you.  Duels don’t really add to the missions or experience at all (apart from a couple of challenges), but they are a fun little addition to the multiplayer co-op of the game.

As I said before, this game is designed on a fun multiplayer experience.  The phrase, “more the merrier”, really applies to this game, and I highly recommend picking up a friend or finding people online to play with if you have this game.

This game is rich with replay value.  After you beat the game, you’re allowed to start a second playthrough keeping your stats, inventory, and experience from your previous playthrough.  Even though all of the missions and story elements are fresh, all of the enemies are at your level, making it an entirely new game all in itself.  You’re allowed 3 playthroughs with a given character, and it is possible to ‘power level’ or play a character in multiplayer in an inferior playthrough.  For example, a level 37 player can play with a a level 1 player and assist the level 1 player throughout the world; both players will gain the same XP points, but the level 1 XP points are plithy compared to the level 37 points, so it will be barely noticable to the level 37 player.

In addition to the additional playthroughs, there are millions of weapons to be explored.  You will still find better weapons on your additional playthroughs and you will still experiment with them.  Since the enemies are at a similar level as you, the weapons will just be cooler even though they reap the same effects as the inferior weapons did on your previous playthrough.

Once you’ve played all 2 playthroughs with your character, you will probably be encouraged to try other classes out.  Theoretically, you can play the game 8 times, and all 8 playthroughs will pretty much be a fresh experience.  Unfortunately, after you’ve done that, there really isn’t anything more to the game.  You could play online, but you can get bored after a while.  It is a game to revisit to after a while, and this game is ripe with plenty of hours.  Not to mention the additional hours of downloadable content.  (I’m not reviewing the DLCs, since I’ve never played them, so sorry if you’re expecting those to be in here.)

Borderlands offers days of new fresh gameplay that will seldom bore the player with an almost infinite array of weapon experimentation.

Borderlands initially went for a realistic approach as seen in an early trailer of the game, but they changed the art direction into something that appears more animated with defined borders.  I was skeptical about the new art direction, but it didn’t detract from the gameplay and it does brighten the seamlessly dull environments.  All of the characters, enemies, vehicles, and environment landmarks really stand out as a result.  The lighting and general graphics are still excellent and if you zoom with your weapon, the blur effects work quite well with the theme.

The HUD in Borderlands has a similar style as Dead Space with the blocky futuristic holographic theme, but since this is a first person game, the HUD is significantly different.

Above is the complete HUD once you have a shield and have the ability to play missions.  There’s a compass with a waypoint marker above your experience meter and a checklist on the right for your missions.

Everything in the HUD is angled and clearly visible, but it isn’t distracting from the gameplay apart from the menu (which is intentional); however, the HUD can be a chore to decipher on a standard TV due to how small it is.

As a whole, the game is presented very well and utilizes a unique medium.  The HUD is easy to use after a while, and it isn’t too distracting; however, its small size can be a potential issue for smaller TVs.

This game has a fairly limited soundtrack.  Since it’s a shooter, there really isn’t much music.  Cage the Elephant’s Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked is used in the introduction cutscene.  There’s more subtle music that vary by zone, and they fit really well into the environment of their assigned zones, and the music becomes more intense throughout battle.  Most players don’t tend to notice the music in the heat of battle until the enemies are gone and the music starts to wind down.  This definitely adds to the adventure atmosphere of the game.  The sound effects are decent and the entire game has voiceovers.

One complaint I do have with the voiceovers is the volume of some of the recordings.  The claptrap (robots) say important messages about new missions available at given bulletin boards; however, it’s often hard to hear what bulletin board it is referring to, even if you’re not in combat.

In conclusion, this game provides excellent gameplay and will keep you busy for days; however, it does have some mundane aspects and the story is relatively bland and the ending is extremely disappointing.

The game is best played with multiple people and offers a very unique art style into its unique gameplay and expansive maps and weapons.  The music and sound effects are well incorporated into the game and there are plenty of hidden secrets to make gameplay last a long while.  Revisiting the game may be a little bland after you have played through 8 playthroughs with different specs and classes; however, as I said multiple times, this is truly a multiplayer experience and every playthrough will always be different.  Definitely try out this game when you get the chance!

Kraków, February 24th 2010

Teyon, a successful video games developer and publisher, unveiled today a part of Nintendo DSiWare™ and WiiWare™ line-up for this year.

“The line-up is a result of our strategy focusing on digital distribution and providing a wide range of high quality games” said Michal Tatka, CEO.

Upcoming DSiWare™ games developed by Teyon:

• 101 MiniGolf World (Arcade/Sports) – scheduled for March 15th
• 101 Shark Pets (Simulation)
• 1001 Crystal Mazes Collection (Logic/Puzzle)
• Super Swap! (Arcade/Puzzle)
• Robot Rescue 2 (Logic/Puzzle)
• Battle Rage: Reflex (Arcade Shooter)

Upcoming WiiWare™ games developed by Teyon:

• Heavy Fire: Special Operations (Shooter)

All mentioned games are already under development. The company is also working on Nintendo DS™ and Wii™ retail titles as well as products for other platforms. Details concerning games will be revealed as the release dates approach.

About Teyon

Teyon is a developer, producer and publisher of video games for all leading platforms including PC, MacOS X, Nintendo DS™, Wii™, X360, PSP and  PS3. The company was founded in 2006 in Krakow, Poland, by a group of professionals working in the games industry since 2002. Teyon debuted on Nintendo Download services in 2009 with two well received DSiWare™ puzzle games: Robot Rescue and Ball Fighter, followed by Hubert the Teddy Bear: Winter Games, a WiiWare™ family game.

Official website: http://www.teyon.com
Twitter site: http://twitter.com/TeyonGames
Facebook page: http://facebook.com/TeyonGames
Youtube channel: http://youtube.com/TeyonGames
Flickr album: http://flickr.com/photos/TeyonGames

Contact

E-mail:  pr@teyon.com

Live Stream of Mega Man 10!

Check back here Monday, March 1st around 6PM Eastern (3PM Pacific), for the live stream!

Live video by Ustream

If the above embeds don’t work, you can access the stream by clicking this link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/pelord

So many games want you to save the world, how about a chance to destroy it? In Sands of Destruction, Kyrie finds himself with a mysterious power for demolishing everything around him, and Morte, a member of the World Annihilation Front, intends to put that power to proper use. Despite this unique concept, Sands of Destruction wallows as a poorly constructed RPG with an abundance of annoying gameplay designs.

The story certainly gets points for originality. Enslaved by Ferals (anthropomorphic creatures), humanity is little more than a toy for walking, talking animals, and Morte, with Kyrie’s help, is here to put a stop to it as well as everything else in the world. Had the game run with this concept, it might have been fairly interesting, but instead the plot quickly switches tracks with pointless diversions and awkward pacing that ends up changing the story completely. The build-up and pacing are so poor that there’s really no reason to be invested in the plot at all. The characters are flat and often annoying, which is not remedied by the massive amount of slow dialogue and cutscenes that go nowhere. Kyrie, despite being the main protagonist, just ends up being an irritating character, with a meager personality that is generally more grating than entertaining. Something is lost between the initial idea and the final product, leaving a messy and boring story in its wake.

Order is important in battle; watch the bottom of the screen to see who attacks next.

Though the majority of the game is based around typical RPG design, battles do have a few unique twists. Every character has two basic attacks: a flurry attack, or a blow attack. Flurries are fast but weaker, while blows are heavy attacks with added effects to stun or deal bonus damage. By stringing together attacks, you can deal serious destruction, and by upgrading attacks with custom points, you can add even greater damage, accuracy, or status ailment effects. Furthermore, every character has blood skills and life skills which act as magic for attacking or healing, respectively. These options put plenty of spice into battles–at least, for the first few hours. It quickly becomes clear that much of these options are entirely superfluous; with only a handful of attacks, it’s easy to win almost every basic fight within seconds. The options end up losing a lot of their value, and attack combos grow tired quickly. Of course, you can challenge yourself to not use the same attacks over and over, but these attacks are not balanced enough to give you any incentive to experiment.

There are a variety of puzzles mixed in as you explore dungeons, towers, and other assorted buildings, but for the most part, they’re poorly designed. They are either slow, tedious, or boring–sometimes all three. For example, you may reach the end of an area and find out you need to retread half the dungeon to pick up three keys, or you may need to figure out the correct pattern of doors to walk through via trial and error in a massive, spiraling hallway. Some of these puzzles are so tedious, the characters actually point the way for you, hinting at what to do or how to solve them just so you can progress without a ridiculous amount of repetition. Most of these puzzles feel like an absurd waste of time, or as the cheapest means of extending the life of a dungeon sequence.

Flying enemies populate the top screen; you use different attacks in the air than on the ground.

The single most frustrating aspect of this game is the difficulty, not because it is excessively challenging, but because it is completely inconsistent. It wavers between pathetically easy battles and unrelentingly hard ones, where bosses achieve unheard of attack combos, leaving your characters defenseless. There are few things more vexing than helplessly watching your characters die, and though it’s not an incredibly common experience in Sands of Destruction, the fact that it appears at all is cause for concern. Otherwise, battles progress with mind-numbing simplicity; even at a low level your characters feel overpowered against most foes, making many fights rather boring affairs. There is no sense of balance between these two difficulty poles–you’ll either be bored or frustrated, with little area in between. This disparity in the difficulty levels means some boss battles come down to simple luck–if the boss doesn’t sneak in an unfair attack string, you’ll be left with a wide open target to beat down in a matter of seconds.

While there’s nothing quite wrong with the graphics and sound, they aren’t particularly striking or impressive. The presentation feels exceedingly typical of a sprite based RPG, and a little too generic at times. Though there is a ton of voice work, it skirts the line between decent and annoying, and ends up being forgettable. Basically, there’s little about the presentation you’ll be remembering when the game is over. The exception is the stunning cutscene at the beginning of the game, a fully animated summary of sorts that introduces the various game characters. After the opening montage, though, the visuals and sound fail to impress.

The top screen provides a convenient map, but even so, traveling is a pain.

Though it is an RPG, Sands of Destruction allows few opportunities for free travel. You are generally assigned where to go next, and the few times when you do have a chance to explore, there is little to see. There are only a handful of side quests near the end of the game, and though they come with worthwhile rewards, they are not terribly compelling. A little under twenty hours will see you through the entire game, with little reason to replay.

Simply put, Sands of Destruction is not a satisfying game. The gameplay wears itself out quickly, and the story fails to try anything new. Accomplishments come at either a meager price or at an extravagant cost, neither of which is terribly entertaining to play through. With so many other RPG options on the DS, there’s little reason to invest in this one.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars

Nintendo revealed quite a bit of new information at their Media Summit today, regarding Super Mario Galaxy 2.  From the release date (currently set for May 23rd, 2010), a playable demo for those lucky enough to be there, and this new trailer, showing off a few things both old and new.

(Trailer from GameTrailers)