December 2006

Sunday, December 24, 2006

SFII: World Warrior coming to Wii
Posted by White_Pointer at 02:50:14 CST
Yeah, we know we weren't going to post any more news for a couple of weeks, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to report on this.

Nintendo have confirmed that five new titles will be coming to the Wii's Virtual Console service over the Christmas/New Year period, and one of them releasing on Christmas day, is none other than the fighting game that started it all, the SNES port of Street Figher II: The World Warrior. It'll be available for 800 points.

Okay, this time for real...see you next year!
Post or view comments

Merry Christmas!
Posted by White_Pointer at 01:41:30 CST
Everyone here at Blood-Sports.net wishes all our site visitors a Merry Christmas and a happy new year! We'll be taking a break from news posting until Monday the 8th of January, so see you all again in 2007!
Post or view comments

Fighting Games in Gamespot awards
Posted by White_Pointer at 01:36:35 CST
Well, we are done for another year, so to wrap things up, we'll inform you of Gamespot's annual best and worst for this year, and where the fighting games came into it. Fighting games were nominated in several categories:

• Tekken: Dark Resurrection was nominated for Best PSP game.
  
• Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for the 360 was nominated for Best downloadable console game.
  
• Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 for Xbox and PS2, and Sega Genesis Collection for the PS2, which both contain classic fighting games, were nominated for Best classic compilation.
  
• Dead or Alive 4 for the 360 was nominated for Best use of Xbox 360 achievement points.
  

• Dead or Alive 4 (Xbox 360)
  
• Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX (PSP)
  
• Tekken: Dark Resurrection (PSP)
  
• The King of Fighters 2006 (PS2)
  
• Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (Xbox 360)
  

VF5 coming to 360
Posted by White_Pointer at 11:24:37 CST
The Virtua Fighter series has always kept itself to just one home system at a time, and when Sega announced that Virtua Fighter 5 would be coming to the PS3, most gamers would have assumed it would remain exclusive.

However, this is not the case, as the game was also announced for the Xbox 360 yesterday. It will be releasing several months after the PS3 version around the middle of 2006, and this will also mark the first time the series has appeared on a Microsoft console.

This should be a pleasant surprise for Xbox 360 owners who thought they'd be missing out on this title!
Post or view comments

Details of new TMNT game finally emerge
Posted by White_Pointer at 15:22:14 CST
It's been almost a year since Ubisoft announced they were creating the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game that will be based on the new upcoming movie that's due out March 2007. Now they have finally stepped forward and revealed some details about the game.

For one, it's going to be available on a plethora of systems from the new generation and the previous generation: Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and PC. Strangely, there's no mention of the Playstation 3.

Secondly, it's not all going to be beat 'em up based like the recent TMNT games from Konami. The levels will be focused round acrobatic navigation...much like the new Prince of Persia games, which certainly isn't a bad thing. The game will also feature a large group of characters that have been pulled not only from the new movie but the original comics as well. There will also be an element of team-play involved with the turtles being able to combine their abilities together to attack enemies or reach hidden areas.

The game is currently scheduled to be released on March 13th 2007, ten days before the movie hits theatres.
Post or view comments

Japanese DS fighters being made available to US
Posted by White_Pointer at 16:28:32 CST
Many gamers out there who are tired of waiting for games to be released in their home countries already import games when they are made available overseas first. With some of the new generation of consoles this is becoming easier as less and less are actually region locked so no converters are necessary.

Most of the time you needed to go through stores like the now defunct Lik-Sang. However, it seems things are changing as this is the first time a major US retail chain is actually offering imports. Well known games store GameStop is offering US gamers Japanese imports of two new Nintendo DS fighting games.

The first is a game we have reported on in the past: Jump Superstars, the game based on the popular Shonen Jump magazine that contains more than 150 characters from 27 manga and anime series.

The second is a game that has slipped under the radar: Naruto: Saikyo Ninja Daikesshu 4, which is obviously based on the new cult anime series Naruto.

Jump Superstars is available for $49.99 and Naruto: Saikyo Ninja Daikesshu 4 is available for $39.99. Both are now available to order and import through GameStop.
Post or view comments

VF5 US release date set
Posted by White_Pointer at 01:23:53 CST
The Playstation 3 version of Sega's Virtua Fighter 5 has already had it's Japanese release date announced as the 8th of February as we reported last week. Sega have now revealed that the US version of the game isn't far behind and will be hitting shelves on the 20th of February, less than 2 weeks after Japan.

In a bonus to you PAL gamers, the title will be available as one of the launch games when the PS3's launch day finally arrives (sometime in March, at this point), so you won't need to wait several months longer for it like you usually do.
Post or view comments

New Fan Art
Posted by White_Pointer at 01:08:08 CST
Regular fan art contributer Sean Husmann has sent us more pencil sketched fan art to be added to our galleries!

In this instalment he's sent us 2 sketches of Ryu from the SF Animated movie...one of a young Ryu and one of an older Ryu, as well as a sketch of Ryu and Ken.

Find them in gallery 8 in our fan art section.

And don't forget, visit our fan art section for yourself for the easy submission instructions if you also have fighting game fan art you'd like to show off to the world.
Post or view comments

More fighters added to 360 backwards compatibility
Posted by White_Pointer at 17:49:05 CST
Microsoft have released an update to the Xbox 360's backwards compatibility list which sees more than 30 old Xbox games added to the list of playable games on the 360. Amongst them are several fighting games: Dead or Alive Ultimate, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon and Soul Calibur II (SCII is only for the US however).

So there you go, if you have been waiting to play these Xbox fighting games on your 360...now you can.
Post or view comments

SFII coming to Wii?
Posted by White_Pointer at 14:16:14 CST
The ERSB has added an interesting new addition to their list of recently rated games. Capcom's Street Fighter II: The World Warrior is now listed on the site for the Wii, with a T (Teen) rating.

We're assuming this means that Capcom will be bringing the classic fighter to Nintendo's new download service, the Virtual Console, though neither Nintendo nor Capcom have made any official announcement about it yet. The game has already been rated though, so chances are a release is not too far off. We'll keep you informed.
Post or view comments

PS3 VF5 dated for Japan
Posted by White_Pointer at 14:40:55 CST
Many game developers and publishers announce an unrealistic release date for their games, and they inevitably get pushed back by a couple of months before the game finally hits the shelves. Sega though have done the complete opposite with their upcoming PS3 port of Virtua Fighter 5. Originally announcing a Q2 2007 release window, the game will in fact be shipping in Japan in Q1, on the 8th of February, several months earlier than expected.

If the game is preordered, it'll come with Virtua Fighter 10th Anniversary Reprint, which is a port of the original VF game using the VF4: Evolution engine.

It'll retail for a rather pricey 8190 yen, or about US$70. There's no word yet on when we might expect to see the game outside of Japan yet though.

In related news, not long after VF5's release, Sega will be releasing a brand new peripheral, a PS3 joystick called Virtua Stick High Grade. For 7329 yen, or US$63, you'll get a high quality arcade style joystick that plugs directly into your PS3 via USB. That hits the shelves on February 15th (again, that's Japan only at this point).
Post or view comments

MK: Armageddon wins Spike TV award
Posted by White_Pointer at 15:05:36 CST
Well, the fourth annual Spike TV Video Game Awards show was held last Friday night. Hosted for the second time by actor Samuel L. Jackson, the awards show was in the same glitz and glamour as the past few that mostly doesn't appeal to actual hardcore gamers. We reported a little while ago on the nominations for the "Best Fighting Game" award...here they are again if you missed it:

Tekken: Dark Resurrection (Namco Bandai)
Dead or Alive 4 (Tecmo/Team Ninja)
Mortal Kombat Armageddon (Midway Games)
Street Fighter Alpha Anthology (Capcom)
God Hand (Capcom/Clover Studio)

No, don't ask us how God Hand managed to be nominated for best fighting game when it's not technically a fighting game. We don't know.

Unlike previous years, nothing else fighting game related was nominated for any of the other awards...not even any of the girls from DOA4 made it into the "Cyber Vixen of the Year" category. So this was the one and only award a fighting game could win this year.

In the end, it was Mortal Kombat: Armageddon that brought home the bacon and won the category. So congratulations go out to Midway for the achievement.
Post or view comments

Tekken 5: DR on PS3 website goes live
Posted by White_Pointer at 01:10:18 CST
Last week we reported the possibility that Namco were bringing Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection to the PS3. It turns out Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, which was the source of the information, was 100% correct as Namco have put up an official website for the game. Mind you, it won't do you much good unless you can read Japanese, but what we can assume now is that Namco have basically confirmed the game's existance, so we can look forward to it hitting the PS3 in the near future.

Kudos again to David King for informing us of this!
Post or view comments

Analyst: Apple to enter console market?
Posted by White_Pointer at 02:01:10 CST
In the aftermath of the launch of the PS3 and Wii, analyst Jesse Tortora of GamesIndustry.biz has come forward with a rather bold and longshot prediction: We might have a fourth contender in the fight to dominate the interactive entertainment industry in the future - Apple.

"We think the videogame market represents a distinct possibility for Apple, especially considering that it recently announced the availability of videogames for its iPod through its iTunes store," Tortora said, "The game console device could be morphed out of some combination of the MacMini and iTV, while the handheld player could be developed as an enhancement for a future version of the widescreen iPod. There are no technical limitations to this capability, and Microsoft is already aggressively wooing the movie studios. This could adversely impact Apple's iTunes Movie download business longer-term, along with its iTV and video iPod sales."

Tekken 5: DR on the PS3?
Posted by White_Pointer at 16:02:34 CST
Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu is reporting that Namco will be bringing Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection to the PS3. According to the short article in the magazine, this version will be based off the arcade game, and will feature high definition graphics. The final boss Jinpachi will apparently also be playable, and Arcade Mode, Ghost Battle, and Gallery Mode have all been confirmed by the report to be in.

A little dubious note though is that it's reported the game will be downloadable onto the PS3. Considering how large the game is likely to be, this doesn't seem like a really realistic scenario...but you never know, stranger things have happened, and Famitsu generally wouldn't report something that is false. No release date or pricing has been announced yet, and Namco themselves are yet to confirm or deny the report.

Thanks to David King for giving us the heads up on this news story!
Post or view comments

Classic Tekken on your PSP from your PS3
Posted by White_Pointer at 15:41:45 CST
Yes, that news title makes sense.

Sony have started updating their online store by providing downloadable versions of classic original Playstation games, that can be played on PSP. To do it, you'll need to download the games onto your PS3 through the Playstation store, then transfer them via USB cable to your PSP. Each game is a direct port of the Playstation original...they have not been altered in any way, and therefore do not take advantage of any of the PSP's special functionality such as multiplayer over Wi-Fi.

Five titles have kicked off the new retro gaming deal Sony is offering: Crash Bandicoot, Cool Boarders, Syphon Filter, Hot Shots Golf 2 and Namco's Tekken 2. All titles will cost you US$5.99 to download, and can be copied on up to five different PSP systems before the game locks itself. You'll need to make sure you have enough room on your PSP memory card, as they are all relatively large downloads...especially Tekken 2, which weighs in at a rather hefty 535MB and is the largest of the five.
Post or view comments

Double Dragon coming to XBLA?
Posted by White_Pointer at 15:06:29 CST
OXM, the official Xbox magazine website, is reporting that the classic side scroller Double Dragon may be hitting Xbox Live Arcade in the not too distant future. The report says that the game will apparantly sport updated graphics and will support 2-player co-operative play online across Xbox Live. They even seem to know how big the download will be, an usually large 12.56MB.

Microsoft themselves are yet to confirm that the report is true, but this doesn't sound like the type of the thing the official Xbox magazine would make up. Read the article for yourself here.
Post or view comments

Namco says no profit until half a million PS3 games are sold
Posted by White_Pointer at 14:49:44 CST
This week Namco Bandai Holdings Inc. president Takeo Takasu has said in an interview with Bloomberg news service that developing games exclusively for Sony's new console might not be a good idea, at least at the moment. PS3 games are costing on average US$8.6 million to create, and developers don't actually start turning a profit until half a million copies are sold. This is usually a figure a lot of companies used to aim for to reach gold status or equivalent, now it seems most developers will be aiming at this figure as a minimum if they want to make any kind of money, at least with the PS3. Considering there was a hardware shortage of PS3's at launch, this figure may be slightly impossible to reach, at least until more units are in circulation.

Could this mean we'll see less PS3 exclusives, at least in the short term?
Post or view comments

New violent games study
Posted by White_Pointer at 15:17:02 CST
There's been yet another study on the effects of violent games on minors by some people in white coats that don't know much about the source material.

Doctors at Indiana University School of Medicine have presented the results of a study this week that suggests teenagers who play violent games apparently have a "fight or flight" response triggered in the brain, with less emphasis on the "self control" areas and more emphasis on the "emotional" areas.

44 Teenagers between 13 and 17 years old were subjected to two games, Medal of Honor: Frontline and Need for Speed Underground, and were basically told to play them while their brains were scanned. And surprise...the doctors found that when they were playing the violent game (Medal of Honour), they observed the above results.

"What we showed is there is an increase in emotional arousal. The fight or flight response is activated after playing a violent video game. Our study suggests that playing a certain type of violent video game may have different short-term effects on brain function than playing a nonviolent, but exciting, game." Dr Vincent Mathews told Reuters.

Now the question is, why is this considered a new discovery?
Post or view comments