We start with the rumors flying around about the successor to the Xbox 360. Will it use Blu Rays, will it have some sort of measures in place restricting gamers from playing used games on the console, and will it actually use a stupid name like Xbox 720? Then in our main topic we address ludology vs. narratology. Does story or interactivity take precedence or does it truly depend on the game? Watch as Brian and Landon duke it out in this extra long episode!

I know I’m not supposed to say this, but as an Android owner there are times late at night I find myself thinking about the iPhone. It’s not that I’m unhappy with my Android, it’s just the whole “grass is greener on the other side” kind of thing. Plus there are a plethora of features and programs my little Android just doesn’t have.

Though none makes me more green with envy than the ability to play Cave shmups. Oh how I longed for that day when I too could play the goodness of bullet hell shmups on my Android. Well those days of waiting are over because Cave has just announced it’s line of shmups currently out of Apple iOS devices will be coming to the Android OS.

As you know, Android has some difficult specifications limits, in terms of screen size, CPU and memory, particularly for our games. However, thanks to the achievements of our engineers I think we’ll have some good news for people soon.

- Mikio Watanabe-san from Cave

Currently there is no word on a solid release date, but for fans of Cave’s shmups who only own Android devices this is still amazing news! We’ll keep an eye out and update you as information becomes available.

Source Droid Gamers

One of my favorite arcade racers of all time is coming to the Xbox LIVE arcade. Well that is if you believe the Australian Classification Database rating system. No specific date or system has been slated for the release, but we’ve got a hunch it will be coming to Xbox LIVE arcade. Especially in light of all the games Sega has put out on XBLA these past few months. Can you say 8 player online multiplayer? Yes please!

Tell us what Sega games you would like to see come out for digital download.

When I ask people what games they are hyped for this year, I hear a lot of the usual suspects. There’s Gears of War 3, Elder Scrolls Skyrim, Batman Arkham City, Uncharted 3, and Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword just to name a few. While I’m pumped and primed for a few games on this list, none of them can hold a candle to the atomic bomb of gaming goodness that is Radiant Silvergun. Radiant what you say? Well let me explain…

For those not familiar with this stellar title, it was a shump (shoot em up) developed by the infamous Treasure in 1998 for the arcade and later ported to the Sega Saturn the same year. It’s one of the most sought after Sega Saturn import games today fetching well over $100. Though this is one of the rare cases of a game being not only rare but face humpingly good to boot.

Now after 13 years, Radiant Silvergun is being made available outside of Japan. But wait there’s more! This new version features online co-op, upgraded graphics, a new “Ikaruga” mode, and a few other surprises. Though thankfully you won’t have to sell a kidney to play this game. For just $15 (or 1200 Microsoft space bucks) all the sweet Radiant Silverguniness can be yours.

Even if you’re not a fan of shmups, this is one you won’t want to miss out on. As someone who has owned and played an actual copy of the game, it was well worth the money I spent so $15 is a no brainer. Radiant Silvergun hits Xbox Live Arcade on September 14th. I’m just hoping they keep the epic anime intro from the original. Classic stuff.

Here’s some pretty shiny sexy footage of the game in action.

BTW: Anyone else excited about this remake besides me? Have a special fuzzy memory of Radiant Silvergun?

About a month ago we looked at the wonderful and explodey beauty that is Vanquish(for those who don’t love us, you can read our demo impression article here). We did very much heart the demo and it only left us wanting more. The boys over at Platinum Games have heard our internal cries for more killin’ as they’ve released a new demo for Vanquish titled “Challenge Mode”.

It’s much different from the first demo. Think of Gears of War’s “Horde mode” where wave after wave of enemies come at you. I won’t lie, this new mode is tough. It took me several attempts before I even beat it. Don’t expect it to hold your hand. If you haven’t played the first demo, I strongly suggest you play it before you proceed to “Challenge Mode” as it will give you a better grip on the basic controls and play mechanics. There are also a greater variety of weapons and enemies in this. I especially enjoyed the new rocket launcher and disk blade weapons (which can cut off enemy’s body parts!), and those new big enemies with the spiked hammers are not to be trifled with.

Now I know you’re saying to yourself, “How do I download this fine awesome new demo?”. A very good question. Well, it will take a bit more work to procure. Unlike the previous demo, it is only available to PS3 owners. Not only that, it’s only available on the Japanese PSN Store. Though with a little effort, you can easily sign up for a Japanese PSN account. It’s free and simple to do. For those unfamiliar with how to accomplish this, follow this tutorial.

After that, it’s pretty simple. Log into your Japanese PSN account, go into the Playstation Store, and you’ll notice the store is setup very much like the U.S. one. Go to the search bar located in the upper right corner and search for “Vanquish”.

Look for the one titled “Challenge Mode” and download it. Even if you can’t read Japanese, just keep pressing ‘X’ until the download begins. Once you start downloading the game, you can log out of your Japanese PSN account, and log back into your normal one. Even though you’ve downloaded the demo from your Japanese account, you can play it on your American, UK, or other account with ease. You’re on your way to rocket knee run and gun action.

Both Erik and I have been playing this demo to death. Halo Reach hasn’t gotten any play time thanks to this demo. It’s everything I love about shooters but taken to the next level. I’ve already got this bad boy on pre-order. October 19th can’t come soon enough.

Clover Studios is like a hot chick that got her heart broke by that jerk of a boyfriend Capcom a few years back. She got over it, changed her name to Platinum Games, and is dating a nice fella named Sega. It’s nothing longer term, but they’ve had a few beautiful kids together. First was MadWorld, then Infinite Space, and then Bayonetta. Now Platinum Games is pregnant with their newest bundle of joy named Vanquish. I know, I’m sorry about the dating/pregnancy analogy. Give me a break here. I’ve just had a kid so it’s the first thing that came to mind.

What’s the best way to describe Vanquish? Take the core gameplay Gears of War, the speed of Outrun, jets of Virtual On, add one part slow-mo, mix in a liberal dash of color, a dollop of style, lighting quick action, guns galore, a pinch of God Hand melee, and one of the coolest mechanized suits this side of Evengelion, and you’d kind of have an idea.

You’d like a more detailed description? Well fine! Read on for more ramblings on the game.

From the get go, Vanquish is not your ho hum standard third person shooter wannabe. Everything about this game screams speed and action. You could huff it and run like a punk, or you could slide on your knees like a possessed guitar player mid solo with jet packs strapped to your boots. This ability greatly changes the gameplay. Going from cover to cover or long range shooting to up close melee is quick and easy. Gone are the clunky transitions between up close melee and shooting that plagues most third person shooters. The first time I slid on the ground, firing my weapon at full throttle in slow mo, hurdling my body towards an enemy under a rain of bullets, and unleashed a volley of melee attacks upon my foe, I was hooked.

For those familiar with the trappings of third person shooter, you’ll feel right at home with the payload of weapons. Automatic main gun, heavy machine gun, shotgun, and grenades fill out the roster. The weapons may be standard in name, but there is nothing slow or sluggish about any weapon. Firing off any one of these bad boys gives you a very satisfying stream of bullets. Each weapon also changes your type of melee attack from a back flip kick, punch combo, or charge.

Graphically this game has a style all its own. It does resonate the played out space marine vs. alien kind of vibe, but it’s in the details where things become drastically different. Your suit is made up of an array of bladed metal pieces that morph and shift in shape as you shoot, slide, and move. Frankly, it all looks awesome. There were times I couldn’t believe all the action and mayhem unfolding before my eyes.

Someone at Platinum Games must have heard my grumblings about camera speed and control. You can not only adjust the speed of the camera when in third person view, but also the camera speed when aiming, and the camera speed when zoomed in. This allows the player to select a higher speed when in third person mode, but a slower camera speed when precise aiming is needed.

Both the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions look and play identical (though the PS3 gets a slight edge because of the better controller). In light of the botched PS3 version of Bayonetta, I sincerely hope this means Sega got the message and will port Vanquish correctly.

As amazing as Metroid Other M is, Vanquish takes things to an entirely new level. I will be there day of when the game is released October 19th, 2010. I’m still amazed Capcom let this group go more than three years ago. I’d say Vanquish is the big middle finger to Capcom while Platinum Games says, “See what you missed baby”.

So go download the demo and play the goodness for yourself. For those who have played the demo, post your thoughts and opinions.

It’s fair to say Blaster Master Overdrive lived up to the hype, since it was released merely two days after it was announced. The verdict? Well, Overdrive turns out to be a failed experiment and feels very much like an unfinished game. Here is list of fundamental issues I had with the game:

1. The tank’s main gun overheats. (The gun has it’s own bar that drains with every shot, but refills). This means you have to wait for the gun to cool down before you can use it. What now?

2. The tank jumps half as high as the original NES game. Not nearly high enough.

3. The BLAAHHHH looking enemy explosions.

4. Walking outside of the tank in the sidescrolling areas feels like you should be using a walker.

5. You no longer can throw grenades, instead you have a rocket launcher that fires a shot every 2 seconds.

6. THE FLIPPIN’ TANK’S GUN OVERHEATS!

But, the enemy’s are in full color instead of monochromatic. Hmm… I guess that’s game’s biggest plus. As a no name freebie Flash game, it may work, but as a Blaster Master game, it fails. So please, spend your hard earned money on anything but this.

- Erik

There’s a lot of awesome new coming out of this years CES. At the moment, I could care less about any of that because Capcom just announced Final Fight Double Impact; An Xbox LIVE arcade DLC of not only Final Fight (yes), but also Magic Sword (yes and yes). Details are sparse, but Capcom has confirmed new HD graphics in the vein of Super Street Fighter HD. Thankfully there will also be an option to play with the original visuals. The standard leaderboards will be present, alongside the most important aspect these games desperatley need:

ONLINE CO-OP!

Even sweeter it’s drop in drop out. Just like to old arcade. Capcom stated the game will be released sometime in March of this year. I myself cannot wait to download this goodness. Both Erik and I are huge fans of both games making this a no brainier.

Now, if Capcom could just do some IP maneuvering like they did with Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and re-release Alien vs. Predator.

Link to video footage

Have you ever imagined fighting all the bosses from Mega Man 2 with all the weapons from the original Mega Man? Madness you say, well then you’ve come to the right place. Our crazy neighbors to the East made a freeware PC game called Rockman 2 de Ippatsu Neta. Of course you could download the game. Only problem being it’s all in Japanese. But who cares, it’s Mega Man right? You don’t need no stinkin’ English patch.

Well evidently someone was drinking their daily recommendation of awesomesauce and decided to translate this little gem into English. Even more awesome, they retitled the game “Rockman2 Boss Battle Extravaganza Thing”. A work of art I tell ya. I haven’t played it yet myself, but I plan on downloading it and trying out this twisted experiment.

ENJOY!

If anyone else had played it, what did you think?

BTW: Thanks to Duece from the Neo Geo forums for this tasty tidbit.

Pursuing around my Twitter feeds, I noticed the announcement from DICE that Battlefield 1943 will be only 600 points (a measly $7.50) on December 31st only.

Hey followers, please help us spread the word, this Dec 31st on XBLA BF1943 is only 600 MS Point!

I can’t tell you the number of hours I’ve put into this game. Well I guess I could, but I’m too lazy to check and partially scared of how much actual time I’ve spent on this game. This is an amazing game and worth the original $15 price point, so it’s certainly worth half of that. I bought this game not only for the 360 at full price, but for the PS3 as well so I could play with Erik and other friends on PSN making it the first game I own on more than one next gen console.

For those of you who own a 360, and you don’t have this game already, get to it. You won’t regret it. I know Modern Warfare 2 is all the rage now, and I love that game to pieces, but this is still worth the purchase.

- Brian