The May preview for the PlayStation Plus Instant Game Collection has dropped, and they’ve finally listened to a large out cry from the fans. First up on the list is Sleeping Dogs, I personally have no experience or knowledge of the game, but if so many people asked for it one has to believe it’s good. Not only will you get the full game with PlayStation Plus, but you’ll also get three “premium” DLC packs, including the Retro Triad pack, Red Envelope pack, and Street Racer pack. Also coming later this month is Knytt Underground, which is Cross-Buy enabled for PS3 and Vita, Germinator, BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, and Pinball Arcade, which is also Cross-Buy enabled. Looks like the Vita is getting some pretty hefty support this month. Along with the May preview, we of course get the weekly preview, showing that Sleeping Dogs will be the first game to drop, along with a discount on the Papo & Yo bundle, which includes the game and the soundtrack. As for the games leaving the Instant Game Collection there is, in order, Demons Souls, Megaman 9 & 10 combo pack, Tekken 6 PSP, Darksiders, and Zombie Tycoon 2, so get them while they’re hot folks.
Ladies and Gentlemen, as you may or may not know, Injustice: Gods Among Us releases tomorrow, April 16th. If you’re like some of the people on the NUReviews team, you’re looking forward to the game’s release. In honor of the game’s final release, we figured it’d be neat to get some friendly match ups going on release day. Now, unfortunately, some of us won’t be getting our game until the evening, so the match ups won’t be happening until around 8 or 9pm EST. The plan is to start up a King of the Hill match and, hopefully, stream it. If you’re interested in duking it out and don’t mind some video evidence that you’re superior to the NUReviews team, then you can send a friend request on Xbox360 to either me (Sn0ochiBoochies) or Steve (HemispheresX1), stating in some way that you found us through NUReviews. If this turns out to be something fun and popular then we may do more things like this in the future, and maybe even with some prizes! If you aren’t getting the game on the Xbox 360 then we’re sorry, but we’ll try and figure out something to include you in at a later date. Remember to send those friend requests to either Sn0ochiBoochies or HemispheresX1, when it comes time for the match ups to begin we’ll send out messages to any one who sent a request and make another post here with (hopefully) the stream link/embedded. Here’s hoping we see you on the field of battle!
Soul Sacrifice, the Monster Hunter like game that’s all about trading body parts and partners for phenomenal powers. comes out at the end of the month for the PlayStation Vita. In case you can’t wait to get the game, or want to try it out without going through the long process of getting the Japanese demo, you can download the Soul Sacrifice demo on April 16th. The demo covers the first part of the game, showing you the intro to the story and the first couple of missions, essentially the same as the Japanese demo. Soul Sacrifice is also Keiji Inafune’s first big title since the forming of his own company, which leads us to ask “Mr. Inafune, what are you trying to tell us with this game? When are you going to revive Megaman in a new, non-copyright infringing manner? And where the fuck is that animal-pirate-romance of the three kingdoms game you showed off at E3 2 years ago!?”
Capcom has announced that it will be releasing a patch in April that will bring Cross Region Play and Off TV Play to Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. This will not only allow you to play the game on your game pad while your friends watch something more entertaining, but it will also allow North American and European players to hunt massive beasts together. Now the game will be released in North America March 19th, so you’ll still have to wait a bit for the patch to take place, but when it releases there will be free additional quests waiting for you on both the 3DS and the Wii U version.
Ubisoft has just announced the next addition to the Assassins Creed franchise, and there be no side games this time for the scurvy ridden franchise. Assassins Creed 4: Black Flag will be introducing a new protagonist this time around, possibly taking place not too long after the events of the third game, still in colonial times but with a little more piracy running rampant. Not much information is known about the game yet, but it can be inferred that the game will (hopefully) feature more of the naval combat from Assassins Creed 3, one of the redeeming features about that game in this guy’s opinion. The game will be released for PC, PS3, Xbox360 and Wii U, but no release date is known yet.
Thanks to another member of the NUReviews cast, I was recently put through the paces of a great little ds game, 9 persons 9 hours 9 doors. It was a nice blend of Visual Novel with puzzle based gameplay, unlike a seemingly similar counterpart Professor Layton, which is more puzzle game then visual novel. I had already known that there was a sequel to the game coming out soon called Zero’s Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward (which actually lead to me wanting to play 999), but I was surprised when I was told the there was an official OVA on the game’s official webpage. The OVA is about 13 minutes long or so, and covers what is probably the first 20 or so minutes of the game, depending on how fast of a reader/puzzle solver you are. It introduces you to the main character and his supporting cast, along with the position that they all find themselves in. Zero’s Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward releases this coming Tuesday, October 23rd for Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita.
If you have been following this website, you may know how a certain author from NUReviews feels about the Tropes vs Women/Kickstarter controversy. (Click here and here, if you haven’t read them yet). It turns out it isn’t just him who has a problem with Anita Sarkeesian. In fact, it seems like there is a quite a few people on the internet that also have issues with Sarkessian’s questionable business practices. Now that Sarkessian has raise over $150,000 that will be supposedly being used towards her video series, a video series is in the works as a response to Tropes vs. Women in Video Games.An analysis of male roles and misandry present in modern video game media
“This video project will attempt to shed some light on the tremendous lack of variety in mainstream character design, and how detrimental this becomes to a blossoming society that is growing accustomed to video games as a very real part of their lives. Such stale and stagnant design clashes vividly with the rainbow of personalities that are so abundant in real life, and seeing as how the hardware necessary has been available for a good few years, isn’t it about time that video games reflected the diversity of their audience?”
Despite what I would have initially thought what the project was going to be (except for tidbits here and there), this is a video series that will actually analyze overly used trends in video game, not primarily because it reenforces typical video game male stereotypes (Ex. bulking bald men with guns), but due to the lack of creativity and originality. Unlike Tropes vs Women, the proceeds will not be used for the project but instead will go to a number of charities.
Personally, I would support Tropes vs Women if it wasn’t for the way Sarkessian is going to use the project’s budget. If anything, there should be a movement for more original ideas in the video game industry. When that happens, not only will video games will be taken more seriously as a form of entertainment, but also as an art form. *note: I believe only games created with the intent to be considered art should count as art.
Any ways, I’m not trying to convince you (the reader) to behave like the idiots spamming “back to the kitchen” on the Tropes vs Women page, since that would only Sarkessian’s her point. I’m just asking to please keep an open mind and be sure to listen to all sides of the issues before forming an opinion. The best of luck to the people not just at “Males Roles and Miandry in Videogames” but to “Tropes vs Women in Video Games” as well. I hope that one or both of you would be changing video games for the better…for everyone. I’m pretty sure that is what is considered to be equality.
