The Beta of Starcraft 2 is running and PC Games hardware took high-res screenshots of the game. The pictures that have been taken at 2560 x 1600 show the maximal details of the game. PCGH also mentions that you can force anti-aliasing in the graphics drivers or with Nhancer although the game doesn’t offer the option natively.
If you log in at PCGH (free registration required) you can download the screenshots, too.
A playable demo for Lunar: Silver Star Harmony was recently released for the PlayStation Portable. You can download it from the PSP’s PlayStation Network, which will take about 210MB of memory. In the demo, you’ll get to see the enhanced graphics, animated cutscenes and play through a few battles in the RPG classic. Lunar: Silver Star Harmony is a refreshing return to the role-playing game, which also includes some additions to the story.
As a bonus for completing your first quest in the demo, you’ll get some bonus equipment for use in the full game. Upon completing the demo’s quest, you can create a save file that will store the "demo clear data." The game doesn’t say what the items are. Game publisher XSEED Games has only hinted that it is "bonus starting equipment."
Kombo: Epic. It’s a word that you hear a lot these days.
It is usually used as a superlative, to praise something deemed big and grandiose, but also very good, despite the fact that the term "epic" doesn’t really have a positive or negative connotation. One thing we can agree on is that it does in fact mean something done on a grand scale, and that certainly applies to certain videogames.
We all love a good, epic game, but it seems to me that we have become so enamored with games done on the epic scale that we may have forgotten that a game doesn’t have to be epic to be good. It has become somewhat irritating to me to see great games go unnoticed because of their lack of an "epic story" or grand scale. Not every game needs to be "epic" and it’s a shame that games that are not so easily fall through the cracks.
Risen, the new RPG from the makers of Gothic 1-3 ist out. PCGH shows some screenshots with maxed out graphics based on downsampling FSAA (the game doesn’t offer AA ingame) and modified ini (view range, details in the distance).
GZ: It looks like Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 and Ninja Gaiden 2 graphics are night and day.
We’ve already spotted quite a few differences between the Xbox 360’s Ninja Gaiden 2 and the PlayStation 3’s Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2.
The former features a sub-HD resolution of 1120 by 585, whereas the latter has had the development time (and Team Ninja’s experience developing the first Ninja Gaiden Sigma) to bump that resolution up to the high-definition 1280 by 720.
There’s also another obvious difference that some gamers are disappointed with. The PS3 game doesn’t feature the gore that made the Xbox 360 version so visceral. Instead of blood squirting from disembodied enemies, Sigma 2 spurts out purple sparks.
And now we’ve found another difference.
TheGameReviews writes: "In retrospect, my relationship with Okami was more infatuation than true love. The design wasn’t as tight as that of Zelda’s, the puzzles too simple, the collectibles too useless, and the script too rambly. But it’s easy to get cynical over what a game doesn’t do. What Okami did was to look gorgeous, control well, tell a deceptively complex story, and innovate with its brush mechanics. More to the point, it was more than the sum of its parts. The hand-painted look of the game, the celestial brush controls, and the tale of a goddess reborn all complimented each other in creating the most wondrous virtual world ever committed to a disc."
Koku Gamer writes: "We all like a good game, but what exactly makes a game "good?"
Games are designed to suite all tastes for every kind of gamer. Whether you like rich developed story lines or going down corridors shooting the heads off of the bad guys, there’s something for you. Of course, a one sided game doesn’t sit well with most gamers. A game needs to have aspects of every good thing the developers can possibly fit into it.
So what elements do make a game good? Whether you’ve realized it or not, your favorite game probably has each of the following: Organized plot, developed characters, unique atmosphere and re-playability."
ZT writes: Ghostbusters is back, which is extremely evident by the recently released videogame barrage across all major consoles. For the most part the games have been fantastic representations of the series for fans new and old. Red Fly deserves credit for what they have delivered on the DS. Unfortunately the game doesn’t hold up as well as the console versions, but there is so much packed into this tiny DS cart that it is hard not to appreciate the amount of care that went into making it. Ghostbusters on the DS is a collaboration of fantastic ideas mixed with some frustrating gameplay elements that make it nerve-racking at times and absolutely brilliant at others. Regardless, fans of the series will not be disappointed with the sheer amount of content to be found on this tiny cartridge.
The News: Sega has announced an official release date for espionage-based RPG Alpha Protocol. The game is set to hit shelves on October 6, which as previously reported puts it right in the middle of the holiday season. Sega has also added a descriptive subtitle: “The Espionage RPG.”
Our Take: Alpha Protocol has us intrigued, but the title of the game doesn’t seem very distinctive, and new RPGs can have a hard time catching audiences in the holiday rush. We’re hoping Alpha Protocol doesn’t find itself lost in the crowd. Check out our latest preview for more details on the game.
The Ace Attorney series consistently delivers funny, well-written stories, and Capcom’s latest game in the ever-expanding series, Ace Attorney Investiagtions: Miles Edgeworth, seems on route to follow in its predecessors’ footsteps. I recently finished playing through the first case in the Japanese release of Investigations, and while it tickles my nostalgia bone with plenty of nods to the previous Ace Attorney installments, it offers quite a bit new as well.
The game doesn’t change the basic “search for clues and talk to people” formula, but Capcom adds one very important thing that the last game in the series, Apollo Justice, was missing: a main character that you already know. Sure, the cameos in Apollo Justice were fun, but trying to extend the franchise by bringing in a new attorney isn’t as effective as Investigations’ exploration of the backstory of prosecutor Miles Edgeworth.
