Author: Mike Gutierrez
Street Fighter: The New Challengers motion comic coming to DVD August 2
Following up on Street Fighter: Round One – Fight!, Eagle One Media is adapting issues 7-14 from vol. 2 of Udon Studios’ Street Fighter manga into a motion comic. Street Fighter: The New Challengers brings to life all of your favorite characters and story archs, from Ken and Vega’s rivalry to Cammy’s exploits as a Delta Red operative. When you pre-order The New Challengers from Eagle One Media’s online store, you’ll also receive a free 4″ figure of your choice, from Ryu, Bison, Ken, Chun-Li, and Seth.
Street Fighter: The New Challengers goes on sale August 2.
Dragon Quest Collection bringing DQ I, II, & III to Wii in Japan (both NES & SNES versions)
To celebrate 25 years of series that would become the architect of console RPGs, Square Enix has announced Dragon Quest Collection for the Nintendo Wii. Only confirmed for Japan so far, this very special bundle will include the original NES versions of Dragon Quest I, Dragon Quest II, and Dragon Quest III. For players needing a little more graphical fidelity, the collection will also boast the SNES remakes Dragon Quest I & II and Dragon Quest III. All games will be compatible with the Wiimote, Classic controller, and GameCube controller.
The first three games comprise what fans have dubbed “The Erdrick Trilogy” (or “Loto Trilogy” for the GBC remakes) of the franchise.
As of December 2010, Dragon Quest has sold over 57 million copies, defining a genre and becoming truly embedded in Japanese culture. Forget Xenoblade and The Last Story. For me, this is the one Wii RPG I desperately want to be translated for the US. Since publishing and localizing Dragon Quest IX and Dragon Quest VI, I can only hope Nintendo will take an even firmer affinity with the series and bring this over. Let’s at least hope a translation of Dragon Quest X is in the cards when more details emerge later this year.
Lady Gaga teams up with Zynga, FarmVille players get first listen to new album
In the latest of bizarre moves the eccentric artist is known for, Lady Gaga has teamed up with Zynga to celebrate her new album, Born This Way. This partnership will encompass special events in two of the developer’s biggest games: FarmVille and Words With Friends. “I want to celebrate and share Born This Way with my little monsters in a special way that’s never been done before,” said Lady Gaga.
The first listen of Born This Way will take place in FarmVille, when you visit the neighboring GagaVille farm. This space comes decked out with unicorns, crystals, and un-released songs from the highly anticipated album.
Words With Friends, the popular Scrabble knock-off on iOS and Android, will host a series of contests where you can win prizes like tickets for one of her upcoming concerts and a signed copy of Born This Way.
Lastly, you’ll be able to grab a free download of the album when you purchase a $25 Zynga game card at Best Buy. You gotta admit, this shows just how big gaming has become when the most popular artists are doing game deals, with exclusive first listens nonetheless.
Soul Calibur V officially announced, more details coming at E3
Game director Daishi Odashima promised us last month it was coming, and now it’s official: Soul Calibur V will be launching on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012. At Namco Bandai’s “Step Up Dubai 2011” event earlier today, producer Tago Hisaharu took the stage to debut the first trailer for the game. The story takes place 17 years after Soul Calibur IV, which was released back in 2008. The official website currently has a teaser countdown, which will end in a little over four hours, as of this writing.
Stay tuned for the official trailer of Soul Calibur V, as well as more details on the game as they trickle down at E3.
[Source: Andriasang]
Crysis 2 Retaliation Map Pack coming May 17
Crysis 2 was far from perfect, but you can’t deny that it had a strong multiplayer component. Well, that component will be getting a little stronger come May 17 when the Retaliation Map Pack drops for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 (hopefully). It’ll cost you $9.99 and come with four new maps: Park Avenue, Transit, Shipyard, and Compound. While most of the footage above contains the awkward character animations reminiscent of Halo (which is probably why Bungie always used live action to hype up their games), the first-person gameplay looks glorious as ever.
I might actually have to grab this when the PlayStation Network gets back up.
Smithsonian announces “The Art of Games” winners for 2012 exhibit
It’s a good day for the “video games as art” debate, The Smithsonian American Art Museum has announced the winners for its “The Art of Video Games” exhibition. The event will be held from March 16, 2012 to September 30, 2012 and will feature 80 games, as voted by the public, and five that you can actually play. Although the museum stressed that this is focused on art and not the history of video games, you have to wonder what titles primarily known for gameplay innovation such as Utopia are doing on the list. In any case, you can check the full list of winners, broken down by era and console, here.
As a side note, anyone find it interesting that for the NES, the winner for action is Mario and the winner for adventure is Zelda? And for the Super NES, the winner for action is Mario and for adventure it’s Zelda? And for the Nintendo 64, the winner for action is Mario and for adventure its Zelda? And for the Nintendo Wii…
Hydrophobia Prophecy out on Steam today with a flood of new features
The PlayStation Network version won’t be coming for some time due to obvious reasons, but Dark Energy Digital is proud to announce that the latest iteration of their water-obsessed odyssey, Hydrophobia Prophecy, is now available on Steam. Revealed back in April, this version is an absolute tidal wave of new content, including “upgraded graphics, brand new gameplay mechanics, exclusive new levels, a reworked back story, a dramatic new ending, recast voice acting and much, much more.” Also included is Darknet, an upgraded version of their Listening Post, which allows you to give direct feedback during any part of the game.
Dark Energy Digital has taken serious strides to augment the original Hydrophobia since it was released to mixed reviews. We at Warp Zoned wish them nothing but success with this overflowing vessel of content.
Confirmed: Video games are art (at least according to federal government)
The great debate of our medium of choice has raged for quite some time now: are video games art? Can video games be art? Should they even try to be? Roger Ebert has most notoriously declared no, that in spite of his inexperience with video games, they cannot be art. Earlier in the year, the Smithsonian discredited him, with its upcoming “Art of Video Games” exhibit and now the Federal Endowment for the Arts is doing the same.
For the fiscal year 2012, the Federal Endowment for the Arts is expanding its category The Arts on Radio and Television to become The Arts in Media.This new category encompasses art delivered via satellite, over the internet, through mobile devices, and now includes “digital games.” You can apply for a federal grant here to develop, produce, or nationally distribute your work.
After more than three decades, I think it’s safe to say video games have passed the “fad” phase and are now becoming a substantial area of historical pop culture. I personally can’t wait to see what new initiatives like the Smithsonian and the Federal Endowment spring up next.