QCF: Fighting Vipers (PSN)

irtua Fighter, at the time of its release was an innovative, incredibly fresh experience that set a new standard by which fighting games in the future had to measure up to. At the time, no one did it better than Sega AM2, and a year after the release of Virtua Fighter 2 came Fighting Vipers, a brand new franchise in the same vein as Virtua Fighter – complete with the same level of depth and absurdly huge move sets - but with brand new characters and an new dynamic: Body armor.

Fighting Vipers also released on the Sega Saturn alongside its Virtua cousins, and is now available in HD on the XBLA and PSN marketplaces.

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QCF: Hell Yeah: Wrath of The Dead Rabbit

The internet sure is a funny thing, it can be the outlet for every resource you happen to be in need of imaginable, even if it’s an album of lewd pictures of a naked evil demon lord rabbit, bathing with his wittle rubber ducky! Arkedo, the developer behind of the string of indie games like Big Bang Mini and The Arkedo Series which includes the games SWAP!, PIXEL!, and JUMP!. Now backed with the major publisher SEGA, Arkedo successfully releases it latest title Hell Yeah: The Wrath of The Dead Rabbit, where you assume the control of anti-hero Ash, Prince of Hell, on a quest to recover…nudie pics.

While there is an abundance of indie side-scrolling platformers available on nearly every medium imaginable these days, Hell Yeah does its part to distinguish itself from the masses through a unique explosion of colors and charisma that will excite the synapses, with details of art unlike anything truly seen within a game before…

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PAX Prime 2012: Nights--Hands-on interview with Jeff Beckham

I once read an article in an old issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly that compiled and listed the top 100 (domestic) video games of all time. While the list contained many of the games I was apparently savvy enough to pick up before they were considered all-time greats, there were a great many from a system I never had until long after its demise: the Sega Saturn.

One such game was NiGHTS Into Dreams, a game that debuted the Saturn 3D Analog Controller and came pretty close to being un-classifiable. Was it a platformer? Flight-sim-lite? A racing game?

One thing was certain: it was very popular, and very scarce in my neck of the woods, but I managed to track both it and a Saturn down to see what all the fuss was about which, all told, was a very long endeavour. And worth it. But now, there's a better way for people to be able to experience this goodness; recently, NiGHTS Into Dreams was announced as a downloadable title on the PSN and XBLA Marketplace making this fairly highly sought-after title much easier to obtain and experience on platforms that much better accommodate NiGHTS' ambitious features.

And while I could go into the finer points of what makes NiGHTS great, it's a 16-year-old game and this isn't a review. But chances are, if you're reading this, you already know NiGHTS is awesome.

I caught up with Jeff Beckham at the Sega booth for a bit of Q&Q about the upcoming PSN and Xbox 360 HD downloadable version of NiGHTS Into Dreams!

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QCF: Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown

Swift smash cuts electrify the screen as Virtua Fighter’s darling poster child, Akira Yuki, performs his signature Hakkyoku-ken attacks to demonstrate a raw display of strength in Sega-AM2’s latest production, Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown. It’s been four years since we’ve seen Virtua Fighter hit the scene. And even though it’s been quiet on the western fighting front, the land of the rising sun has been treated to additional content and refinements that we’ve been missing out on up until Final Showdown. However, with the act of annual fighting game re-releases becoming a trend this generation, is Final showdown is worth your hard-earned space bucks?

The simple answer is a yes -- a hard hitting, mind-blowing yes.

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QCF: Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode II

 

Just shy of two years and having some releases in between, Sonic Team and Dimps join up again to release the next installment of their episodic series, Sonic The Hedgehog 4. Touted as the spiritual successor to Sonic CD, Episode II promises an experience catering to both new and old fans (the way Episode I intended to). But after two years, is it really worth the same excitement we wasted the first time around? Yeah, actually -- it’s worth that and a bit more.

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PAX East 2012: Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown Hands-on Preview

As we circled around the Sega booth, the distinctive sounds “Hooh-Ah!” of Virtua Fighter’s Jackie Bryant performing his signature flip kicks immediately entered my ears and perked them towards that direction. I came across the latest project to be released in the series, Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown, and had the opportunity to have a hands-on preview and discuss details of Final Showdown to find out whether or not this updated version of the game would be worth your time.

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PAX East 2012 -- Sega Omega! Interview

Georgie Boys AXE and Ser Flash get the skinny on three new downloadable titles from SEGA!

As always, questions and comments are not only welcome, but recommended!

PAX East 2012: Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode II Hands-on preview

Looming around the corner, catching the emerald glint of his eyes was the iconic blue rodent captured in his stoic glory. Behind him laid the alpha demo of Sega’s latest effort to recapture Sonic’s fame in the sequel to the intended throwback, Sonic The Hedgehog 4. The new Episode II has its work laid for Sonic, but Sega promises yet again that this is the answer to all of Blue Blur’s woes, and they may just be right this time.

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