Up late talking games & writing? You're...

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News: Tomorrow is Microsoft's big ‘NextBox’ reveal, and I will be in attendance, covering it for Wired online. What will it actually be called? Will it always be online? Will they still care about Kinect?

Expect to see all of these questions answered and more, quite soon... As for me, I just want to see some really killer games. Fingers crossed!

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Links: It's been a while since I updated, so there are a fair number of recent features I should take the time to mention.

> The latest podcast went up. The topic was the recent Tomb Raider reboot, and we were honored to have @OverlordRor and @Mahkia as guests. (Also, we've already recorded the next episode, so that one should be up quite soon - the topic is on the most overrated/underrated games of the past generation, and discussion got fairly heated...)

> Interview commando @CFloydTweets spoke to Ted Price of Insomniac about their upcoming game, Fuse.

> I recently reviewed DarkStalkers Resurrection on PSN, and it's pretty awesome.

> New-to-GC writer @TayoDK took on the brutally tough indie La-Mulana.

> @ApricotSushi was unhappy with the latest Hakuoki.

> Snappy dressin' parkour dude @CoreyMotley takes a 2nd on Crysis 3.

> @xMattieBrice played the latest Corpse Party and wasn't very impressed.

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Games: I haven't had a ton of time to play games lately, but I have squeezed in a few things…

First up, I just completed The Starship Damrey on 3DS. It's basically a point-in-click spooky atmosphere game set in space. It avoids most of the rubbish puzzles that this genre seems to thrive on, and it's fairly short - expect a playtime of around three hours or so, depending on if and when you get stuck. 

The entire game hinges on its story so I won't spoil it here, but I thought it ended well and I was satisfied overall. Look for that review coming soon.

Also on the 3DS, I finally got around to Aero Porter by Yoot Saito. Much like his other works, it's thoroughly insane, yet it never stops being engaging and interesting in spite of the rough edges. This title puts you in the role of a person who’s in charge of making sure that passenger bags get on the correct plane at an airport. 

It's a hell of a lot harder than it sounds because the bags spin around circular carousels, and shunting something to its correct destination will inevitably send something else to the wrong one. I have a few issues with some of the game elements being hard to read visually, but it's been tough to put it down.

Finally, I’m still working my way through Sanctum 2 on XBLA. The easiest way to describe it is that it's a First-Person Shooter that takes place in a series of Tower Defense maps. Although neither of these genres are ones that I enjoy in general, putting the two of them together produces something that's definitely greater than the sum of its parts. 

I like the strategy of placing towers and blocks to guide the path of incoming monsters, and I love the ability to personally start kicking ass if my towers aren't getting the job done. I've always hated the feelings of passivity and helplessness when plans go wrong in standard TD games, so this one is definitely what the doctor ordered. Production values are a little rough and it's definitely easier to get through with friends (up to four can play together) than it is solo, but still really enjoying it either way.

And finally-finally, a quick Monster Hunter update. I completed the campaign a while ago and have been making my way through G-Rank. I solo’d long enough to make a couple of suits of armor, and once that was done, I decided to start limiting my play two nights and weekends with other people. 

After two hundred hours (most of that in the 1P campaign) it was definitely time to start focusing on some review games for a while. I've still got my eye on Mark of a Hero, Alatreon and Dark Miralis, but I'll have to patiently work towards them, rather than trying to plow ahead at full speed.

********************PR/NEWS/INFO********************

Capcom, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today confirmed that 

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies will be available to purchase digitally on Nintendo 3DS™ across Europe and North America in Fall 2013.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies, previously announced for the West as Ace Attorney™ 5, sees the return of courtroom hero Phoenix Wright. Set eight years since his last appearance in the courts, the first case inPhoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies sees the action start in a destroyed court room. It’s down to Phoenix Wright and his team at the Wright Anything Agency to discover the cause of the destruction. Players will have to battle it out in court against Gaspen Payne, the younger brother of Winston Payne from previous Ace Attorney™ titles, as they defend the accused.

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Seattle Retro Gaming Expo just keeps getting bigger! Not only is SRGE at the

Seattle Center this year, but we will also be featuring panels from collectors, journalists, and industry

experts in the gaming world. Panels will be scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday during the show.

SRGE is excited to announce our 2013 panels:

● ChipTunes with Arcade Armageddon

○ Our show partners talk about chiptune music and how it’s produced. http://w w w .arcadearmageddon.com/

● Playstation Collecting 101 with Gabe Hayward

○ Gabe is an avid playstation collector and has even gone so far as to collect different serial number PS1's to

have every variant hardw are revision. Come see w hat hidden gems exists for the Playstation 1 and 2!

● Video Game Collecting on a Budget with John Hancock

○ John Hancock is a long-time video game collector, enthusiast, and historian - by w hich w e mean he has

entirely too many games that he never stops talking about. He has been a visible face for the retro gaming

crow d for some years, mainly because he is usually hovering, vulture-like, over the rarest thing on a given

vendors booth. We're reasonably sure he has some kind of psychic game radar.

● Survival Horror with Ryan Payton

○ Ryan Payton is founder of Seattle-based Camouflaj, the studio behind the first major kickstarter success

story for videogames, RÉPUBLIQUE. He began his career in Tokyo as a producer on Konami's METAL GEAR

SOLID 4, and w as then recruited by Microsoft to return home to Seattle and direct HALO 4. After three years

at Microsoft, Ryan surprised the industry by announcing his departure to establish his ow n independent

game studio, Camouflaj.

● Breaking into the Game Industry

○ Dan Callan, Ray Almaden and Paul Ehreth discuss their experience in the game industry. They w ill share tips

on how best to start a career in this grow ing industry and take questions from attendees.

● Retronauts Live!

○ Bob Mackey, Jeremy Parish and Ray Barnolt host a live podcast at SRGE! This w ill be their first stop after

raising over $55,000 on Kickstarter to fund the much loved Retronauts Podcast.

● Retrogame Roadshow with Chris Kohler

○ Chris Kohler is a video game journalist and editor w ho has w ritten for several publications in the past decade,

including Wired, Animerica, Official Nintendo Magazine and 1UP.com. He is also a published author of tw o

books. His first book, Pow er-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life, w as published

by Brady Games in 2004. His second book, Retro Gaming Hacks, w as published by O'Reilly Media in 2005.

Kohler is currently a resident of San Francisco, California, w here he w orks for Wired, running the gaming

blog Game|Life and the podcast Good Job, Brain!

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CCP Games, the leading independent developer of massively multiplayer games, today launched 

DUST 514, the world's first free-to-play, multiplayer first-person shooter on a console. The battle for dominance of the EVE Universe escalates to new heights today as DUST mercenaries forge their paths to fame and fortune in a PlayStation ®3 exclusive. 

Launch is only the beginning of the journey for DUST 514 players. As with CCP’s first game, EVE Online®,DUST 514 is an ever-evolving game as a service, built on the technical foundation and experience CCP has gathered over the past decade. New features, content, and upgrades are planned for years to come, beginning with an update in June and additional major releases throughout 2013. All updates to DUST 514 come at no cost, truly keeping the game free-to-play for all players.

DUST 514 is a new breed of first-person shooter, which in addition to tight gunplay features a path to unlimited dropsuit fittings and customization options, taking the player to new dimensions of character progression. The end result is a unique tactical advantage that will allow mercenaries to push DUST 514 beyond the bounds set by the game’s creators, and arm them with the ability to impact their war on a galactic scale.

DUST 514 is also fully integrated with the notorious sci-fi setting of EVE Online, a massive game universe that recently surpassed a half-million subscribers worldwide and which has been growing and expanding for a decade.Together, DUST 514 and EVE Online offer a combined sandbox of unprecedented intergalactic scale, with the outcome of ground battles impacting the persistent universe of EVE and shifting the tide of war for legions of participants. Mercenaries can gain advantage by coordinating with starship pilots in EVE Online, calling in devastating orbital strikes against opposing squads.

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Tired of dithering between action and strategic thinking? Deep Silver now combines both aspects in one game: Ride to Hell: Route 666 lets players experience the whole lifestyle of biker gangs, but those who want to dominate the infamous Route 66 need to act smart. In this new trailer, different classes of gang members and enemies are explained as well as how to arrange formations and how to finish off opposing bikers in close combat. Set up your team, choose your weapons and hit the road! Ride to Hell: Route 666 is scheduled for release on the PlayStation® Store and on Xbox Live® as an arcade game for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft this summer.

Ride to Hell: Route 666 is set within the Ride to Hell universe, a world of bare-knuckle violence, and rip-roaring motorcycles. Later this year the setting will be extended by two further titles featuring the unique and incomparable biker lifestyle; Ride to Hell: Retribution and Ride to Hell: Beatdown.

Ride to Hell: Retribution tells the story of a lone rider, Jake Conway, a man with either a gun in his hand or a girl on his lap (and on more than one occasion both!). He’s on a merciless path of revenge against a brutal biker gang called The Devil’s Hand, armed to the teeth with an arsenal of deadly weapons to enact his vengeance on foot and on bike. The only law Jake answers to is his own.  Hit hard, ride fast and leave 'em in the dust starting June 2013 for Xbox 360, Windows® PC, and PlayStation®3.

The Ride to Hell universe will be rounded out with Ride to Hell: Beatdown, a rock’n’roll brawler set to light up the mobile space, on the go! More details on this title will follow soon.

Ride to Hell: Retribution is developed by Eutechnyx, Ride to Hell: Route 666 by Black Forest Games.

For more information about the Ride to Hell universe, please visit www.ridetohell.com.

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Dark skills trailer 2

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Van Helsing Hunter’s Lair

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Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. announced 

METAL GEAR SOLID: THE LEGACY COLLECTION will be available in North America and South America on July 9, 2013.

Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the METAL GEAR SOLID franchise, this PlayStation®3 exclusive package will include METAL GEAR SOLID, METAL GEAR SOLID 2: HD Edition, METAL GEAR SOLID 3: HD Edition (which includes the original MSX versions of METAL GEAR and METAL GEAR 2), METAL GEAR SOLID: Peace Walker HD Edition, METAL GEAR SOLID: VR MISSIONS, METAL GEAR SOLID 4: Trophy Edition and two Ashley Wood digital graphic novels which will be released for the first time in North America.  In addition, the collection will include an all-new 100 page art book highlighting marketing art from across the globe, spanning the profound 25 year history of the esteemed franchise.

METAL GEAR SOLID: THE LEGACY COLLECTION will be available on July 9 for $49.99 for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system.

For more information, please visit: http://www.metalgearsolid.com

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