To ease the interminable workday keeping us from a long weekend of cheap beer, cheaper hotdogs, and too much exposure to the sun, Reddit user RudeBootie has kindly uploaded a collection of animated fighting game backgrounds, sans fighters.

My eye is admittedly untrained, but I’m spotting a lot of SNK-published titles from the ”King of Fighters,” “Art of Fighting,” “Mark of the Wolves,” and “Samurai Showdown” franchises, with a perfunctory nod to Capcom with E. Honda’s bathhouse from “Street Fighter II” at the bottom.

If nothing else, the collection is a shrine to pixel art craftsmanship and a reminder that these iconic arenas defined an entire genre during the formative and prolific mid-90′s. The backgrounds on display run the gamut from melodramatic, to surreal, to pedestrian, featuring everything from ruined castles to beached oil tankers, monkeys bathing in an onsen to a cheering mermaid in a clamshell, idyllic landscapes to crowded street markets.

Whether you want to take a trip down memory lane or a connoisseur of pixel art, I’m sure there’s something titillating in the bowels of the 125-.gif collection. As for me, I just want to watch little pixels move around, looping endlessly, until my eyes glaze over and the weekend arrives.

I’ve embedded a few of my favorites below, but you can find the entire collection here.

[Reddit via Visual News]

Tags capcom, fighting games, snk

MTV Multiplayer

“Resident Evil” as a series has been on the ropes for last couple of years. With a main numbered entry that was an affront to humanity, a smaller portable title overshadowed by its bigger brother, and a 3DS launch game that skimped on content, it was surprising to see that some fans were shouting for an HD port of the admittedly overlooked and somewhat meandering “Resident Evil: Revelations.” Whie Charles was thoroughly unimpressed, I decided to dive in the HD rerelease to see if maybe the few additions would make it worth another trip.

I’m surprised, given the amount of bashing, that “Resident Evil: Revelations HD” is actually pretty OK — threatening to even be good at times.

“Resident Evil: Revelations” follows two well tread RE veterans, Jill and Chris, who are each partnered with fellow BSAA agents investigating a new biological threat originating from an abandoned cruise ship. The narrative shifts between Chris and Jill’s story with the occasional flashback or side mission to flesh out what’s going on, though all the characters fundamentally play the same. I found this to be somewhat refreshing, as it mixed up some of the plot threads and help you get a sense of the full story. The actual plot, however, is a missed opportunity to really take the RE franchise into a new direction – especially after the fan wanking ending of RE5. Instead, you’ll plot all the familiar points and the “revelations” twist is seen from a mile away. But as smaller title, the story is serviceable if bland.

Gameplay mostly consists of walking and shooting. Yep, walking and shooting – “Revelations” boldly leaps into the third person shooter genre by allowing a choice better shooter and classic controls. I played though using shooter and found them to be intuitive and smooth. However, sometimes its difficult finding a happy medium between aim speed as the cross hair’s acceleration quickly ramps making you miss shots as the camera swings wildly. Playing on the Wii U’s GamePad felt natural and you could use the touch controls to quick select if you wanted but was never really needed. General, the combat controls well enough but the touchy dodge mechanic was especially terrible. I could never manually pull off a dodge with success and resulting in wasted healing supplies. Coupled with a overly sensitive camera, you could find yourself in trouble when facing several monsters.

Additionally, there are c few underwater swimming missions that really just shouldn’t be in any game. Seriously, let’s just stop already with confusing and difficult swimming sections. Thankfully, they are pretty short.

Outside of combat, you’ll explore the vast ship– finding keys and solving simple puzzles — searching for who or what is behind the big bad. You also have access to a scanning device that you can pull out and search rooms for extra supplies. It’s a sorta neat at first but it doesn’t offer any extra info about the ship or its missing crew. You can scan enemies to fill up a percentage meter, which when full will give you a bonus gran herb for healing. But to get the most points, you’ll need to scan the creature while it’s still alive, so often it’s not worth it. If Capcom had just added a little more to this device and what you could discover, it would be a neat way to fill in the narrative for Resident Evil superfans.

All the major tropes that make up a Resident Evil game are present — except zombies. Well, classic zombies, that is. Instead, the evil not-Umbrella biotech company have created a kind of weird off X-brand T-Virus called T-Abyss that turns victims into an amalgam of human and mollusk. I actually liked the enemy designs and was a bit refreshing to move away from the tried and tired zombie formula. Of course, you’ll run into a familiar enemy or two and the bosses look more or less like slimier Tyrant, but the overall designs looked slick and gross and creepy.

Though “Revelations” started on the small screen, Capcom managed to up-res the graphics for your HDTV. The 3DS version already pushed that little device to its limit but on the Wii U it looks just great with completely new renders and textures. It’s not exactly a graphic powerhouse but it’s not ugly and the pre-rendered scenes looked nice, too. Occasionally, you’ll find a blurry, muddy texture and, at some points, the framerate would stutter to below 30 making some monster encounters jittery. It’s not the most amazing but it’s certainly pleasing to look at, and unless you can have your day completely ruined by a the wayward pixel, you’ll not even notice some of the uglier parts.

Rounding out the content is Raid Mode, which lets two players team up in a kind of mix between a normal mission and the arcadey Mercenaries minigame. You’re awarded a score based on completion time, accuracy, kills, etc. It’s simple and pretty fun. There are a few new characters to unlock with the HD rerelease but that’s about it.

“Resident Evil: Revelations” is not a great game but it’s actually pretty fun in a lot of ways. Yes, shooting can be twitchy at times and the story is beyond silly and dumb. And maybe that’s what’s missing in RE game now, a silly, dumb plot that pits you face to shell with aquatic monsters because some biotech firm CEO wants to rule the world through fear. The summer lulls are often short on consent and if you’re a Wii U owner and horror/shooter fan then “Resident Evil: Revelations” might be worth your time.

3/5 Stars

“Resident Evil: Revelations HD” is available now for $ 49.99 on PC, PS3, Wii U, and Xbox 360. Review copy provided by Capcom. Reviewed on Wii U.

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Tags capcom, Resident Evil: Revelations HD, reviews, wii u

MTV Multiplayer

The Xbox One will require a periodic internet check to authenticate games, sources within Microsoft have reportedly told Polygon.

It is also said that the console will not require a fee to play used games, as previously reported.

According to the site, Microsoft is still debating the issue internally. Executives are also reportedly discussing the confusion surrounding Xbox One’s relationship with the internet and used games.

An official FAQ on Microsft’s website claims that the Xbox One does not “have to be always connected, but does require a connection to the Internet.”

Microsoft’s Phil Harrison, talking to Kotaku, claimed that the upcoming system would require an internet check every 24 hours, although Microsoft later told Polygon that this was only one scenario among others being discussed.

Using an encryption code on the game disc, Xbox One will authenticate the game for use on that specific console. This code, which is stored on the hard drive, will be regularly checked via internet connection.

If the same disc is installed and authenticated on another system, the first install will be deactivated until the disc is used to re-authenticate it.

About the issue of used games, Microsoft’s Larry Hryb, also known as Major Nelson, wrote on his blog: “The ability to trade in and resell games is important to gamers and to Xbox. Xbox One is designed to support the trade in and resale of games.

“Reports about our policies for trade in and resale are inaccurate and incomplete. We will disclose more information in the near future.”

Gematsu

Ninja Theory, the celebrated studio behind such projects as Heavenly Sword, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and DmC: Devil May Cry, is teaming up with EA’s Chillingo division to take a stab at the mobile game market with the announcement of Fightback – a free-to-play action game that features a “striking 80s action movie vibe and a revolutionary touch-based combat system.”

The announcement of the game, which is slated to launch this Summer via the App Store and Google Play, was accompanied by the above screenshot and the following not-so-combative comments.

“Chillingo is very excited to collaborate with such a talented, critically-acclaimed studio to help shape their first title for the mobile market,” states Ed Rumley, COO, Chillingo. “Our team is working closely with Ninja Theory to ensure Fightback delivers a phenomenal experience for mobile and tablet devices.”

“Mobile and tablet gaming is a phenomenon that we just couldn’t ignore as a studio and we’re very proud to be working with one of the industry’s heavy-weights on bringing Fightback to market. Ninja Theory has always strived for the highest production values and that absolutely remains the case in this exciting new space,” said Dominic Matthews, Product Manager, Ninja Theory Ltd.

So, what do you think about Fightback? Are you excited about the prospect of a Ninja Theory experience on mobile? Pound the comments with your thoughts.

Side Mission

This past week gave us the reveal of the Xbox One, as well as a number of questions surrounding the next-gen console. The biggest concern that has people fired up this week is how Microsoft will handle its used games policy. Today, MCV reports that retailers will have to give up a portion of pre-owned game sales to Microsoft and publishers.

Retail sources tell MCV that stores will need to be compliant with Microsoft’s terms and conditions and have also agreed to use Azure, Microsoft’s cloud based system that will track used games. When a customer trades in a game to an approved retailer, the system will mark the game as traded in and will deactivate the game from the customer’s Xbox Live account.

It is now somewhat clear why the Xbox One requires an online connection. Earlier this week, Microsoft’s Phil Harrison has said that the console must connect online every 24 hours. The company issued a Q&A stating that the Xbox One will need an internet connection but it does not always have to be connected online.

Currently, game stores that sell used games would pocket all profits on the transaction. With used Xbox One games, however, a percentage of the sale will go towards Microsoft and the game publisher. The retailer would then take the remainder of the sale, clearly a significant cut on profits compared to how used games sales work today.

What does this mean if you want to buy a used game? Most likely the price of buying a pre-owned title will rise with this policy. According to a source from Eurogamer, when a customer purchases a used game, the retailer will need to cover the cost of an activation fee for that pre-owned game. Microsoft hasn’t finalized what the cost of the fee will be, but an unconfirmed report by Consoledeals.co.uk has said that the fee would be £35, which is roughly $ 50 in US dollars.

So it seems like the price of a used game is largely determined by how much this activation fee will cost. Also, the way this system is setup could mean you may never be able to sell your games privately on your own like on Craigslist or eBay. Well, technically you probably could, but the buyer would still have to pay an activation fee to play the game, which Phil Harrison said would cost as much as the game itself. Under these circumstances, it would make no sense to sell a used video game on your own.

“While there have been many potential scenarios discussed, we have only confirmed that we designed Xbox One to enable our customers to trade in and resell games at retail,” a Microsoft representative tells MCV. “Beyond that, we have not confirmed any specific scenarios. Another piece of clarification around playing games at a friend’s house – should you choose to play your game at your friend’s house, there is no fee to play that game while you are signed in to your profile.”

For now, we’ll just have to wait and see until Microsoft releases more details concerning used games on the Xbox One. In the mean time, we want your thoughts based on the new information received today. How do you feel about having less control over selling your games? Will it actually help the industry if Microsoft and publishers take a cut on used game sales, or is there too much backlash surrounding this controversial system that it would negate any benefits on the publisher side?

Update: Major Nelson of Microsoft has issued a statement regarding today’s news on the trade and resell of used games.

“The ability to trade in and resell games is important to gamers and to Xbox. Xbox One is designed to support the trade in and resale of games. Reports about our policies for trade in and resale are inaccurate and incomplete. We will disclose more information in the near future.”

Side Mission

To end the week I thought I would pull yet another game from the Ludum Dare competition. I know I have covered this competition a lot lately but with all the awesome games that have been generated for it I feel this is completely justified.

Today’s game is EraserLand by Little_Polygon and it’s a rather interesting little experiment. The whole idea of EraserLand is to remove certain aspects of the screen to meet certain win conditions, which you find in a very trial and error manner as you wildly erase all manner of things before finding the true way to win the level.

Although a very short game and a game that often feels like it lacks direction the idea is very nice, and something rather different. The style and gameplay really make for a very fascinating game from start to finish.

Average play time – 5 minutes

EraserLand is a very well thought out game that brings about some rather novel puzzles and some even more creative solutions to the game. In many ways it’s great to see a minimalistic game encourage even more minimalism by making it the main mechanic for the game.

EraserLand can be played online for free. If you would like to find out more or even download an offline version be sure to head to the Ludum Dare site.

If you are a developer with A fun indie game that can be played over a coffee break, we want to hear from you! Private message us on twitter @IndieGameMag or shoot us an email at editors@indiegamemag.com with the subject “Indie Intermission” and you could be our indie intermission pick of the day!

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Indie Intermission – ‘EraserLand’ Sometimes Less Is More

DIYGamer

As there are so many questions surrounding the Xbox One announcement, the Daily Reaction crew of Seb and Dan decide to question a few things that just don’t seem to make any sense.

Dan: With the importance of brand awareness, why on Earth would Microsoft move away from a simple format of naming their console? Especially, by using the title Xbox One, they not only confuse the market about which Xbox 1 they are using, but it is also a lie about it being a unification of entertainment products.

Seb: Yeah, their claim is that it’s because it’s an ‘all-in-one’ device it makes sense to call it One as it’s the one device you need under your TV. But, you need a cable box plugged in to watch TV, and a games console like a PS4, so it’s already wrong. It sounds terrible, and makes no sense… I don’t get it.

Seb: I can understand why Microsoft wants to target a broader consumer base (more people = more sales) as a market strategy. But the thing is, only core gamers and tech people even knew or cared that the reveal event was happening, and they don’t care about TV stuff. They want games. Microsoft obviously have some games in development, why didn’t they show any and at least pretend they cared about gamers?

Dan: Yeah, I also understand the reach for a broader market, but saving that bit of information for a different demographic would have been a much better idea. Getting your new strategy out to your target audience is proper etiquette, but an announcement that has millions of gamers watching who loved played games on your console, is not the place to show your new push to the TV market. There is a chance that we will see a much bigger game presence at E3 this year from Microsoft, but as we keep hearing more about them trying to expand beyond the gaming market, it feels more like they are just ignoring it.

Dan: Television has been around for generations now, and has definitely made advancements in how we go about consuming material, but why would Microsoft think that adding another box is going to simplify an already brain dead activity? Short of not having to find a remote to change channels, people will still need to turn the TV on with a remote (some TVs can be turned on via HDMI though) negating the point of it being a hands-free device.

Seb: There are a lot of stupid people out there, but this device doesn’t make things simpler. They still need to set it up, they still need their cable box and they need to learn a new UI. Really, the only reason I can see for this is that MS saw the success of Netflix on Xbox 360 and realized that Netflix players have no reason to upgrade to a new console. They desperately tried to think of a way to next gen Netflix, couldn’t think of one, and came up with this. But it’s the wrong approach… I don’t get it.

Seb: There’s a lot of confusion over just how the XBO will handle used games, but it is doing something odd with them, we know that much. The prevailing rumor is that MS will charge players, and maybe even retailers, for using used games. Considering how powerful GameStop is in the industry, why the hell is MS risking angering them? It’s a dangerous business move that could see retailers pushing other platforms, not to mention it’s an insult to consumers.

Dan: We have been hearing rumors of the next-gen being the death of GameStop’s grasp over the used games market, but I really never thought it could be possible for it to seemingly come into fruition. As everyone is still unsure on the specifics about how the XBO will handle used games, it leaves us to wonder why Microsoft isn’t killing rumors that are destroying their reputation, if it wasn’t true. Hopefully, as we are still awaiting details on how Sony will be handing used games with their PS4, they will realize just how big of a blowback they will get for following suit. Simply by not doing anything, Sony has a huge market advantage to both consumers, as well as with GameStop, who will be able to get a much bigger return on used products than they would for an XBO game. GameStop really could shift gears from this generation and push PS4 instead of the blatant 360 shilling we have seen over the last few years.

Dan: Even though Microsoft did denounce the presence of having to ‘always be on’, the fact that they are requiring a daily check-in is pedantically splitting hairs, as no one will be just plugging their XBO in to ‘check in’. This requirement, while not an issue for some who don’t disconnect, will still have problems as networks need to be updated, maintained or simply out due to potential hacks. Anyone who has any form of internet outage is left locked out of their system, not to mention there are countries outside of the US that are still building their online infrastructure. What was Microsoft thinking?

Seb: It’s bizarre. The check-in system, which apparently stops you playing games unless you connect every day, is there presumably as part of the used games check. For the average gamer, it’s irritating and puts you at the whims of any server outages, but for people outside of central cities, people in less connected countries, people with consoles in their basements… they’re not going to be able to use this machine. It’s a narrow minded US-only approach, that was only echoed by a reveal event that had US only TV options and US only sports shows.

Microsoft have said that they think the One could go on to move a billion units. That’s more than the 900 million Android phones (and, at most, a family could have two Xboxes, but may have 5 phones). There aren’t a billion US people, let alone households. They’re insane, deluded and arrogant. Who do they think they are, Sony in 2006?

I don’t get it…

Why do you think Microsoft have made the choices they have? Are we going to see big changes to their model at E3? Could announcing more games make up for the decisions they have made? Why aren’t MS being more upfront on the details regarding these issues? Let us know what you think in the comments below, email us at DailyReaction@PlayStationLifeStyle.net or tweet us a ‘WTF’ at Seb and Dan.

PlayStation LifeStyle

Last year EA Sports attempted to market NBA Live 13 as “The Future of Basketball” and with it they tied up a number of rising-stars in the league to be a part of their marketing campaign. One of them was Kyrie Irving and as that relationship continues he became one of the favorites to snag the cover of NBA Live 14. Placeholder box art for the next-gen consoles could hint at him being the cover athlete. Click here for the full size image.

Along with new box art graphics for the Xbox One and PS4 versions of Madden NFL 25 and FIFA 14 is that of NBA Live 14. The image appears to feature Irving and though it is meant to disguise that it doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of effort to do so. FIFA’s does have Lionel Messi, who is the cover representative, while Madden’s features last year’s Calvin Johnson. There has been no information on who will be on the cover of next-gen Madden.

Obviously this is far from being confirmation but Irving made a lot of sense going in to be the cover athlete. On a side note these covers are slick and EA should consider keeping the style around.

pastapadre.com

A couple new unannounced features of the Xbox One have been revealed today, courtesy of a report by Polygon. The two features include remote play functionality and the ability for the Kinect to interact with users.

Much like PlayStation 4, the Xbox One will allow players to give up control of their game to allow a buddy help them out via remote play. This functionality can be handled using Skype. While the friend is helping, the other player can watch the game being played. Either player can terminate the session with the press of a button. It is not determined yet on how long a person can remote play or if the person helping needs to own a copy of the game as well.

Another feature that is currently in development is the Kinect’s ability to respond to players. Microsoft representatives said the Kinect will function similar to iPhone’s Siri. In one example given, an unrecognized person who enters a room could be asked by the Kinect to identify themselves. The Kinect would then greet the user and store the person’s name in the system. The report says the feature may not be ready at launch but would be added via a patch within a few months of the Xbox One’s launch.

What do you think about these features?

Side Mission

The fifth game in the Scribblenauts series, titled Scribblenauts Unmasked – A DC Comics Adventure, is coming this fall to the Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and PC. The game stars the series’ main character, Maxwell, and features a slew of DC Comics characters. On the Wii U and PC versions of the game, players can create their own Super Hero or Super Villain using items from the DC Universe, and then share those creations with other players via the Internet. You can read more details of the game on GameStop’s website or below:

• Vast DC Comics Universe – Summon thousands of DC Comics characters and objects – all drawn in the unique Scribblenauts art style!
• Extensive Replayability – Dynamically created puzzles called Heroic Feats increase the game’s replayability by continuously generating original scenarios requiring different solutions with each visit.
• Super Hero Creator – On Wii U and PC, players can create their own Super Hero or Super Villain using any item from the DC Universe and then setting properties for how it behaves, changing its appearance and powers. Players can then share their creations with the community and download others.
• Deep DC Comics Object Database – Players wanting help can reference The Batcomputer, an in-game encyclopedia that lists the names and descriptions of objects from the DC Comics Universe.
• Sidekick Mode – Friends and family can drop in using a Wii Remote and take control of any object in game.

My Nintendo News