BitSnark

After it’s announcement a few weeks back and the proclamation that it would be a faster, more refined experience, a lot of folks including myself were curious as to how the fifth entry in the Soul Calibur series would look.

The answer? Pretty much just like Soul Calibur IV.

It’s early days yet, but see if you agree:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMY5HKtmVGs

Soul Calibur V is due to arrive in 2012 on 360 and PS3 platforms.

Third person shooters are a dime a dozen these days. Seriously. Ever since Resident Evil 4 burst onto the scene back in 2004 and fucked up the status quo royally on what we should expect from third person shooters, our expectations were placed impossibly high.

So high in fact that even Resi 4’s own sequel fell squarely face first into a ditch of disappointment when it was released a couple of years back.

NeverDead from Konami is yet another upstart in the third person shooter genre and whilst on paper it doesn’t look like anything special, (pretty average at best in fact), it does have an intriguing gameplay mechanic:

You can regrow limbs, throw limbs and can’t die.

Sort of.

Take a look for yourself and see if the funky gimmick of being a appendage tossing immortal can lift this one out of the pit of mediocrity:

Publisher Square-Enix has released a trailer of the Crystal Dynamics Tomb-Raider reboot (this of course being the second time that the series has been given the reboot treatment after TR: Legends did the honours in 2006) that is due for release on 360, PS3 and PC platforms in 2012.

No gameplay is shown in the trailer, but if the gameplay can match the tone set in the otherwise impressively put together CG footage, then we’ll all be in for a treat when Ms. Croft reenters our lives next year.

Take a look for yourselves:

There is a new trailer that has just been released for the ICO/Shadow of the Colossus HD collection.

You shouldn’t be reading this.

You should be watching this:

*Drool* *Nerdgasm* *Etc*

360 owners rejoice! No longer do you have to subject yourself to action RPG’s where you spend the majority of the game following a dog around to dig up random bits of tat or farting in conversation! CD Projeckt have come to your aid in a most glorious fashion by confirming that a 360 version of their critically acclaimed mature action RPG, The Witcher 2, will arrive this November!

And lo and behold! A trailer can be seen below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn5pGxnqVXA

On a serious note though, I do wonder why a PS3 version isn’t in the offing…

Representing perhaps the greatest justification behind my reason to get a 3DS in the first place, Konami have pulled the curtain back further on their highly anticipated 3D redo of arguably the best title in the MGS series; Metal Gear Solid 3.

Take a look at the rather spiffing trailer below and see for yourself:

Continuing on with the seemingly inexhaustible HD restoration theme, Konami also announced at their E3 presser that fan-favourite Silent Hill titles, Silent Hill 2 and 3 will be reunited in a HD collection for release on 360 and PS3 sometime next year.

Again, like the previously announced MGS and ZOE HD collections, the Silent Hill collection will boast remastered HD visuals and sound, trophy/achievement support and an updated user interface.

If that wasn’t enough, Konami also confirmed that a brand new Silent Hill title was in development for Sony’s forthcoming NGP handheld; titled Silent Hill: Book of Memories.

Hardly anything is known about the title at this point other than the platform and a vague 2012 date but as soon as something more concrete appears regarding it, i’ll be sure to post it.

Alongside the undeniable awesomeness and nerdgasm triggering news of the Metal Gear Solid HD collection, comes further news from Konami that their cult favourite PS2 sci-fi mecha series Zone of the Enders is heading down the same route.

The Zone of the Enders HD Collection is due out on 360 and PS3 platforms in 2012 and like the MGS3/Peace Walker precedent that was set before it, marks the first time that either title will be playable on a Microsoft console.

Just like the aforementioned MGS HD collection, the Zone of the Enders HD collection will boast all the trimmings too including higher resolution visuals, new user interface, remastered audio and trophy/achievement support among other things.

Indeed, one of those ‘other’ things that the ZOE collection has is the save transference feature that the MGS: Peace Walker in the MGS collection supports. Strangely though, there are no plans for any of the ZOE games in the collection to be released on the PSP; perhaps hinting toward a ZOE title for the NGP?

The mind boggles.

It’s also quite likely one would imagine, that any chance of Zone of the Enders 3 turning into a reality would be based heavily upon the performance of the ZOE collection at retail.

So if all you folks want Zone of the Enders 3 to happen, vote with your wallets.

It’s a good day to be Konami fan it seems.

If you like gruff speaking, cigarette smoking stealth soldiers with a penchant for rambling on the ideologies of war then Konami has you catered for.

At their E3 press conference, the Japanese gaming giant confirmed that a HD collection (quite the rage now aren’t they?) of their Metal Gear Solid series, will be stealthing it’s way to PS3 and 360 platforms on November 2011.

2011? See that? That means THIS YEAR.

The collection contains HD remixes of Metal Gear Solid 2, Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. This marks the first time that Metal Gear Solid 3 and indeed MGS: Peace Walker have appeared on a platform that doesn’t carry a Sony label.

Hideo Kojima, director of Kojima Productions and general all-round point of worship for fans of the Metal Gear series, made it clear that both collections have been optimized and rebuilt for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 from the ground up. This includes such lovely things as brand new user interfaces for the HD resolutions, redrawn art, Trophy/Achievement support, right analog stick and rumble support, and finally some improved audio.

Curiously, Metal Gear Solid, the one game in the series that fans request for the most when it comes to talk of a HD restoration is curiously absent from the package and with Kojima staying mum on the subject, fans are left scratching their heads wondering just what in the fuck Konami are playing at.

Hopefully we’ll get some clarification on this soon, but in the meantime this’ll do quite nicely indeed especially since it is being developed by Bluepoint, the dev behind the awesome God Of War HD collection.

Woot.

Whilst perhaps not the most original in terms of gameplay mechanics, the awesomely named El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron, has some of the freshest and most stylish aesthetics seen in a videogame since Okami.

Take a look at this gameplay vid for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVykc7cmjyU

Speaking of which, Eurogamer has just gone live with a 9/10 score.

Oh, and the game has an angel called ‘Lucifel’, who appears to give you advice and speaks to god through a mobile phone.

I’m struggling to see what I don’t like about this quite frankly.

El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is due out on PS3 and 360 formats later this year.