BitSnark

It wasn’t just Kratos who auditioned for a spot in a Mortal Kombat title, many other videogame characters have tried their pixellated hands at being a special guest on the most violent one-on-one fighting game in videogame history.

Unlike the God of War however, all of them failed to get a spot on the roster and the tryout tapes were lost, but not forgotten.

Below, I present to you a link to these ill-fated tryouts:

The Pacman fatality is especially worthy of your lolz.

If you have an iOS device and profess a deep love for classic puzzlers whilst also being somewhat of a tightwad, Sega have today confirmed that the iOS rendition of their classic mouse escapist puzzler Chu Chu Rocket, is now free to download from the iTunes app store for today only.

Well, what are you waiting for?

Well, that and also because I don’t want my hand to be forever crying out in agony as it attempts to mimic a spasming crab should I attempt to use the standard 360 controller for this game.

On Sega’s Sonic Facebook page, Sega have dished out a teaser trailer of their new forthcoming Sonic title which predictably shows zero gameplay.

In terms of what it does show though and what hints we can glean from it; the CG teaser shows Sonic tearing through a course of jumps, twisty-turny bridges and loop-the-loop runs before landing on the ground and proceeding to race against an older version of himself.

The fact that he is racing an older version of himself, lends credence to the fact that this is the ‘Sonic Generations’ title that was registered by Sega sometime ago and it would doubly make sense seeing as the title would arrive on the blue spiky one’s 20th anniversary.

Again, the lack of details and traditional shite factor typically associated with any Sonic game that dares to venture into the third dimension means that, as always, the more level headed of us with give this a wide berth until we see some solid details that would point to it being halfway decent.

The only details that are known are that the game is being developed for the 360 and PS3 and is scheduled to arrive later this year.

The teaser trailer can be seen at the link below:

A few months ago, EA announced a new SSX title and fans immediately had visions of colourful, vibrant stunt courses and larger than life characters carving smoothly through the powder en route to high-flying, body bending tricks.

What we got though, at least on the evidence of the initial gameplay trailer, was a game that looked like it was torn out of the ‘Snow Level’ from Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Eyes blinked in disbelief as we were presented with an overly pretentious and po-faced abomination of SSX. Gone were the fun loving characters and imaginatively extravagant courses, instead replaced with dreary, bleak mountain peaks, a faceless boarder and a Michael Bay esque voice over that told us in a cringeworthy dramatic tone “It’s you, against the mountain.”

It looked like shit to be honest and any excitement that existed concerning a new SSX title evaporated pretty fucking quickly.

Thankfully though, somebody in EA must have thought the same thing as today EA have confirmed that not only will the game will lose it’s ‘Deadly Descents’ subtitle, but they have also released concept art showing OTT stunts being done over the Great Wall of China and other outlandish course designs and have made the point that the cack-sounding Deadly Descents mode, is just one of three gameplay modes.

Reassuringly, Creative Director Todd Batty had this to say regarding the forthcoming title:

“Our core statement from day one has been, ‘survive it, race it, trick it.’ And in that, we have designed three major types of gameplay. One being Deadly Descent, which is all about survival gameplay. It’s a new addition to the franchise.

“… We wanted to make sure we hit the over-the-top arcadey gameplay in all of these different gameplay modes. We decided to lead with the new Deadly Descent gameplay in that trailer, but all of the classic SSX style will be there, too.”

So they’ve dropped the title, reinstated the fun and gotten rid of the Call Of Duty stink then.

Well, it’s certainly back on my radar but I can’t say that the Deadly Descents mode still does anything for me; which is fine seeing as it is no longer the main focus of the game anymore.

The new SSX title is due to arrive on 360 and PS3 platforms at the end of the year.

And about fucking time.

No more paying obscene amounts of cash for pube-filled second hand copies of Namco Bandai’s crazily good JRPG, now everybody who wants to can download the game for just £19.99.

Seriously good news.

The realisation that I need to finally put my 20GB HDD to bed and get a bigger one though?

Not so.

Prepare your eyes and click on the link below:

And predictably, it looks like the shit.

Link below:

A full twelve minute reveal trailer is due to arrive on April 17.

Hoo-rah.

Continuing with the influx of Resident Evil news (It is the 15th anniversary of the franchise this year no less) comes the announcement of a brand new Resident Evil title; Resident Evil: Racoon City, developed by SOCOM developer Slant Six.

The game however, is not your typical Resi fare. No sir. In stark contrast to survival horror thrills dished out by the majority of the other entries in the series, Racoon City is instead a squad based shooter, casting you as one of four characters in an effort to clean up the titular city of evidence and T-virus survivors by any means possible. Not only will you be killing infected folk, but you’ll also be butting heads with a US Spec Ops squad and the monsters which have been unleashed by Umbrella. Each of the four characters that you can choose; Vector, Beltway, Bertha, and Spectre, will have their own scenario and goals too.

Intriguingly, Capcom have said that you can also ‘change the history of Resident Evil’, by engaging and killing famous characters from the series.

No other details have been revealed about the title as of yet, but the title is slated to arrive on 360 and PS3 platforms this Autumn.

Hot off the news that we would be getting HD remakes of Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil: Code Veronica for the 360 and PS3 systems, comes the news that they will be available as downloads through Xbox Live and the Playstation Network respectively.

A release window of Autumn 2011 was also confirmed.

Damn, I need to get a bigger HDD.

Official press blurb is below:

“Resident Evil 4, Code Veronica HD releasing this fall in west, both downloadable
More soon.

CAPCOM BRINGS THE AWARD-WINNING RESIDENT EVIL® 4 AND RESIDENT EVIL CODE: VERONICA® X INTO THE HD ERA

San Mateo, CA — March 24, 2011 — To kick off the 15th anniversary of Resident Evil®, Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games today announced that the highly acclaimed Resident Evil® 4 and Resident Evil Code: Veronica® X will be released as downloadable titles for the Xbox 360®video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system. Scheduled for release this fall, both titles have been enhanced with upgraded visuals as they make their debut on high-definition consoles.

Resident Evil 4 , which received numerous “Game of the Year” awards when it debuted and currently stands as one of the best-reviewed games of all time with an incredible 96 ranking on MetaCritic, challenges you to experience it all over again with support for trophies and achievements along with the visual upgrades.

As Leon Kennedy, players will explore a town overrun by cultists, mutants and mind-controlled villagers as they unravel the mystery of Resident Evil 4. Also, this release will contain all the bonus content available in previous versions of Resident Evil 4, including the Separate Ways epilogue.

In Resident Evil Code: Veronica X, the year is 1998, three months since the total destruction of Raccoon City and Claire Redfield is still in search of her missing brother Chris. While investigating an Umbrella facility in Paris, Claire is captured and transported to the remote Rockfort Island, where she awaits her death.

Then an inexplicable air raid hits the island, and though this frees Claire, it also accidentally releases t-virus samples and B.O.W.s, which thrust Claire back into the world of survival horror once again. Claire teams up with a fellow inmate Steve Burnside, but insane island commander Alfred Ashford and his evil sister Alexia set their sights on ending the duo with their sick and demented games.

The Resident Evil franchise, which pioneered the horror genre in video games, has sold over 45 million units since 1996 and spawned a series of successful motion pictures that have grossed over $750 million worldwide. The Resident Evil brand has also expanded into action figures, comic books, novels, apparel, beverages and more. As part of the 15th anniversary, Resident Evil fans will get a chance to celebrate the past, present and future of the franchise with exclusive apparel and merchandise, in addition to games like Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil Code: Veronica X, Resident Evil®: The Mercenaries, Resident Evil®: Revelations and other surprises.”