BitSnark

The digital download news deluge continues today with IGN confirming that Capcom intends to re-release a double pack of classic side scrolling titles Final Fight and Magic Sword sometime next year.

A classic side scrolling fighter, Final Fight cast up to two players as one of three quite different characters, as they attempt to rescue the Mayor’s daughter from the laughably named ‘Mad Gear’ gang by using their own unarmed fighting skills as well as any other weapons that come to hand.

Magic Sword on the other hand, takes the side scrolling genre and dumps it in a fantasy setting. Here the player must take their hero across the various stages in attempt to kill a big bad tyrant who seeks to do all kinds of nasty things to people, and quite possibly rabbits. The innovation that Magic Sword had over it’s side scrolling peers, was that the player could recruit allies as they progressed who would then aid in combat as well as providing other useful talents such as healing or stealing treasure.

I’m quite the sucker for side scrolling fighters, so Capcom; I salute you.

Hot on the heels of the yet to be released XBLA version of Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter, comes the news that a similarly ‘HD-ified’ sequel to the titular brainless FPS will hit PC & XBLA early next year.

Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter will boast the same HD sheen as it’s predecessor and will also boast an online co-op tournament mode, whereby teams of bloodthirsty folks can team up to see which team can kill the most bad guys.

Pricing details have yet to be announced.

This news is all very welcome, but the first one actually getting a release on XBLA (the PC version has been available for a while now) would be more welcome.

Hop to it Croteam!

Perhaps the only reason to buy the overpriced Modern Warfare 2 Hardened Edition, Call Of Duty Classic will finally get released seperately on the 360 and PS3 digital download services this Wednesday and Thursday respectively.

The ‘remastered’ Infinity Ward debut FPS, boasts the same fully fledged campaign mode as we saw back in 2003 as well as eight player multiplayer too.

Call of Duty Classic will retail for 1200 MSP on XBLA and £9.99 on PSN.

Forming the finale of what seems to be a stellar Q1 for mega-publisher 2K Games, Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption, the sequel to 2004’s Red Dead Revolver, will hit the US on the 27th of April 2010, with a European release to follow on April 29th.

In the company of fellow big hitting Q1 2010 sequels Bioshock 2, Mafia 2 and Max Payne 3, Red Dead Redemption should still find its own niche; promising to combine the engine and tech behind GTA IV, with a gritty Wild West scenario to create the first real open-world Western title with the potential of actually being halfway decent.

There aren’t enough Western titles on the market and even less that can be considered anything other than mediocre. Red Dead Redemption though is slowly building hope inside me that the traditional Rockstar sardonic wit and savvy storytelling, combined with the peerless sandbox building tools that we witnessed in GTA IV will usher in at last the first AAA quality game that the neglected Western genre so badly needs.

In quite the amusing blunder, Ubisoft Writer Kevin Shortt was speaking at a press event for the forthcoming Avatar movie tie in when he confirmed the existence of Far Cry 3. In reply to a question about whether or not he was working on a sequel to Far Cry 2, Shorrt said “No I’m not,” he said. “But I know the team are and what I’ve seen looks pretty exciting.”

All of this prior to an official Ubisoft announcement eh? Someone will get a stern talking to this morning methinks.

But look on the bright side, if you need to know more about the title, just go to the job centre and find him there.

One of the most promising action adventure titles in a while finally gets a demo next Tuesday. Platinum Games’ Devil May Cry inspired shooter, Bayonetta will have a demo which will be available to download on 360 & PS3 platforms.

Finally, we’ll finally get to see if A) all the critical acclaim is justified and B) the PS3 version sucks ass as much as everyone says it does.

Sultry, gothic English witches with a gun for each appendage and a ludicrously packed screen full of enemies and retina melting effects?

Count me in.

Twice.

Eurogamer is reporting that IO Interactive, under recently made parent company Square-Enix, has officially revealed that a sequel to 2007’s Heat-esque cover co-op shooter, Kane & Lynch is due to be released next year.

Known as Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days, the title dumps the violent duo slap bang in the middle of the Shanghai underworld and shall be releasing on PS3, 360 and PC platforms sometime in 2010.

“Gamers are always looking for something new and that is exactly what they are going to get with Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days,” according to Niels Jørgensen, general manager of developer IO Interactive.

Niels then goes on to say: “A special thanks to gamers worldwide for their feedback. They are certainly in for a shock as we, with immense pride, welcome back our two dear, violent and somewhat unfortunate friends.”

Whilst I appreciated the game for what it tried to do (It tried to make a videogame rendition of Heat. This is a win.), there was no denying that it just felt needing of polish in some places and completely unfinished in others.

Colour me interested though.

The original Eurogamer story can be found below:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/kane-and-lynch-sequel-unveiled

In finally making the leap from their traditional Wii development platform, cult Japanese developer Grasshopper Manufacture have confirmed that a new edition of the first No More Heroes title is due to hit 360 and PS3 platforms early next year under the moniker No More Heroes: Heroes Paradise.

Boasting extra content and updated HD visuals the title should at least be faithful to the original Wii release, although the seismic difference in control methods will certainly raise an eyebrow as to how well they can translate the core gameplay to a regular pad.

Additionally, Heroes Paradise also has an extra mode entitled ‘Very Sweet Mode’, where budding cyber-pervs can oogle a number of rendered ladies in various states of undress.

Classy.

No More Heroes: Heroes Paradise is due to hit Japan in February 2010, but given the developers interest in the Western market and developing future No More Heroes titles for the Sony and Microsoft motion control systems, I would imagine that a Western release is a formality at this point.

Now if only they would get their collective talented asses in gear and develop a new Okami for 360 and PS3 using their motion control systems…

Mike Kebby, he who posts official stuff on the EU Playstation Store forum has confirmed (in his roundabout way) that PSOne stealth classic and progenitor of the modern day MGS saga, Metal Gear Solid, is to hit PSN this thursday.

In the official forum Mike writes; ‘It’s official guys and gals – a certain Snake is coming to the store this Thursday…of the PSone Classic kind :)’.

Good news indeed, as Sony continues to Bolster their digital offering with some gems from the past.

The pricepoint has been announced as £7.99.

Metal Gear Solid on my PSP?

Oh yes please.

Additionally, Eurogamer are also reporting that PSP MGS titles MGS: Portable Ops, MGS: Portable Ops + and MGS: The Graphic Novel, will all be hitting the store on the same day, presumably as some sort of push prior to the forthcoming release of MGS: Peace Walker sometime next year.

Now Konami, about that English langauge Peace Walker demo…

Yep, that’s right folks mark that date down in your diary, as the latest entry in Square-Ennix’s RPG magnum opus series is hitting Western territories on both 360 and PS3 in under a mere five months.

Wow. I am actually quite awestruck by this announcement as I, like presumably many others, had thought that we could be potentially be waiting up to a year for a localisation of the first Final Fantasy title on PS3, simply based on how long Square-Enix have taken to localise previous FF games in the past.