Capcom revives a few more killer franchises. 

I remember as a kid playing Commando at the local Pizza Hut.  The controls were stiff and the bullets were tiny.  I don't think I ever made it past the first stage.  Then MERCS came along to the arcade just across the street, and it seemed like insane destruction and top down blasting action for me and two other Rambo-wannabes until we ran out of quarters.  Capcom has been on a trend of reviving their nearly forgotten gems to the delight of former arcade junkies, with the latest offering of Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 for XBLA and PSN.  Outside of the more cartoonish gleam, the latest footage shows a game that sticks surprisingly close to its roots, with a variety of scrolling, destructible environments for up to three players, both online and off.  The action is quick and furious, while the weapons are insane and highly destructive.  It's already looking better than the upcoming pretender to the throne, Assault Heroes 2, though both pale next to what else Capcom has up its sleeve.

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix has been a long time in coming, but hey it takes a long time to draw all those frames at 1080p.  They must be close to release now, however, because coming with Commando 3 will be an online beta of SSF2THDR (on XBLA at least).  Yeah, it's only going to be Ken and Ryu, but outside of seeing how high Chun-li still kicks, they were going to be your first picks anyway.  This is a series that kicks in even more nostalgia, but these new visuals are a lot better than I remember, while the rebalanced mode should end cries of cheap among friends.  Maybe it'll even stop the droppers online.

MADD wants GTA IV labeled AO because of the drunk driving, but is perfectly fine with the rest of the content.

Apologies for yet another Grand Theft Auto IV article, but it seems to be generating all the headlines this week.

There's been a lot of talk from the mainstream media about GTAIV, most of it of the informed quality one would expect.  It's easily ignored, seeing as there are only so many hours in the day and there are things that matter to deal with, but MADD went above and beyond the call of duty to get a response.  This is copied and pasted from their media page-

"Each year nearly 13,500 people die in drunk driving crashes and another half a million are injured in alcohol-related traffic crashes. This is why MADD is extremely disappointed by the decision of the manufacturers of the game Grand Theft Auto IV to include a game module where players can drive drunk. Drunk driving is not a game and it is not a joke. Drunk driving is a choice, a violent crime and it is also 100 percent preventable. MADD is calling on the Entertainment Software Ratings Board to reclassify Grand Theft Auto IV as an Adults Only game, a step up from the current rating of Mature and for the manufacturer to consider a stop in distribution – if not out of responsibility to society then out of respect for the millions of victims/survivors of drunk driving."

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The biggest game ever - or, the not-nearly-perfect perfect experience.

So Grand Theft Auto IV has officially arrived on the Xbox 360 and PS3 with all of the appropriate accoutrements. Namely, breathless news reports mentioning sex with hookers, cop killing, and the general decline and fall of western civilization. There are also the obligatory stories citing midnight madness in far-flung places like England and Australia, where evidently a couple of poor saps got beaten up for their copies of the game. Not that this ever happens in any other scenario. Ever.

What all of these fail to really discuss is the content of a game that's a cultural touchstone, giving players extraordinary freedom in an ugly, hateful environment where everyone is out to screw everyone else and grift is a way of life and death. 

In the midst of the enthusiast media falling all over itself awarding perfect 10s across the board and unprecedented sales that may even stave off EA's hostile takeover of Take-Two, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that most of us are just getting started in the mean streets of Liberty City.

Few people are bigger GTA fanboys than yours truly, having played and thoroughly enjoyed each and every title in the series since the groundbreaking GTA III. While I am enjoying so much of what the latest, next-generation version has to offer, I have been unpleasantly surprised by a few things that really should never have happened.

First of all, let's be clear - it is IMPOSSIBLE to read text messages, phone records, or anything else on your cell phone. Now, I haven't gotten very far, and I know that your cell gets upgraded as you move forward, but still. This is ridiculous. I've got a 40-inch hi-def TV, and I have to get about 3 feet away and squint just to read the incredibly small text. It's not just me and my old-man eyes, either. I've spoken with half a dozen other people who have the same complaint. How could this have been the final game design for such a crucial driver of missions and relationships?

Secondly, the map at the lower left of the screen is also incredibly small. Not only is it somewhat out of scale with what's going on on-screen (meaning you miss turns and key intersections all the time until you learn to compensate…which usually is a result of a failed mission or two), but terribly important icon markers for Pay-n-Sprays, safe houses, and other spots are indistinguishable from each other.

I have no problem saying I love GTA IV, and it is a spectacular visual feast. Driving and walking around the city is an exercise in wonder. I just can't believe that these huge problems made their way to the final game (and I can't possibly imagine how someone with an SDTV could even think about playing without losing their minds). 

I'd like to order some perspective.

It's been a good six weeks since the Echochrome demo hit the Japanese PSN marketplace and, after tweaking it six ways from Sunday, it's finally good enough for the US.  The full game is going to take just a bit longer to hit, but the demo offers the smallest taste of the puzzle-y goodness in store.

Echochrome is a game about perspective.  It tells you that what you see is what actually is, playing with the idea of 3D space as represented on a 2D screen.  A mannequin walks along a path suspended in air, but it's a broken path filled with holes, dead ends, and even a few trampolines.  Navigating Echochrome's twists and turns looks impossible at first, as the mannequin mindlessly walks forward in a straight line and only turns when coming to an edge or corner, and your only tool is the camera.  Who knew that perspective is one of the most powerful tools ever created, aside from maybe Anton Ego?

As the camera moves, parts of the path align get covered up or even seem to connect, and what you see is what's really there.  You know there's a gap but it's blocked by a column, so the mannequin cheerfully strolls past it without breaking stride.  One path is 20 feet up and 30 feet across from another, but the angle of view connects their ends so it's an easy step from one to the other without a second thought.  The paths only look like a 3D structure, and Echochrome is more than happy to use that misconception to mess with your head.

The demo is five tiny tutorials and three levels, and both the PSP and PS3 versions are available for download right this very moment.  It weighs in at a tiny 34MB, small enough that it shouldn't be too difficult to find the time to snag it.  Check it out, the demo is well worth the look.

And for those curious, check out the PC original freeware here.

The community service beta gets pushed back to 3rd Qtr.

SCEA reports that the participants looking forward to beta testing their virtual community service known as HOME will have to wait till this Fall.  "We understand that we are asking PS3 and prospective PS3 users to wait a bit longer, but we have come to the conclusion that we need more time to refine the service to ensure a more focused gaming entertainment experience than what it is today," said Kazuo Hirai, President and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

"Our overarching objective is to provide users with new gaming experiences that are available only on PLAYSTATION Home. Spending more time on the development and on the Closed Beta testing reaffirms our commitment to bringing a quality service, maintaining the PlayStation(R) tradition."

The HOME project has been a very ambitious project created to give the PS3 some added appeal that's been lacking since the console's debut. Once available, gamers can look forward to a rich, fun interactive community environment that will incorporate social networking, gamer achievements, leaderboards and more. Details of the Closed Beta testing features, registration for the test and the service will be announced as they become available.