PS3 Fanboy

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 will be headed to the US in 2009, Bandai Namco announced today. Originally named Gundam Musou 2, the game will feature an online versus mode, as well as "larger Mobile Suits, more epic battles and compelling storyline." It sounds like more of the same mech-on-mech action, but if you are a fan of the Dynasty Warriors franchise, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

How about a picture of these giant mobile armors? That's one of them above. Check out more screenshots in the gallery below.

[Via press release]

According to Gamers Creed, Koei just announced the release of Dynasty Warriors 6 for the PlayStation 3 at the PlayStation Premiere event in Tokyo that happened earlier today. Not a whole lot of additional information was announced, but we did hear TGS will be the big unveiling of the game. Also, according to other sites Dynasty Warriors 6 is planned for release this year in Japan, so it sounds like it should be hitting the shelves shortly after it's unveiling.

Koei has never been ashamed to milk that franchise for all its worth, so it's not a huge surprise we're getting a new Dynasty Warriors but it's still exciting. Hopefully they will be able to address some of the issues that plagued the last-gen versions (i.e., incredible fogging, low rez textures, repetitive graphics and shallow gameplay). Dynasty Warriors: Gundam is a decent attempt at a next-gen DW, but isn't quite what a lot of people were hoping for. Will DW 6 be able to satisfy our next-gen hack-and-slash needs?

It's a good thing everyone's still busy with The Darkness, Rainbow Six and Ninja Gaiden Sigma. This week's releases are a bit bare. Check out the full release list below.

US Game

• No new games
  

EU Games

• No new games

Asian Games

• Gundam Musou
• Railfan: Taiwan High Speed Rail
  

Don't forget that PS3 games are region free and make sure you call ahead before you head out to the shops. Release dates are fickle fellows.

[UPDATE] All Pro Football 2K8 has a release date of July 16th, not July 10th as previously thought. Sorry, you've got another week to wait.

In a recent conference call with the press, Namco Bandai's localization producer Nobuaki Taguchi revealed numerous new details on its upcoming Gundam brawler. The game, which now has a confirmed August 28th ship date, is the first Gundam and Dynasty Warriors game that will feature both English and Japanese voices.

Although there will be no downloadable content, it appears that fans will have a lot to look forward to. There are two main game modes to explore, "Official" and "Original" mode. In "Official" mode, players will go through classic Gundam storylines based on the official manga and anime series. "Original" mode weaves a new tale for the game, that somehow manages to incorporate the various Gundam universes involved. Some of the series to be incorporated into the game include Mobile Suit Gundam (the first Gundam), Gundam Seed, G Gundam, and Gundam Wing.

The awkwardly (but aptly) titled Dynasty Warriors: Gundam is coming to PS3 and Xbox 360 later this summer, and Namco Bandai has released a plethora of new screens and artwork for the title. Developed by Koei's Team: Omega Force, the creators of the original Dynasty Warriors series, the game has players using fan-favorite mechas from "more than 6" TV series (we're assuming that means 7?).

According to IGN, Namco Bandai confirmed today that Gundam Musou will be released in North America under the new moniker Dynasty Warriors: Gundam. It is scheduled to come out towards the end of summer on both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 platforms.

The game sold well in Japan, but not up to Namco Bandai's expectations. They had expected it to have an attach rate of over 50% though, which seems a tad high for this game. So maybe they were being a bit overly optimistic. Regardless though, it makes sense that they would expand the release market to increase their revenue return.

Hopefully this will be better than their previous PS3 Gundam attempt. The Japanese reviews were favorable, and the Dynasty Warrior games have always been a guilty pleasure of mine, but the graphics don't look real hot and the DW formula has grown a little stale. Also that new name bugs the hell out of me. It's descriptive sure, but it makes me think of this guy.

The overall verdict? Not a sad bloke in the lot. Then again, this ever-intrepid blogulator considers a 7 as it should be considered: above average, but not great. Besides, that number was the lowest. Let's also remember -- Famitsu is a tough cookie when it comes to reviews. Only six games have made perfect scores (and lo and behold, some of my favorites): The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64), Soul Calibur (DC), Vagrant Story (PSX... Best. Game. Ever.), The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (GC), Nintendogs (DS), and Final Fantasy XII (PS2... same people who made Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story... and the lesser cared about Romancing SaGa games, which are also great). You can check out what else got almost-perfect scores on Wikipedia. Some surprises, really, but you have to remember -- unlike our video game magazines that seem to arbitrarily pick numbers based on "awesome factor", Famitsu bases their scores in comparison only to other games in the same genre. A perfect score means that, in that particular genre, nothing else can possibly be better.

Whew. Sorry about that, but it's just so exciting! Without further ado, here are the review scores/highlights for the first wave of PS3 titles:

• Miyazato Golf Club: 7, 7, 7, 7
  
• good tempo, hard to judge where shots will land, doesn't quite look next-gen
• Genji: 7, 7, 7, 8
• camera is difficult, but the game looks great; challenging for beginners, good amount of content, good controls
• Gundam: 8, 8, 8, 8
• excellent Mobile Suit models, problematic system, great textures, tons of optional/unlockable stuff, satisfying, but with divided opinions (don't look at me -- just copying from the forum)
• Resistance: 9, 8, 8, 8 (keep in mind, a lot of people say the Japanese don't like the FPS genre -- but again, the grading is based on others in the same genre, so...)
• standard FPS gameplay, excellent netplay, very high standard of next-gen
• Riiiiiiidge Racer 7: 9, 9, 9, 9
• totally satisfactory, tons of content, very high quality graphics and sound

There you have it. Report your reactions in the form of comments! Dismissed!

If you like big robots, explosions, exploding robots, or big explosions, you may have played a mech game. One such game, which also has a Japanese animation series (multiple, actually), is known as Gundam. Mobile Suit Gundam has been slated for a US release sometime within the next year, which could actually mean (and is rumored to mean) by the end of 2006. This game, hailing from Namco Bandai, has been several years in production and boasts, among other things, "ultra realistic destruction physics." Well there you have it. They're ultra. Nothing beats ultra.

This game takes place after the XBox360 Gundam title, One Year War. So if you're a huge anime buff and need to get the whole story, timeline, whatever, then you may need to check that one out too. The basic premise is you take control of your big robot and destroy other big robots (strategically, of course) or other objects, complete objectives, unlock more robots, and wreak havoc in a robot war. Which can be surprisingly fun. In the article at IGN, there's a link at the end which goes into more detail for those interested. Some of the stuff about the PS3 hardware itself in the interview is interesting as well. It has to be said... it's Gun-dam great!