Posted Nov 10th 2008 4:04PM by Andrew Yoon Filed under: News
Chances are, if you're an anime fan, you've picked up the PS3-exclusive Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm. The most recent game by Namco Bandai has rightly deserved its fair share of attention due to the fantastic graphics crafted by the CyberConnect 2 team. The secret behind the new graphics is surprisingly simple: add more polygons.
Take for example the Naruto character model. In the PS2 Naruto games, the rascally ninja contained 3,723 polygons. However, for the PS3 iteration, he's made up of 16,927. His face alone takes 4,013 polygons, making his face more complex than the entirety of the PS2 model.
As hardware gets more powerful and tech gets better, we wouldn't be surprised if animation studios just used game engines to render episodes. Heck, we wouldn't mind watching real-time generated episodes of Naruto using this game engine.
Posted Nov 2nd 2008 10:30AM by Majed Athab Filed under: News
Massive HDD installs are back in fashion for the fall season. Leading the charge is PS3-exclusive Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm's 3.9GB doozy. According to Gamers Platform, who are currently playing a retail build of the game, the install takes about 15-20 minutes. You might want to clear up some space if you're planning to pick up the game on November 4 when it finally hits stores.
If you've got limited space on your hard drive, then you must be looking out for other titles with mandatory installs. Here's a brief list of other popular fall titles which have the space-eating "feature": LittleBigPlanet (500MB), Spider-Man: Web of Shadows (1GB) and Fallout 3 (4.3GB).
In addition to a stunning new trailer, a recent blog post on the PlayStation.blog revealed that PS3's exclusive Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm will feature post-release DLC, which will add additional support characters and missions to the game. While Namco Bandai is usually notorious for their overpriced DLC offerings, we're surprised to hear that it'll be all free. Seriously. "It will mostly focus on new support characters and missions and best of all, it will all be FREE!" If the beautiful graphics and exclusive PS3 support haven't convinced you, perhaps this announcement will.
Posted Oct 15th 2008 1:02PM by Andrew Yoon Filed under: News
Surprise, surprise. A Namco Bandai game with DLC? The hotly-anticipated Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm will be getting DLC in the form of "Storm Packs." Thankfully, if you want to get the first DLC pack for free, all you have to do is pre-order the game at GameStop (or EB Games). According to the site: "Reserve Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm and receive a code to download Storm Pack 1. Storm Pack 1 contains the new Ultimate Mission and gives you the ability to unlock the legendary First Hokage as your support character in battle."
We probably don't need to say too much about this game. It's only about a month away, but this new trailer still amazes us. Strangely, it will be available in the US before Japan even gets it. Why? It doesn't have a release date here.
Posted Sep 18th 2008 1:30PM by Andrew Yoon Filed under: News
Click for high-resolution image.
Seemingly every high profile video game gets a Limited Edition these days. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm is no exception. The gorgeous PS3-exclusive anime fighter will be getting its own primo pack. It'll come packaged in a deluxe SteelBook™ (it's really trademarked) case featuring alternate artwork with a protective slip cover. Each Limited Edition bundle will include an exclusive soundtrack music CD featuring 18 original tracks, an individually numbered limited edition Laser Cell™ depicting Naruto and Sasuke in battle, and two exclusive limited edition collectible cards. The Limited Edition will go for a $10 premium, with a retail price of $69.99. It will be available through GameStop, Best Buy, GameCrazy, Amazon.com and other select retailers this November (not October, as previously announced).
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm made a big splash when it launched its debut trailer a few months ago. The visuals were simply unparalleled by other cel-shaded games at the time. A new batch of videos released by Namco Bandai have us squinting, bewildered by the dazzling visuals on display. Ultimate Ninja Storm looks absolutely fantastic, there's absolutely no doubt about it.
There are a number of videos released, and we're working as quickly as possible to get them uploaded to you. For now, enjoy this one video of Tsunade's battle -- and then check throughout the day for more videos as they're ready. Update: Two more videos added.
We've just obtained a brand new trailer for the PS3 exclusive fighting game, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm. This new trailer is more revealing than ever, showcasing the game's free roaming adventure mode. Players will be able to partake in 100 unique missions through the single player adventure as they go through the early parts of Naruto's ninja career. New screenshots (featured below) highlight series favorites, like Gaara, Guy, Itachi, Kimimaro and Rock Lee. These are but a few of the 25 characters that will be in the game when it releases exclusively on PS3 in November.
Namco Bandai's upcoming Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm is such a surprising treat. The PS3 exclusive has earned a lot of attention due to its fantastic graphics, but Ninja Storm features far more than just a pretty face. We had a chance to play a more expansive build at Namco Bandai's E3 booth, where we took a sneak peak at the game's elusive single player mode and got some hands-on time with the multiplayer.
Naruto's adventure begins just like it does in the manga. A cool treat for fans will be the inclusion of both Japanese and English audio for the story. From the looks of things, all the dialogue in the game may be spoken. While the lip-syncing was very off, we're hoping it can be fixed before Naruto's upcoming holiday release. The adventure will have Naruto exploring the Hidden Leaf village, much like in the Xbox 360 Naruto game. He'll have to talk to various villagers to progress the story, unlock missions and goals. Surprisingly, the first PS3 Naruto game covers a lot of territory: we were told that the game's story will go all the way up to the Sasuke Retrieval arc.
One thing has been made abundantly clear in all the media we've seen of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm -- it is insanely pretty. Playing the recent demo (available now in Qore, public release in a few weeks) only reaffirmed this point. Ultimate Ninja Storm, more than any anime game before it, looks just as good, if not better, than its source material. Not only is the level of detail stunning, the fluidity of the animations and the strong use of motion blur give it a truly cinematic look.
The Ultimate Ninja games on PS2 and PSP were all rather solid, but fans will be shocked to see the series make the transition into full 3D battles. Expanding the battlefield adds a great deal of depth to the aging series, and makes fighting even more enjoyable.
Love it or hate it, the second issue of Qore hits the PLAYSTATION Network today. Here's what you can expect:
Resistance 2 - The big cover story for this issue is Insomniac's upcoming PS3-exclusive FPS. Bonus! You get to see host Veronica Belmont don a mo-cap suit just for this game.
Qore is available for $2.99 each episode, $24.99 for a 13-episode subscription. (Also, for those waiting for the SOCOM Confrontation beta, you'll need to keep Issue 1. We'll tell all of you when the beta will be available.) Do you think this second issue is worth it?
Here are seven gameplay vids from Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm, the upcoming PS3-exclusive, anime-ramen-ninja title. The visuals in this game, as we've said for the longest time now, look spectacular and we can't wait to try it out. In fact, it won't be too long before we can -- remember, there's an exclusive demo included with this month's issue of Qore. So, while you wait for the issue (should be out this Thursday, July 3), enjoy these vids to get you pumped up for the demo. Six more after the break.
A new HD gameplay trailer from Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm is now being shown at Gametrailers.com. It really is hard to believe that the majority of this trailer is actual gameplay; the cel-shaded graphics are fluid and emulates the Naruto anime almost perfectly. The game will follow the first 135 episodes of the anime, which itself is an adaptation of the first 27 volumes of the manga. A highlight of this trailer is that it showcases a mechanic in the game, where pressing L1 or R1 allows you to summon a pre-determined assist character and he/she can string combos or land extra hits onto your opponent. We can't wait for this PS3 exclusive when it arrives in the fall. Meanwhile, those who subscribe to Qore will get a demo a little earlier on July 3rd, whereas the rest of you will have to wait till July 17th.
Doesn't Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm look absolutely stunning? Namco Bandai's PS3 exclusive anime fighter brings cel-shaded graphics to a whole new level. While the game isn't scheduled for release until the end of this year, subscribers to Qore will be able to get their hands on an exclusive playable demo next month. Even this early on, the game looks beautiful, with full 3D fights -- new to the Ultimate Ninja series.
Unfortunately, it doesn't appear the game will ship with online multiplayer. But, that's what the inevitable sequels are for, right?
Naruto has been the talk of the town -- well, at least the town comprised of the "video game community." Namco Bandai's PS3-exclusive fighter looks like no other anime game out there, but it wants to offer more than just pretty looks.
Fights will now take place on "multi-dimensional" battle grounds, each with unique characteristics. Like in the PSP Ultimate Ninja Heroes games, players can choose up to three characters for tag-team opportunities. The story mode will feature a total of one hundred missions, reliving the events up to the Sasuke Retrieval arc.
The game supports up to two players and is planned for a Q4 release later this year. With 25 "fully transformable warriors" featured in Storm, we're certain that this is the Naruto game fans have been dreaming about. Check out direct-feed high-def screenshots in our new gallery:
