Gamertell

At the 2009 Electronics Entertainment Expo, Square Enix debuted a playable demo of the latest chapter in its Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series titled The Crystal Bearers for Wii.

In the demo, I was able to experience Layle’s mysterious abilities in an assortment of different environments. During battles, players will utilize the WiiMote by moving it to collaborate with the onscreen targeting point and pushing the B button to commence its appropriate action. This could be anything from telekinetically controlling a Gatling gun to Swiss cheese oncoming avian enemies, to targeting chasing enemy Chocobo knights and tossing them from their steeds in an attempt to flee.

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I first caught a glimpse of Bayonetta at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show so when I found out that Sega would be debuting a playable demo of this game, I made sure I held my place in line. The demo offered two different stages: A tutorial (easy mode) and actual levels (normal mode).

Bayonetta is a third-person action adventure game amidst a fully 3D environment with game play that closely resembles Capcom’s Devil May Cry. It includes an intact combo system as well as a scoring meter that tallies everything at the end of the level and awards the player with different trophies representative of skill level displayed. Bayonetta was being demoed on the Xbox 360 and is scheduled for a multi-platform release in late 2009 (Xbox 360, Playstation 3). From the early looks of this game and the demo, it looks like the latter part of 2009 is heating up to be be one extremely sexy adrenaline rush.

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Check out the gallery: Bayonetta

The Xbox 360 will finally be receiving some man-loving from Raiden (first appeared in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty for the PS2 and subsequently in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for the PS3) who adorns the stage in Metal Gear Solid: Rising.

The announcement of Raiden receiving his own game shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to fans what with the image that Hideo Kojima ended his Game Developer’s Converence 2009 keynote with all the way back in March 2009.

Besides the game’s invasion onto the Xbox 360…

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NISA (Nippon Ichi Software of America) was kind enough to invite Gamertell to attend its Holy Drunken Shenanigans, Badman! event that was held at the Zebulon Cafe in San Francisco, California on May 7, 2009. Inside, there was food, drinks, and video game fun to be had by all.

NISA displayed many of their upcoming titles pending release in the US. The list of playable titles included the event’s namesake Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! (Sony PSP), Cross Edge (PS3), Phantom Brave (Wii), and Let’s Zenryoku Hitchhike!!!!!!!!! (Wiiware ). Let’s Zenryoku Hitchhike!!!!!!!!! looks to be a party title where players traverse a board all the while using the Wiimote to flag down passing vehicles, be it such things as beater trucks to cows.

Initially, several key persons involved with the development and production of Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! were supposed to be in attendance. However, their travel plans were inevitably canceled due to this month’s flavor of the month also known as the Mexican/swine/H1N1 flu scare…

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Check out the gallery: NISA Press Event - May 7, 2009

After I first popped this game into my PSP, I played it for about two hours and decided that I was done with it. The major vice that turned me off from continuing this game was the gluttony of loading screens that accompanied early every battle and setting change. The loading screens may feature original artwork of the characters but having to look at them every 5 minutes is a bit too much. Also, it seemed as though one character in my party was constantly ganged up on by enemies causing me to lose my advantage in battles.

I’m not sure what changed but I decided to give this game a second chance and, to my surprise, I haven’t been able to put the darned thing down…

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Check out the gallery: Mana Khemia: Student Alliance for Sony PSP

While the obvious stars of the Gamestop Street Fighter IV national tournament were the 16 finalists, there was yet another group of individuals who deserved a nod - Supreme Soul. Supreme Soul is a dance crew which gained fame by competing against others in the MTV show called America’s Best Dance Crew. Gamestop decided to invite these talented young persons to the event and add them to the evening’s curriculum.

In the videos, Supreme Soul introduces two of their new members, who introduce themselves through dance, and demonstrate their impressive choreography.

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As promised in my previous post, here are some of the videos from the Gamestop Street Fighter IV National Championship Finals held on April 19, 2009, in San Francisco, California (USA).

Click through for four exclusive videos from the event!

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Check out the gallery: Gamestop, Capcom, and EVO Street Fighter IV National Championship Finals

On April 18, 2009, Gamestop partnered with Capcom and the EVO Champisonship Series to hold the Street Figther IV National Championship Finals. The event was held amidst a backdrop that very much paralleled Ken’s background stage in SFIV at the Fort Mason event center in San Francisco, California.

And we’ve got exclusive coverage and photos of the event. Just click through.

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Check out the gallery: Gamestop, Capcom, and EVO Street Fighter IV National Championship Finals

San Francisco’s little niche known as Japan Town celebrated its 42nd annual Cherry Blossom Festival that ended with its highly anticipated grand parade on April 19, 2009.

This event usually spans for two weeks in mid-April when the cherry blossom trees are in full bloom. Hordes of people come together to partake in an abundance of ethnic foods, activities, and contests. This year’s celebration welcomed Star Trek veteran and community activist George Takei (aka Mr. Sulu) as its Grand Marshall.

Since 1999, Japan Town’s local and flourishing video rental place, aptly named Japan Video, has been sponsoring the Cherry Blossom Festival cosplay contest. This year mustered up a whopping 200 attendees who vied for the position of grand prize winner.

Participants congregated in front of San Francisco’s City Hall at 10 a.m. on Sunday (April 19, 2009) where judges would deem those worthy of receiving coveted prizes. Participants are promised gifts and goodies but neither they nor I know exactly what’s at stake until the very last minute (and remain a mystery to me even now). All participants were invited to march in the grand parade while the winners of the competition were featured on a motorized float.

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Amazon’s deal of the day for April 8, 2009, is Square Enix’s latest RPG for the Xbox 360 Star Ocean: The Last Hope. Today, and only for today, you can own this game for just $39.99 sans tax and it includes free shipping.

Originally released on February 24, 2009, this game is the…

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