NBA 2K12 devs spill some beans on the upcoming release

Recently, MashButtons was invited to attend a developer call regarding NBA 2K12 with the producer Erick Boenisch and senior gameplay designer Mike Wang. On this call we were able to get some additional information about some of the upcoming features, gameplay changes, and some other general information.

The NBA's greatest may be my biggest selling point for this title as you may not have the Jordan challenges, but get 50% more games going through the NBA greatest challenges. Aside from playing through historical games with 15 of the greatests of all times, the visuals and cameras follow the era to make the games feel more authentic. Shot compositing is the second biggest feature I am looking forward to as it mixes and matches thousands of shot animations when you set up your player to customize shooting animations for the top and bottom half of the body.

From the sounds of it, 2K12 could easily surpass 2K11 and that alone is a feat in itself.

New Cave Story 3D screen shots surface to tease you even more

Cave Story is coming to the Nintendo 3DS, NIS America promises. Those who have played through this title already on the Wii, PC, DSiWare, and any other iterations the may be out there can still get excited as after looking at these screenshots, I was in awe and wanted to play through the game again. But I digress, if you have not played this gem, you are missing out and I feel sorry for you, I kid! Either way check out the screens and stay on the lookout for this release.

New Rayman Origin trailer shows off a bit of...everything?

Ubisoft has yet to disappoint me lately with coverage of their upcoming lineup and Rayman Origins is no exception. In the new Around the World trailer, we get a glimpse of moves, levels, bosses, characters, and almost anything else you might want to see about this wacky platformer. If Rayman is not your forte, then you might want to view the trailer for it beautiful hand drawn environments and haggard looking bosses.

Dr. Nefarious releases Z'Grute in new Ratchet & Clank trailer

One of the upcoming PS3 exclusives titles has us overflowing with excitement. Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One has been showing off its gameplay bits lately and how the coop gameplay works in this title, but this time around we get to see a boss battle against the Z'Grute. Along with the smooth looking gameplay, there is quite a bit of humorous narration, which has us looking forward to the release even more.

MashButtons likes it over 200km/h in F1 2011 review

 It is hard to believe a year has gone by since I was first introduced to the F1 racing series from Codemasters, but time flies when you’re having fun. Right? As a fan of the fast gameplay in the last one but wish it had been more polished, it seems the developers have been listening to the fans, by adding a whole lot of Turtle Wax to this year's release. This year still features the official drivers, teams, and tracks, but on top of that we get two new circuits, Delhi’s Jaypee International Race Circuit and Nürburgring, making the new season consist of 19 circuits. Players can now play two players split screen for the first time while online gameplay now supports 16 people with 8 AI racers and coop championship allows you and a friend to race for the same team throughout the 2011 season. So I guess it is time to see if F1 2011 can surpass it’s already very solid predecessor.

 F1 2010 took a while for me to get into unlike DiRT and GRiD, but once you get the hang of the controls and unlocking performance enhancements based on your performance, quickly sucks you in and doesn’t let you go. 2011 does come through in spades. Yes, you still pick your team, get interviewed to build your individual persona, qualify for starting position and earn performance enhancements, so what has changed? For one, the game engine, 2011 was designed with the EGO game engine, making it look much better than 2010 along with looking and feeling faster, making for some beautiful crashes. The crashes are not the only the only beauty in this titles as the massive tracks looks much more detailed, but the details in the cars are amazing from the tire tread to the reflections and the moving parts, and topped with the whining of the engine as you push 200km/h give you a great experience from race to race, leaving my hands sore from gripping the controller and sometimes sweating depending on how close the race is. The new DRS (Drag Reduction System) is a nice boost feature that provides you with a quick increase of 10km to help pass rivals.

 This is definitely a title for the diehard racers as it is not forgiving to mistakes. You are still able to rewind to correct mistakes throughout the race, but it does not take much to lose control and crash, especially in the rain. Speaking of rain, the wet weather has taught me a whole new level patience and to spend as much time qualifying to get as close to pole position as possible mainly because it is not a fast race and if you lose your composure, the race is pretty much over and you be closer to last than first. My main issue is with a feature that can be turned off, but I wouldn’t suggest removing it until after a couple races and you get used to the control of the car. This temperamental feature is the auto brake as it almost always slowed me down in turns to the point where I was always getting passed, but like I said you can turn it off and depending on how long or short your races are, you can brake and take off as hard as you like without having to worry about damage to your car.

If there is one thing I had to say Codemasters does extremely well is make their racing games fun, beautiful, and highly addicting, and this year they exceeded my expectations with F1. Hell, I didn’t even know I was a fan of the sport until playing 2010. Those who played 2010 will easily welcome 2011 and newcomers to the series will fall in love and look forward to what 2012 will offer. While I am not a fan of practicing and qualifying before a race, if you skip practice and only do a handful of laps in qualifying to lock in your starting position and to dial in the car’s settings, you will not feel burdened with the process and ultimately look forward to fighting against the track for a single digit starting position to earn points towards the championship and unlock performance mods to make you a faster racer.

MashButtons enters the ring with MMA Supremacy review

Two years ago at E3 we saw Jens Pulver on the show floor promoting the upcoming fighter MMA Supremacy, you know, the gritty no holds barred fighting title recently released by 505 Games. What’s the difference between this and the handful of other MMA fighting games out there? Supremacy focuses on unsanctioned fights along with fast and brutal gameplay that seems to be more like how the old MMA pay per view fights used to be. Each fighter has their own fighting style and story as you fight from an amateur no name to supremacy with names like Jens Pulver and Demian Reis to real life female fighters Felice Herrig and Michele Guiterrez. Rather than sold out arenas, you will fight in underground events taking place in prisons, warehouses, strip clubs, and more. So will this Mature rated fighter hold up to the other MMA fighters out there?

So I have had some time with UFC Undisputed and EA MMA, liked the first and had mixed feelings about the latter, but after seeing footage on Supremacy, I thought it was an interesting concept, and now after playing through the story with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter Demian Reis and Felice Herrig along with some online matches with other fighters, I feel like I have a grasp on the mechanics and gameplay.  This is more of a 2D fighter similar to Mortal Kombat, minus the fatalities but with ground fighting. The graphics look really good and realistic, with bruises forming on you and your opponent throughout the fight. It is definitely more brutal than the other MMA titles out there while being easier to get the hang of controls. I was only able to find a couple matches but they were fast and fun, however, the feature that stood out the most was how each fighter controls so much differently from the next.

I highly suggest playing through the tutorial before going into the story mode; I did not at first and found myself pounding buttons trying to lay down combos to beat the opponent into submissions. I quickly learned that this method does not work so well unless you play on easy. Also, there isn’t much of an online community right now, which is the main reason as to why I have only been able to play a few matches online, not sure if it is due to another big release that came out this week, but there were numerous times I would sit for five to ten minutes waiting for an opponent during prime time hours in both ranked and player matches. Lastly, it seems controls are a bit sluggish and there were numerous times I would have to repeat the move entry to execute moves and combos, while other times it worked flawlessly, even when I would slow down my button input it did help some, it did not eliminate the issue.

 

Supremacy MMA did not feel like a game that could overcome the UFC fighting game but is a title I could have fun playing until the next UFC entry. It does deliver on all of its features, primarily the brutal action and once you land a few combos and knock outs, it is easy to keep playing and developing your player strategy, unfortunately with little to no online community, the replay value wears thin after a couple hours, unless you have another controller and some friends to beat down. It would have been nice to create your own fighter and work your way to Supremacy, but it does make do with what is available. My review is based on the Xbox 360 version of the title, I have not heard as to whether the PlayStation 3 entry has a larger online community for this title, but I do see this game being a lot more enjoyable as long as you can find matches online.