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Finally, Africa is getting it's own RPG: Aurion, legacy of the Kori-Odan

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If you were to take a trip down through Video game history you're never come to the realization that Africa is the second largest continent in the world. There's a clear lack of black African characters, stories and art represented in the video game and media industry. Which is a shame when you consider how rich Africa is with it's history, people, language, traditions, myths, architecture, and so forth.

We believe one of the main  reasons for Africa's absence is because there aren't many black people i.e Black Africans making video games to showcase their culture and stories which could reach a global audience. What we're used to instead is a derive by AAA titles that only use the ambiguous setting of "Africa " as an exotic scenery for their fierce narratives: Resident Evil 5's epidemic diseased Africa, the African drug Lords of Far Cry 2, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance's cyborg blaze across a politically unsettled Africa.

hERE'S AN AFRICAN RPG MADE BY AFRICAN PEOPLE

Videos games ain't the only at fault in spreading the negative portrayal of Africa in it's fabrication. Hollywood movies also play a vast part in this. It's a portrait of the continent that happens to be born from international news, which is probably the place most people  hear anything about Africa. When something horrendous is happening there we're informed about it. Otherwise? Nope.

As Black/Africans continue to look into what's achievable with video games we're starting to notice larger productions. Among the first is Aurion, Legacy of the Kori-Odan, which retains it's local culture, but also manages to balance that with a more universal appeal, which means it could find fans outside of the Africa.



Aurion is an African fantasy action-RPG being made by Kiro'o Games, a small team from
Cameroon. It's native origins are important as the RPG market has been controlled by Euro-centric and Asian fantasy since it's arrival. This means that stories, surroundings, and popular narratives of those cultures monopolized the genre, but here comes an African fantasy game made by black people and how refreshing it is to see. Even upon first sight, with it's beautiful mix of colours, Aurion has a distinct look in comparison to other RPGS, and that's due to it's Black African roots.




For it's unique African fantasy, the group has founded the Kiro'o Tales, the name being copied from "Kiroho Maono," which in Swahili simply means "spiritual Vision." The Kiro'o Tales take from three distinct sources: African mythology, "true" African stories, and African traditions. This is why Auriona, the planet this fable takes place upon, is made up of six continents each with their own cultural group, all of whom are affiliated  by a "frightful past."

significantly, as with Africa's yesteryear of colonization and slavery export, this trauma endured in the past is something for the dwellers of Auriona to overcome collectively. And so, the game focuses not on encouraging more cultural conflict but on uniting the people, or, as the team put it, acting as "an ointment for [the peoples'] harmony." It's a fantasy that looks towards to a more optimistic future.

This is the reason why, in Aurion, it's essential that you create an improved future for the planet's population. As Enzo Kori-Odan, the new crowned head of Zama, and his spouse Erine Evou, you explore each of the six continents to find support for your crusade. That cause is taking Enzo's throne back after his brother-in-law carried through  a coup d'etat on the day of his enthronement.



 In this, you are given time given to explore and communicate with nonbelligerent villagers as they go about their everyday life; speaking of stories, looking after farm animals, selling fresh fish and fetching water. It's in these exploratory points and the ancillary activities bound to them that you get to experience parts of African day-to-day life inside the RPG formula.

Also, by travelling to the multifaceted cultures of the planet, Enzo and Erine "learn about the political  and existential perplexity attached to their roles as King and Queen." But, more so, it gives them the chance to unify their "Legacy" so the African past isn't entirely disregarded.

This legacy is knotted to a unusual physical phenomenon that some people in Aurion's fantasy are capable of channeling, numerous of them using it to create artwork, and some other forms of handcraft. Enzo and Erine use this energy in battle, as they are Aurionics, and it's their "art of battle" that this "Legacy" pertains to.

significantly, when channeling the force they hear the voices of their ancestors. Kiro'o games say that this is due to Aurionics being the consequence of generations of feeling and thoughts bundled up into one person. Enzo and Erine's abilities, much like their majestic positions, are the creation of their bloodline. And so, they're using what is fundamentally African culture, realized as a form of wizardly energy, to unite the six continents of Auriona.

Aurion, then, is quite a concentrated mixture of the mundane and the fantastical, all of it based around African lifestyle and mythology, whether directly or through fable. But it's lifelike presentation and well-known action-RPG formula means that it's all made accessible. There's possibility here for it to have worldwide appeal. And, even if it doesn't succeed on that kind of scale, it'll still make for a large step towards that.



 

 You can find out more about Aurion, Legacy of the Kori-Odan on it's website.  Also watch this space for more updates.

Combat Core, Gamers Answer to a New Power Stone

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For many years fans of the Power Stone fighting game series, which first appeared on the Dreamcast in 1999 have been asking Capcom for Power Stone 3 but sadly for them it's fallen on deaf ears. Whenever people talk about reviving old Capcom franchises, you best believe that a new Power Stone title is at the top of their list. It's kind of weird that the series sunk to an early grave so rapidly, after giving players two comparatively flourishing titles and a anime series to boot.

As Yooka-Laylee, Double Fine Adventure and Project Eternity have shown, Kickstarter can lead to major prosperity for games from disregarded genres and franchises. The notable difference regarding Combat Core, is the developers haven't declared that any of Power Stone's creators are along side them working on the project.


Instead, there's confirmation that Robaato, regular Udon artist and current lead on Kickstarter Cryamore, is working on the brand and character portrait art for Combat Core. Although Combat Core isn't being developed by old Capcom developers, with Robaato behind the scenes, it looks a lot like it could have been. It also appears that the Skullgirls co-creator Alex Ahad is also working on the character designs for Combat Core.

To put it into prospective, Combat Core is a fast-paced 3D Arena fighting game currently in development for PC giving you a array of colourful and unique characters to choose from. You'll also be able to customize your character and fight in interactive stages with a variety of weapons and special abilities at your disposal. The game features single player, local player and online modes.

Combat Core gives you colourful characters and feels like a pleasant throwback to the N64/Dreamcast era.


Key Features


  • Dynamical  fighting from 1v1 to 4 player battle royale or team modes
  • Physics-based surroundings destruction and interactive ragdolls
  • fresh characters with fun, unique move-sets and capability 
  • Combat Cores can raise fighter stats and grant special attacks to suit your play style!
  • Local Multiplayer + Online Multiplayer using Exit Game's Photon Networking Framework
  • Interactive Arenas with a variety of mechanics and hazards
  • Weapon Pickups ranging from lazer swords to energy grenade launchers, with multiple attacks and uses
  • Full Character Editor to create custom fighters with different gear, stats, and skills
  • Oculus Rift Compatible - The first fighting game with native Oculus Rift support!


Meet The Characters 



The combatants of Combat Core are a bizarre but colourful bunch each with their own unique look, thus making each character stand out. From these lot we'd have to say our personal favourites are currently Ember and Squaz.

What Do We Think So Far?

Combat Core is looking really fresh so far and not only does it feels like a homage to Capcom's Power Stone series but if given a chance could well exceed it's potential. It will be interesting to see how this game turns out if it manages to reach it's ultimate Kickstarter goal.

The Trailer



You can find out more information about Combat Core on it's kickstarter page.

UPDATE:


Combat Core reaches Kickstarter Goal, Coming to Stream in Early 2016


Despite the E3 2015 hype, Combat Core has managed to garner enough support and got the funding it asked for withing the final stretch. The 4-player arena and inspired Power Stone protege reached it's base $30K goal, and will release via Stream in 2016.

And with that said, there's a playable alpha demo available as well! Micah has been working on Combat Core since 2013.

15 Things We Want in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn

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After the original Final Fantasy 14 flopped, Square Enix managed to get their act together and thus Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn was born anew. Fast forward to 2015 and SE has managed to scoop up millions of subscribers with a ever growing world of content to drown yourself in, their latest MMORPG has stuck gold with the larger MMO community and it currently shows no sign of slowing down.

There's a bundle of things to do in FFXIV: ARR and while Square has managed to create a highly desirable and enjoyable MMORPG experience, we feel there's still features missing that could ultimately make XIV one of the best MMO of this gen. So we've sat down and given our thoughts and on what could make the game better or what's missing overall.

1. Path Companions 


Path companions were available in the original version of Final Fantasy XIV. Like the chocobo companions we have today they aided you on your quest in battle. Players were faced with a number of important decisions when selecting the path companion just right for them. After choosing a class and nickname, players also were given the choice to select their race and gender.

You could say these companions are similar to the retainers we have today, only the retainers ain't given the opportunity to travel around Eorzea with us. We'd like the path companions to make a return alongside our chocobo pals, even if it's for mainly cosmetic purposes. While we do love our chocobos, it would be great to have a hyur companion fighting beside us on other ocassions.. Or better yet why not both? 


2. Map Waypoints 

















In Final Fantasy XI you were able to set waypoints on the map but for some odd reason this feature ceased to return in Final Fantasy XIV and it's left us including many players scratching our heads as to why they wouldn't bring such an important feature back. An option to set waypoints on the main map to show on the minimap would make venturing around Eorzea more of a ease.


3. Improved Mounts 

Travelling on mounts is somewhat faster than travelling on foot in FFXIV and once you obtain your own company chocobo mount at level 20 you'll be relieved to know getting to places and avoiding monsters will be a breeze in comparison to temporarily sprinting, but the mounts still are missing a few vital things which would make it complete.

For one we feel the mounts need a sprint mechanic because while our feathery friends and fiends are fast, when running across the map to find a fate or travelling to pick up a quest, we'd like them to pick up even more speed and not arrive to a fate when it's at 90%. Like the chocobo racing mechanic we'd like either like a sprint button or better yet just make them faster.

We would also like the ability to talk to NPCs on our mounts rather than having to dismount every time we converse with someone. It would certainly make the world of difference in our eyes.


4. Story Catch up Mechanic



A Realm Reborn's plot is massive and will keep you occupied for a very long time, so for new players who just want to jump straight into the Heavensward action to try the new job classes and other features will have to be level 50 and completed the main story.

Which got us thinking, wouldn't it be cool if new players had access to a potential catch up mechanic system which would help them through the story mode fairly quickly so they can get to the Heavensward content at will? Triple EXP, high level NPC parties and echo buff would be great. Or better allow players to skip the story and return to it at their leisure would be a better much alternative.

5. Alt Characters at Max Level 



FFXIV ARR allows you to create several other individual characters which is a neat feature for players who want to start afresh, roleplay or see the main story line plots in the other two cites. It would be great if you could re-roll a new character with the stats of your main character, so for example once your main character completes the story, your new character could reap the benefits of the first character, giving them access to the end game content, unlocked locations and inventory as an optional choice.

6. New Mini-Games



With the inclusion of the Gold Saucer in patch 2.51, we were given the chance to play several mini games including the triple triad card game from Final Fantasy VIII, now maybe we've being greedy but we simply desire more. Over the years the Final Fantasy series has included many memorable and weird mini games for players to dive into and we'd like to see many of return in ARR.


7. The Favour System 

                                              














The Favour System was an April Fools' joke from Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIV developers. It was a joke news about a dating sim system being introduced to Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, posted on their official site of the game on April 1, 2014. Now we would like this joke to become a reality. The one thing that Final Fantasy XIV is severely lacking is romantic elements like the Final Fantasy games of old.

While the system described was obviously a bit over the top, we feel the game really needs to adopt some kind of concept similar to that. This would be a creative way to develop more depth to some of the characters as well as give some interesting dialog changes in the main story line.  Besides every game is better with dating sim elements.


8. New Hairstyles 


                                           










Aside from race, a variety of hairstyles would be a blessing in disguise for players who want their characters to stand out from the pack. The game does have quite a few decent hairstyles but we'd like the option to have more ethnic hairstyles to choose from, maybe even throw in some classic Final Fantasy haircuts while you're at it SE.

9. Affordable Housing 













Many will find the pricing of accommodation ridiculous and rightfully so. Personal Housing as it stands costs a lot of money which makes us wonder, how much is a double cheese burger in Eorzea? 10K? Either lowering the cost of housing or implementing a rent system would work like a charm.


10. Consistent Facial Expressions 



While a minor feature, it's quite charming to see your character express themselves through facial emotes but alas for some reason they are only brief. We're pretty sure it isn't difficult to implement optional persistent facial emotes. There could even be an option for your character to have "moods."
So say if you set your mood to sad your character would frown, do the /disappointed emote, sigh or cry at regular intervals.


11. Clickable Mini Aetheryte Icon on Map                                       















Since you can teleport to a city location by simply clicking on the large Aetheryte crystal on the map, also being able to click the miniature Aetheryte crystals on the map would ease players who wish to go to a particular part of the city rather than bought to the main Aetheryte.


12. Races of Ivalice and Gaia 



The world of Ivalice has some interesting races that we think would fit well into the melting pot of Final Fantasy XIV. Vieras, Bangaas and Aegyls from the Final Fantasy XII series are our top picks for the next races we want to see introduced.

Final Fantasy IX is another world which has some rather unique races which we would like to see included like the Burmecian rats and Black Mage dolls.

13. Better Companion System 



    







The chocobo companion is your best friend in ARR and a major relief in battle but the whole system could improved upon in many ways. For one we feel that companions should be allowed to follow you into all quests and dungeons, also the chocobo really doesn't have to be on a timer anymore.


14. New Mounts and Minions
















While improving improving the mechanics of mounts is one thing, we'd also like to see more of a variety in regards to mount and minions designs in the game. Some mounts we would like to see include the Not-so-Jumbo Cactuar, T-Board and Red XIII just to name a few. As for minions? How about a Moomba from Final Fantasy VIII?

15. New Vanity Gear 

















While the heavy armour, helmets , pointy hats and robes does look highly fitting for Eorzea, Glamour gear is a breath of fresh air and looks absolutely stylish on characters, it also give players the option to cosplay as other characters. It's simple, we want more vanity clothing to wear, the stuff available is a nice but it wouldn't hurt to add more casual clothing.


Conclusion 

The game has come a long way since 2013 and it's only getting better with each passing year, but we feel adding these 15 new features will make it even more enjoyable for us and many other players. What do you think and what would you want to see included in the next patch or expansion pack for Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn?

Shenmue 3 Kickstarter Launched, What Are You Waiting on?

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shenmue 3

Last night Yu Suzuki, creator of the shenmue series, tweeted an image of a forklift, hinting at a possible shenmue 3 reveal at E3 this year: Today at Sony’s E3 press conference Yu Suzuki took the stage to finally unveil Shenmue 3–not a spin off, but a fully fledged sequel–albeit as a new Kickstarter campaign.


shenmue 3 kickstarter
Shenmue 3 has nearly reached it's Kickstarter goal in a matter of minutes

Fans were skeptical and assumed that Suzuki was trolling them through twitter but today at Sony's E3 press conference the man himself took to the stage to finally unveil Shenmue 3 and no it wasn't a spin off, but an actual sequel as as brand new Kickstarter campaign.



“We can unfold the continuous story,” Yu Suzuki said on stage. “Shenmue 3 will be the story you have waited for. The fate of Shenmue is in your hands now.” Although there wasn't any gameplay footage, already the Kickstarter is raking in the cash and gradually reaching it's goal of 2 mill as you read this. Hopefully this means we'll finally get to play the final chapter in the series, which has been long overdue. Will you be backing Shemnue 3?

shenmue 3

Final Fantasy VII is Finally Being Remade

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final fantasy vii remake

Fans have been holding out for a Final Fantasy VII  remake ever since Sony showcased the infamous tech demo for the PlayStation 3 way back in May 2005. Several months after that tease, Square Enix unrelieved the cinematic film sequel, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.

 From there there was no looking back as the franchise began getting milked out starting with the "Compilation of Final Fantasy VII", spawning prequels, sequels, 'and other spin-offs including Before Crisis which never made it out of Japan, Crisis Core for the PSP and Dirge of Cerberus on PS2, all receiving halfhearted receptions.

Let's be real here, none of these additions were truly what the fans longed-for. They temporarily filled a small opening, but at the end of the day they only made fans want a remake or remaster to happen that much faster. Now they got a taste of what could be. Advent Children was visually striking, and it showcased what we might perhaps would get with full-sized models instead of duplo-esque polygons. It had full voice acting and impressive battle scenes. Every piece we got our grubby paws on only whet our appetite more for that which we had reconciled ourselves to never acquiring.

We want it, you want it, even your grandparents want it, (possibly.) For many years a remake has been rumoured, and for years each of these rumours have ended up being one big fat lie, one after the other, leaving fans feeling dissatisfied. Now at long last those same fans have finally being award for their patience.


final fantasy vii remake
Square Enix stock prices after the FF7 Remake announcement

Sony just announced at their E3 2015 press conference that Final Fantasy is being totally remade. The oft-rumored Remake is presently listed for a 2017 release date to coincide with the original game's 20th anniversary, coming to PlayStation first. No other platforms were technically confirmed, the use of the words "come first to PlayStation 4" indicate it will, in fact, be coming out for multiple platforms in the future.

All aboard the hype train, ladies and genetlemen.

Final Fantasy hit Stream back in 2013 with some minor upgraded visuals and achievements, then during last year's Playstation Experience Sony seemed to play the ultimate troll by bringing Shinji Hashimoto on the stage to introduce.. the PS4 port of the stream port of Final Fantasy VII. Hopefully this announccment of a true remaster will successfully remove the bad taste that surely remains in fans' mouths after that huge letdown.

Street Fighter V Gets New Challengers; Birdie and Cammy

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street fighter v cammy

At Sony's E3 conference new gameplay for Capcom's Street Fighter V emerged. The footage unrelieved two new British world warriors set to make their arrival in the latest installment. Up first, Birdie makes his main series debut- Originally hailing from the original Street Fighter and Street Fighter Alpha series respectively. Fans of this brute's wacky mohawk and cruel fighting style should rejoice: It returns along with the chain he fights with.

street fighter v birdie

The other combatant should be well-known to majority of Street Fighter fans. Cammy makes her Street Fighter V entry, and the game-play displayed the ever quick, spinning torpedo kicks she's known for as the veteran takes her opponents to school.

street fighter v cammy

nevertheless apart from the Birdie reveal, the most unexpected bit of info to come out of the new Street Fighter V trailer is the announcement of a beta for the game that is set to appear on PlayStation 4 July, 23rd of this year. You can check out the trailer below.



Street Fighter V is projected to land in Spring 2016, we're hyped, are you?

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash Announced for Wii U

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Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash

It's been over 10 years since Mario Tennis has appeared on a home console but Nintendo's E3 2015 Direct revealed the latest iteration in the Mario Tennis series, which was announced for the Wii U, titled Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash.

The footage we saw bought some brand new unconventional game-play elements to the playing field such as having your character turn into a giant to dominate the tennis court. The original Mario Tennis launched on the Nintendo 64 back in 2000, before being re-released on the Wii Virtual Console in 2010. Expect very similar game-play from the iterations of the Mario Tennis series that we've been accustomed to on Gamecube and 3DS.

 It was a very short trailer that showcased the likes of Mario and his arch nemesis Bowser battling it out on the court at the start playing a mixture of shots. The inclusion of all these unique types of shots and the power-up ability unquestionably looks like it's going to lead to some tactical game-play as you have your opposition moving all about the court.

Doubles matches also make a welcome return to the series in Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash hopefully allowing for some local and online multiplayer action on the court and in the trailer we also witnessed Mario and Bowser take on Princess Peach and Toad. Naturally expect to see a lot more characters from the Mushroom Kingdom making their appearance in Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash upon the game's release.

The trailer was quite short  but you can check it out below.

10 Characters We want To See In Street Fighter V

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It's not hard to see that the Street Fighter series has it's fair share of unique characters, many of whom get plentiful of love and affection. Regrettably, this does not apply to all characters. With that said, here are 10 characters we want to see make their debut in the forthcoming PS4 and PC exclusive Street Fighter V.

1. King Cobra




The series is supersaturated with martial artists, adding another karate character to the roster would have felt excessively unnecessary. Nevertheless the style and presentation on Cobra is a great deal in tune with fight culture and the series than any of the other characters in recent years. A quick summary of King Cobra tells us several things. An African American that isn't a boxer, already this character is separating himself from the rest of the pack and standing out.

Cobra's shaven head and young appearance shows us that this man is attempting to prove his worth by challenging the greatest fighters around the world.  Hopefully Daigo Ikeno is saving King Cobra for Street Fighter V and he debuts as one of the new challengers.


2. R.Mika 




Push aside the dark hadou and all the moodiness of Akuma, and at heart Street Fighter is a gleaming, flamboyant series. Nobody embodies the colourful fun of the series more than Rainbow Mika. Sure, she isn't the toughest of fighters, but she looks like she's having fun. The simplest way to describe R.Mika is she's a female version of Zangief. We haven't seen her since Street Fighter Alpha 3, so it's time to bring her back into the mix.

3. Alex 



Another grappler we hope to see return is Alex from Street Fighter 3. The flagship character of the third Street Fighter installment hasn't been seen in action since 2010, in a spin-off title. Alex's arrogant personality, cool character design and flashy move-set really stand out and we'd like to see him return for the fifth Street Fighter outing.

4. Sean Matsuda 




Sean is another character from the Street Fighter III series that we hope makes it on to the final roster. If Sean is bought back his 2nd Impact move-set would be prefered as well as a stronger story canon as opposed to being written off as a joke character.

 And while he may have a style that's a bit similar to Dan, Sean's no pushover. With his Double-Fist Shoryuken and ground and pound offense, Sean would make a cool addition to the roster, and also serve as a nice middle ground between Dan and Ryu.

5. Sodom




Another Final Fight character that crossed over into the Street Fighter Franchise, Sodom just about looks like a samurai NFL player. Starting off as the leader of Mad Gear gang from Metro-city, he joined the Street Fighter tournament in order to recruit more tougher opponents to join his crew. Handling katanas or jitte, he was certainly a force to be reckoned with.

6. Maki



Originally making her first appearance in Final Fight 2 as one of the main characters , Maki would fade into obscureness after her sole occurrence in the series. She was brought back in Capcom vs SNK 2, which in turn led to her making an appearance in the PSP port of Street Fighter Alpha 3.

While Maki may seem unneeded with Guy, Maki could make a good comrade for the trainer-clad ninja. Both share many similar traits, but feature enough differences that having two wouldn't feel clone-some. So capcom should step up it's ninja game and bring back the female assassin for Street Fighter V.

7. Q



Who the heck is Q? To us he's just a really tall cyborg that's sent out by M.Bison to locate all of his enemies. His fighting style is just direct and barbarous. Clotheslines, pimp slaps, dropkicks and everything else in his repertory all are equivalent to a character that would make for a cool fit in Street Fighter V.

8. Elena 



The first African female character of series deserves to make her return in Street Fighter V. Much to our pleasure the Kenyan princess was bought back in Street Fighter X Tekken and Ultra Street Fighter IV alongside three other obscure characters, but like fan favourites Chun Li and Cammy we want her to become a regular part of the roster.

She's much more than just a two-piece-clad tease with fluent and graceful motion. Elena's also a lot of fun to play and has the ability to chain together quick combos with a speedy, kicks-only capoeira fighting style that makes her just about the polar opposite of Balrog.

9. Mike Haggar



Despite being arguably one of the most recognizable characters to come out of the Final Fight series, the previous mayor of Metro City is one of it's three original heroes to never be playable in a Street Fighter game.

Sure, he appeared in stage backgrounds in the past, and sure, you can purchase his costume for Zangief to wear in the Street Fighter IV series, but the mustachioed, ass-kicking wrestler-turned-politician has yet to come out of retirement to snarl with the likes of Ryu and M.Bison.


10. Karin



The stereotypical rich girl and daughter of the owner of the Kanzuki Corporation, Karin would fit right in. Also, we have seen enough of Ryu and Ken's rivalry. It's about time we have a Sakura-Karin thing going on.

Although her fighting style looks similar to Sakura, she created an alternate version of it adding a lot of variation to speed of her attacks, feign strikes, and counter attacks. Her combos are pretty difficult to master but with practice she can be a very effective character.

Who you do you want to appear in Street Fighter V?


The Animal Crossing series finally gets Skin tone options in Happy Home Designer

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animal crossing dark skin tone

The lack of proper skin tone options has always been a major issue in the Animal Crossing series. we felt this was a serious problem and the lack of diversty in the franchise was limiting some of it's players who wanted to become a darker hue.

Thankfully it appears as though Nintendo has been listening, as Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer is set to switch things up later this year based on this screenshot from it's new trailer. In the series history, the only way you were able to change your skin tone was by tanning your avatar but that just wasn't satisfactory.

 You shouldn't have to leave your game open on the island for six hours just to alter your complexion, not to forget that tanning effects vanish after a while, which means you have to do it all over again, rinse and repeat.



 For anyone wondering if this is just a version of tanning again, Alison Rapp from Nintendo's Treehouse division confirmed on Twitter in a reply to someone that this is in fact a skin tone option. The relevant tweets above officially confirm this. Hopefully this means Nintendo will take skin tone options more seriously and we'll see this carried over to the next full Animal Crossing game.

Nintendo appears to be coming around on the problem with the inclusion of the option in the recent release of Splatoon on Wii U and Pokemon X & Y.

GTA 5 - What ever happened to Grove Street?

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gta 5 grove street dlc

There's many unsolved mysteries in GTA 5's HD universe especially when you compare Grand Theft Auto San Andreas with it's sequel in which Franklin, Micheal and Trevor now reside in. A question on many people's mind is how on earth did Ballas take over the cul-de-sac of Grove Street? There's been many theories but in-game references lay down some of the missing pieces to the jigsaw puzzle.

While the connection between the HD and 3D universe is vague, it's there. One example is during the the Hood Safari mission. When the player almost arrives at Grove Street, if they have a good eye they will see three people on bicycles pedaling away. The three men sort of resemble Carl Johnson, Big Smoke and Ryder. This is a reference to the mission Sweet & Kendl in Grand Theft Auto, San Andreas, in which CJ, Smoke and Ryder escape the Ballas on bikes.

In another reference to GTA SA, a Ballas gang member may yell out provocation ("The Families were kicked out ages ago") in regards to the GSF control of Grove Street. It's also worth mentioning that aside from Vinewood Boulevard, Grove Street is one of only a couple of road names retained from the first GTA San Andreas edition of Los Santos.

In 1992, (GTA San Andreas), The Grove Street Families were established in Grove Street and it served as their main base, which would often come under attack from The Ballas. One instance is the drive-by shooting that led to Beverly Johnson's death, or when OG Loc hosted a party at his house, three waves of Ballas members attempted to take over Grove Street, although in the end they failed.

 In 2013 (GTA V), The Ballas have somehow made Grove St their new territory and home. A lot can happen in odd 21 years and there's many theories on how The Families lost their turf but the video below should give you a better understanding with in game dialogue.




GTA 5 Story DLC teased by Voice actor of Franklin

Many times, Shawn 'solo' Fontero, the person who represented Franklin Clinton in Grand Theft Auto V, has hinted at some brand new narrative for Rockstar's blockbuster title.

Last year, Rockstar Games released a collection of new screenshots showcasing the PC version of GTA 5, which landed in April 14th of this year. One of the pictures featured Franklin, holding a duffle bag and staring out over Los Santos. At the time, nothing much was thought about it, but then Fonteno, took to his instagram account and also shared the image, while writing..

gta 5 grove street dlc

While it's possible Fonteno could've just been referring to the PC release, Rockstar have said, albeit a long time ago, that they do have "substantial additions in 2014 continuing Michael, Franklin and Trevor's story, mayhem and unexpected adventures in Southern San Andreas."

Of course, this was almost at the of 2013 when they first teased plot DLC and now it's been a long period since that time, but it's possible the content could've been put on the back-burner while the developer centered  their attention on the debut of the PS4 and Xbox one versions, online heists, and the PC version, all of which took a lot longer than hoped-for.

This isn't the first time Fonteno has spoken of DLC for GTA 5 neither. Back at Comic-Con 2013 during IGN's Grand Theft Auto V panel, Fonteno let it slip that he and Malay, the voice actor for Carl Johnson (from Grand Theft Auto San Andreas) were working on a "CJ and Franklin thing." Of course, that lead into Rockstar revealing their plans for "substantial additions."

More lately, however, Fonteno featured in an interview with Jack Thriller in which he once again spoke about heading to New York to record new lines for his character Franklin. "We're working on the DLC, downloadable content, for Grand Theft Auto 5 and that's real big," he said last year. Check out the video below in which he makes the statement at 6:25.



Again, nothing is official at this minute. All we're aware of is that in 2013, Rockstar said story DLC was arriving in 2014. In 2014, we received no DLC, but brief clues that Fonteno was working on something Franklin related. And now, we have this -- the cryptic Instagram post. Make of it what you will.

 It just seems strange that there hasn't been any reference to what happened to Grove Street, aside from NPCs and a brief mission where you end up having to shoot your way out of the location with Lamar and Trevor.

Last week Shawn Fonteno once again took to Instagram with another GTA 5 related post. He accompanied the image with the cation: "COMING SOON."

All we can say is that it's about time, don't you think?


gta 5 dlc grove street

Personally we'd love to see more Grove Street related DLC for GTA 5.

Fallout 4 Character Creation is similar to The Sims 4

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fallout 4 black character creation

Fallout 4's likely potential is apparent before you even create your face.

Fallout 4 has been anticipated for a long time and after such a long wait, it almost seemed as if we weren't getting another sequel but the wait is finally over after the major reveal at E3 and one of the best features it appears will be a diverse character creation system.

The game starts in sunshiny Boston, before any Fallout has reared it's ugly head. We follow two characters, a married couple, who are preparing to face another day from the bathroom of their residential district American abode. As they peer into the mirror, the man's face can be customized.

Starting with one of the most intriguing character creations that we're seen since The sims 4, which it seems to take most of it's inspiration from. You can create the avatar who you will control throughout Fallout 4. This is all done in front of a mirror where you can change almost everything about your avatar's appearance including their skin tone, all the way to the detail on their face.

Like The Sims 4, the character's facial appearance in Fallout 4 can instantly be customized by clicking and expanding with your cursor, also kind of like the menu screen for Mario 64. Just like The Sims 4 character creation, the changes you make stick unlike of course their counterpart Mario 64, as here is where you decide on all of your character's physical attributes.

The realistic thing is the two characters are perpetually caught up in a hum-drum morning chatter based around what features your focal point is on. If you adjust the nose, the wife says something like "Such a cute nose" while scrolling through facial hair options encourages the male character to respond with "What do you think hun?" Beard or no beard?" as if deciding simply whether he should shave or not. A refreshing contrast to the stiff, lifeless forms we're normally used to in character creation screens.

Fallout 4 female character creation

Players are even given the chance to choose their gender in this instance, as you can create both parties, with your ultimate avatar chosen by the one you choose to leave the mirror with. This moment is also done in a attractively narrative way, as the husband and wife thrust each other back and forth to use the mirror with dialogue like "Her, my turn big guy" or "Let me just slide back in there."

After your character's physical traits are selected, your avatar exits their bathroom and heads into the kitchen area for a hot cuppa and some morning grub, when the buzzer rings. Upon answering, they find a representative of Vault-Tec at the front door, who's paying you a visit to update your personal info for the Vault's database.

fallout 4

The man hands you a tablet where you disclose all your Pip-Boy needs. Your name, stats and whatnot, all being played out as one would take signing pesky security forms, with the spouse commenting "Hey, it's a piece of mind. It's worth a little paperwork right?"

fallout 4 stats

Thus your Fallout 4 character is born anew and by this time the player should have a good idea of what their character is all about, what kind of society they reside in and that a possible atomic threat is coming their way. What's more, the twosome has a baby whose visual aspect is generated from the features you chose for the blissful couple. Nice.

Fallout 4 has Third and First Person Gameplay


fallout 4 third person

Also if you're worried that you'll never see your character while playing the game, Betheda has announced that first person and third person gameplay will make it's anticipated return in Fallout 4, which is great news. Changing from first or third person has always been a game changer and it's necessary that Fallout 4 brought this feature back so we can see our avatar explore the lust world in awe.

10 Final Fantasy Characters we want in Kingdom Hearts 3

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Kingdom hearts 3: Final fantasy characters

In 2002, the debut of the original Kingdom Hearts lured in many gamers with it's enticing possibility to see fabled Disney characters in the same game as characters from the Final Fantasy series.
Although that initial Final Fantasy causal factor has appeared to decline in recent games, it's difficult not to anticipate that Kingdom hearts III, the big one every fan had been ready and waiting for will debut more than a enough new characters from the franchise to mix things up with those whose returns are fateful.

Up to now, the Final Fantasy series that have been depicted the most in the universe of Kingdom Hearts have been VII and X, although players have brushed heads with a fistful of characters from VI, VIII, and IX. Nevertheless, with so many other main titles, sequels, prequels and spin-offs from the franchise's past, countless others have yet to step up.

With that all said and done, let's take a look at 10 Final Fantasy characters, who should join the adventure of Kingdom Hearts III.

1. Chocobos 


kingdom hearts 3 final fantasy characters

Similar to Moogles, Chocobos are one of the franchise's most recognizable feathery creatures. Usually Players are given the chance to raise them, enter them in racing tournaments, summon them in battle, fight them and more across the franchise, and their position as a universal symbolic representation for the FF series makes it all the more startling that they haven't appeared in Kingdom Hearts as of yet. After such a long period, it's time they or even just Bartz's Chocobo Boko, for example makes a grand entrance.

2. Cecil Harvey 


kingdom hearts 3 final fantasy characters

The Kingdom Hearts series has always clutched onto the idea of light versus darkness and Cecil Harvey's story throughout Final Fantasy IV perfectly embodies that endeavor well. Being apart of the battle set to go down against Xehanort would be a nice way to acknowledge Cecil's past and present him to the numerous of players who probably have never gotten the chance to play Final Fantasy IV.

3. Sazh Katzroy 


 kingdom hearts 3 sazh

Let's face it, utterly no one is going to be dumbfounded if Lightning appears in Kingdom Hearts III. As such, let's take the obvious selection off the table and turn the limelight on Sazh, whose personality and devotedness to his son Dajh helped turn him into one of the XIII trilogy's most relatable and greatest characters.

In a story involving Gods and goddesses, time travel and contradiction, Sazh's adventure kept the human element in check and his optimistic, unselfish nature would be right at home in the universe of Kingdom Hearts.

 4. Balthier


kingdom hearts 3 final fantasy characters

Balthier's role as a endearing rogue sky pirate made him, at heart, the Han Solo of Final Fantasy XII and he's easily one of the most unforgettable characters from the 2006 title. With Fran at his side, allowing players the opportunity to meet the duo again as they utilize their own Gummi airship to travel worlds in search of treasure would be a cool way to correspond with the pair's core trope.

5. Rinoa 


kingdom hearts 3 final fantasy characters

Up until now, the only Final Fantasy VIII characters to be featured in Kingdom Hearts have been Squall ("Leon") and adolescent versions of Selphie, Seifer and his posse, Raijin and Fujin. With the Final Fantasy gang of Radiant Garden mostly made up of characters from VII thus far, fleshing it out a bit and having Squall reunite with his amour Rinoa would be most welcomed.

6. Zidane 




Apart from Vivi, Final Fantasy IX has been awfully underrepresented in the Kingdom Hearts series. Who better to represent IX in the next KH than the warm, avid bandit, Zidane Tribal?

As a main Final Fantasy character, he's in stark contrast to some of the series' most identifiable. but moody heroes, like Squall, Cloud and Lightning and his persona would offer a world of possibility when it comes to his interactions with Sora.

7. Jecht 


kingdom hearts 3 final fantasy characters

Kingdom Hearts has already featured a ton of characters from Final Fantasy X: young Tidus and Wakka, fairy versions of Yuna, Rikku, Paine and of course Auron. Adding Jecht to that lineup, possibly trapped by Hades or as a boss battle in the Coliesum/Underdrome in his Final Aeon form, would be a nice way to bring in one of X's most unforgettable FFX villains, particularly if his personality is given a opportunity to clash with Sora's.

8. Barrett Wallace 




Of all of the Final Fantasy games, there's been no chaacters as big as a part of Kingdom Hearts as the ever-popular VII cast. Cloud, Aerith, Yuffie, Cid, Zack and Sephiroth have all shown up, though there are still a few leftovers who could join the fray.

The leader of Avalanche, offers up a different type of Final Fantasy character for sora to interact with, and watching or fighting alongside him taking down Heartless as he calls Sora "spiky" would be an undeniable pleasure.

9. Final Fantasy Summons 




continual series summons like Ifrit, Shiva or Bahmut, either as summons for Sora, as secret boss battles or as fights in the coliseum would be great.

10. Kefka 




Many Final Fantasy heroes from over the years has appeared in Kingdom Hearts, but there's been only one villain: Sephiroth. Though his involvement with Final Fantasy VII has made that inclusion evident, we think it's time for one of the series' other notorious villains to rise. As one of the most craziest foes of them all, Kefka could be included in the main story or as a Sephiroth-esque side story/secret boss.

Whatever the case, Kingdom Hears is long overdue for some new Final Fantasy villains large or little  and there's none more fitting than Kefka, who could at least make an appearance. The series has already included Final Fantasy VI's Setzer, but could easily find ways to include characters like Terra, Locke, Edgar and Celees, particualrt if Kefka appears as a subplot similar to the Cloud/Sephiroth plot line .

Conslusion

From the main games to spin-offs, the Final Fantasy series has given us  a number of characters over the years that this article could only scratch the surface of, so feel free to tell us who you'd like to see show up in Kingdom HEARS III below!

FIFA 16 features Female Football players For The First Time

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female players in fifa 16

For the first time Electronic Arts' football/soccer franchise FIFA is including female footballers. The sports title will allow players to choose from 12 international teams (Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Sweden, and the united States of America) when the new instalment, FIFA 16, lands on September 22. Just as their male equivalent, the women in the game will look and move, like they do on the pitch when representing their nation.

For each team, the initial 11, along with chosen reserves have been facially scanned using the same method applied to the men's game, so photo realistic variants of world player of the year Nadine Kessler, United States all-time leading scorer Abby Wambach, and England skipper Steph Houghton all are definite to feature.

Wambach also spent some time providing feminine-specific motion capture at developer EA Sports' Vancouver HQ, along with a couple of her American squad members sydney Leroux, Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe.

female players in fifa 16

Fifa 16 for sure isn't the first football game to feature woman footballers. In 2000, UK studio Silicon Dreams featured women's football in it's Mia Hamm 64 Soccer and UEFA Dream Soccer titles, although both titles reviewed poorly at the time.

In The Guardian interview, series vice-president and general manager David Rutter claims that his unit has been at work to surmount the technical challenges of featuring females in it's football title for a long period.

Two years ago, Rutter told Kotaku that female teams was an idea the studio had thought about. It's natural to wonder, then, whether the procedure of including them was speeded up by last June's backlash against Assassin's Creed: Unity, which saw publisher Ubisoft rebuked for it's unsupportive attitude for the opportunity to create a female protagonist in their co-op mode due to extra work. Rutter takes a firm stance that this is not the cause.

Instead, he claims, three years into this period of consoles, the unit finally has adequate knowledge of PS4 and Xbox One's development systems to revise critical elements of the match engine for women players.

fifa 16 women's football

The fundamental gameplay remains indistinguishable to the men's game, although attributes and traits are scaled to other players of the same sex. You will be able to use 80-rated players in the female teams but they're in no way identical to an 80-rated player in the men's league, explained Rutter.  The cologne team (which manages all player data) has been through a lot of women's matches over the last year or so, assembling information and their sentiment on the players, in order to produce these ratings.

This means that for now there'll be no option to pit male players against their female counterparts in matches (as in real life, the sport itself doesn't allow it, but Rutter said if this rule changed then they would consider making it a possibility.) The woman's teams can be used in friendlies both online and offline, in addition to be a bespoke offline tournament mode.

fifa 16 female player

The studio did consider making an all-female Ultimate Team as well as featuring the female teams from football clubs such as Manchester City, but felt it was too much of a reach in this initiative season.

FIFA 16 is hitting the back of the net on multiple platforms in September 2015.

Friend Notifications still a missing Feature on PS4

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A few PlayStation 3 features have yet to make the transition to Sony's PS4 since it's arrival in 2013. one major feature yet to be seen is friend notifications, which notified you when a player on your friend's list signed in and out. After nearly two years since the system's launch, players are still pondering why such a simple yet useful feature hasn't been implemented as of yet.

Players will find at times Sony can come across as fairly backwards when it comes to online support and features, especially when you take into consideration that a useful feature such as friend notification has been removed. The strange part is that they have a notification that appears when a friend joins a party, not yours, but any party, and the question on most people's minds are why Sony thought it would be a good idea to give party notification priority over friend notifications

Back in 2014, Sony revealed a new trailer for the PlayStation 4's social features, which seemed to hint that friend notifications would be finally making their return. The short video you can check out below, sees a notification appear around the 10-second mark as someone plays Destiny.



Sony's Director of Product Planning and Software Innovation Scott McCarthy has a reason why we haven't seen friend notification on the PS4 yet. When speaking about the upcoming PS4 2.50 update features, McCarthy replied to a PSN user who asked about the feature.

ps4 friend notification


It seems Sony are simply taking their sweet time on friend notifications for PS4 as they want to revamp the the feature and not just 'copy and paste' it over from the PlayStation 3. As a result, this procedure will take time to implement and McCarthy has told everyone to 'stay tuned' in regards to the feature.

The most important question which has yet to be answered is how long though? Players have already been waiting for over a year and taking time to implement a basic feature is questionable. Gamers have regularly asked Sony to change this in the year since the console launched.

Thoughts?


WWE 2K16 Will feature Over 120 unique Wrestlers

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wwe 2k16 roster

Yukes and 2K games are aiming to create the largest WWE roster in video game history yet. They're planning to bring 120 unique wrestling superstars to the roster and they already made it clear that the 120 won't count for five assorted versions of golden boy John Cena. If the whole idea sounds too far from realuty, just take a look at the WWE 2K Instagram account, where they state...



They have a poster picture of the comparison between the approaching WWE 2K16 and last year's WWE 2K15. You can check out below.

wwe 2k16

The post has sent a lot of gamers into a frenzy; overexcited, unbelieving and enthused about the expectation of WWE 2K16. Many fell out into an dispute over the lack of variety in last year's roster, while others were just satisfied knowing that the several Triple H clones aren't being counted toward the total roster count.

Fans of the series want a a lot of WWE's departed wrestlers to return from their virtual retirement, including the likes of the Brooklyn Brawler - a reliably celebrated jobber who make his way to the ring in a destroyed shirt and unclean jeans, to more niche entertainers like Norman Smiley, best known for his dance moves. In the previous installments, there were a lot of unnecessary duplicates but WWE 2K16 will legitimately have the largest  roster ever.

Half the fanbase have also been requesting for the return of being able to create your WWE Divas. While the Divas existed in WWE 2K15, you weren't allowed to make your own Diva. This sent a tremble of bitter feelings through the wrestling gaming community.

wwe 2k16 full roster

On the upside, PC gamers were able to get a bit more mileage out of the roster when WWE 2K15 launched this past spring and modders got to work adding in old wrestlers or updating the old wrestlers with new attires and and whatnot. However, many console gamers are hoping they at least get the option of creating a Diva again, a feature that shouldn't have been removed in the first place.

There's gonna be a lot of current WWE Superstars and Divas, but that's not all, the game will also feature NXT wrestlers and Divas as well as a few legends from the yesteryear. It's also worth noting that the post said "playable" Superstars and Divas too. The large roster isn't just composed of managers, announcers and commentators.

At least were aware of just how many wrestlers will be playable. 120 is no small number to scoff at and we're sure that we'll lean more about the game once it draws near to release for home consoles and possibly PC. What do you think and who do you want see in WWE 2K16?

wwe 2k16 paige

The Legend of Zelda series is missing Character Customization

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The Legend of Zelda series has always featured the young hylian Link as the hero that the player is in control of and this is no accident. Shigeru Miyamoto designed the game with the intent of recreating the feeling of exploration he had experienced as a child, exploring the forests and foothills around his home. Towards that end, he named the hero "Link" to signify the literal link that the hero provided between the gamer and the world of The Legend of Zelda.

So although Link is based on a young boy, the character is ultimately supposed to be inclusive of anyone playing the game. Honestly to call him a "link" to the player in this day is bewildering. He is a silent generic protagonist, whose appearance and actions story-wise we have zero control over.

Majority of other games allow players to choose the main character's name, appearance, gender, love interest , fate, etc. You get zero choice in The Legend of Zelda, even though recently other Nintendo games have given players some identity including Pokemon, Animal Crossing, Fire emblem and most recently Splatoon, which allowed players to at least change their skin tone.

Link is supposed to be a "link" between the player and game. For proper immersion, he/she should be customizable to an extent, players should have options to play around with different skin tones, hair colours/styles, eye colors and changes to their nose, eyes, lips etc.



Since The Legend of Zelda once made the bold proposition that players should be able to name their heroes, is it really so necessary for Link to retain his traditional usually-blond-but-sometimes-brown haired young man appearance? After all, today it's easier than ever for players to customize their own characters and change their avatar's appearance to the look they prefer.

Many will agree that gaming has evolved over time, Zelda has been surpassed in the "player-avatar" department, but at the same time, Link has remained fairly traditional - ever the silent protagonist - even as the games' stories grow more complex and engaging.

That's not to say that traditional Link has no place today but for those players who really feel that connection to Link that Mr. Miyamoto described, who find the act of naming their characters to be important to their Zelda experience, we feel that there can't be much harm in offering additional customization options. For the most part, these could be mostly cosmetic options for the character, skin, hairstyle and eye coloration, possibly build and stature, not the removal of the trademark green garb or anything like that.

With the arrival of Miiverse, fans now have the opportunity to create their own content based on their play experiences in the form of screenshots (and sometimes video clips) from their favourite games. Miiverse is designed for this kind of sharing of experiences, while offering character customization options. Allowing players to truly insert themselves into the adventure - would only heighten the sense of ownership players have over their activities in The Legend of Zelda series..



Because let's face it, sharing a screenshot of Link decked out in his best gear, taking down a tough enemy or looking out over a fantastic view - that sounds awesome. But sharing a screenshot of our own personal Link in the midst of those same experiences... well, that sounds pretty awesome, too.

Eiji Aonuma once stated he doesn't intend to compromise that there's only one Link out there saving Hyrule. But as Mr. Miyamoto says, Link serves as a means of connecting many players throughout the world, each of whom names Link at the start of their adventure.

Eiji Aonuma Says He’s Tired of the Zelda Formula

In 2013, The Legend of Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma told LA Times..

"It's not that anyone is telling me we have to change the formula. I want to change it. I'm kind of getting tired of it. If I'm getting tired of it, then I'm sure other people are getting tired of it. There is an essential 'Zelda' I fell we need to stay true to. We are still testing things, exploring our options. We haven't landed anywhere at this point. We're still seeing what we can do."
In an 2014 with interview, Eiji Aonuma told Kotaku that he was completely open regarding playable female characters in the next Zelda game for Wii U. Aonuma stated that there were already playable female characters in the form of Zelda and Midna in Hyrule Warriors, but if that lures more girls to play the game then it's something he may consider for the future Zelda title.

Aonuma finished by saying that his crowning goal is to have as many people as possible enjoy Hyrule Warriors as possible and then he will take things from there. Which opens the door not only for gender representation but much more, especially if Aonuma was sincere with his words.

On the other hand, Link has not only become an iconic character, but also a symbolic representation  of Nintendo. A number of gamer know who next to nothing about the video game business still recognize Link when they see him. Sure, they may call him "Zelda", but the matter of the fact is that his appearance has become engraved into the history of gaming.

Think of the faces of the gaming industry in terms of unforgettable characters; Mario, Donkey Kong, Samus, Kratos, Lara Croft, Crash Bandicoot. All these these characters are known by the entire gaming community based soley on their appearance, and Link is right up there with the most recognizable of them.



Either way, what if we desire to play as ourselves? What if we lust a plot where the hero is in reality imperfect. At this point some would debate, "Then play another game"/ but here's the thing: we don't want to play another game. We in fact want to figure out the riddles we know only the Zelda series can bring to the table, but as a avatar symbolizing us rather than the other way around.

 Those who fall into this category realize that Link is an iconic symbol , and he can never be. nevertheless, as Link's visual aspect has transformed mildly throughout the franchise, why can't more options be made accessible at once to choose from? They will all match Link's look, but the insignificant details would be chosen to allow the player to conjure some individual creativeness into the character.

Who's to say we can't change Link's skin tone or his hairstyle, which still remains blonde? What if we prefer Link to be shorter? Taller? More muscular? More lean? These are small changers that still gold the overall characterization of the hero we all know and love, but all for some individualism. It would be like comparing the Links of Twilight Princess and A Link to the Past. There is a visible change in appearance, but the key notes of the character are still present.

Those who fall under this ideology want the hero to embody themselves. They want to be immersed in a world outside of their own, but as themselves. They want to feel like they have the opportunity to be all of those things. Most, if not all, of these people understand who Link is as a character and aren't looking to completely alter him to their own appearance. What they are looking for is a chance to validate their own traits as something of worth.



In 2014 a Youtuber known as LasagnaPie made a pretty solid skin tone mod which was created in the Dolphin emulator for The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. The modification to Link's complexion just shows us how easy it to change a part of Link's visual aspect without affecting the default character, story or game in it's self. This is just one aspect of customization but already it gives you the feeling of personal identity which unfortunately Nintendo's biggest RPG franchise is lacking.

Link is you. And it's time that The Zelda series started taking what that means more seriously.



What about a Female Link?



While The Legend of Zelda hero Link has always been a male character, Nintendo or perhaps Koei toyed with the thought of a girl variation of the Hero of Time in creating Hyrule Warriors. The potential character design was revealed in scans of the game's Japanese art book.

Most recently Nintendo missed the opportunity to give players deeper customization and gender options in their latest Zelda game. The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Force allows for as many as three players playable characters, but they are all boys because that's how Nintendo planned the story, said game director Hiromasa Shikata in an interview with IGN.

Tri Force Heroes is a multiplayer game which includes three different interpretations of Link, one in his long-standing green tunic, the others in red and blue. Up to three players can step into the boots of those Links and search dungeons together. The setup is akin to The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords and The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures on the Game Boy Advance and GameCube, respectively.

"The story calls for this sort of legend/prohecy where heroes will come together to help solve a problem," he told IGN. "And in that, they are male characters. So, because the game is set with that as the story background, you cannot choose a gender; you are a male character." 

When further pressed on the issue, Hiromasa said, "we do have a lot of female staff members who are playing this game and enjoying it. It doesn't seem to be a big issue to them.. And to be honest Link isn't the most masculine of guys in the world, depending on who you project yourself into the character." 
Link is you and it's time that The Legend of Zelda series started taking what that means more seriously, because in the end giving players more options never hurt anyone.

10 of the Baddest Boxers In Video Games

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Boxing is one of the most historic and popular sports of all time and it's smooth transition to video games hasn't gone unnoticed, especially when you take into account the amount of charismatic and hard hitting characters that have been conceived. It has been used as a fighter's style of choice in a number of popular and iconic 2D and 3D fighting games since the genre's birth. In fact the first game to include fist fighting was arcade game Heavyweight Champ in 1976.

In 2013 we gave recognition to some of the best boxers in video game history but regrettably the list was incomplete and was missing several boxers from the video game world, fortunately we have redeemed ourselves and updated the list with some of the most baddest mofos in video game's fictional boxing circuit. 


Street Fighter series


The Street Fighter series has featured quite a few black characters but in total three of them have been boxers. Mike is a non-playable character from the first Street Fighter game one of the ten CPUs challengers. He's a heavyweight boxer who battles before Mt. Rushmore. He was kicked out of boxing because he ended somebody's life.

Many people think that he's the black fighter that was knocked down in the intro to Street Fighter II by what fans consider to be Joe. Mike is also believed to have been Balrog (whose Japanese name is Mike Bison). Capcom, however, because of lawsuit issues, have been very insistent that they were always meant to be two different characters.
In 1991 Capcom introduced their second boxer, a man who rose from a childhood of poorness. At one time Balrog was a prominent boxing champ and prize fighter. He was banned from boxing for permanently injuring his opposition and unintentionally killing one (as well as his prohibited tactics, specially his headbutt), so he joined the Shadaloo criminal organization and climbed the ladder to success in the company, in time becoming M. Bison's chief enforcer.
Balrog is a huge black man with large red boxing gloves. Distinctly his name in Japan was M. Bison, an unmistakable play off of real life boxer Mike Tyson. In Capcom's tie-in comic he is soundly beat by Ryu, who then states that a combatant who disregards his entire lower physical structure and two of his limbs has zero right to call himself a martial artist.

Dudley from Street Fighter III is a British boxer who's a 'British Gentleman', although he has a couple  unconventional boxing techniques up his sleeves. He's never been seen without his tremendous large blue boxing gloves and is potentially based on real-life Black British boxer Chris Eubank.

Other Fighting Game series



Soon after many other video game companies would follow suit and produce some hard hitters to represent their initial fighting game rosters, most noticeably SNK who have produced a quite few boxing characters including a legit Mike Tyson clone.


Nintendo's Punch-out!! Series also created a few bad-ass boxers including their most famed fighter Little Mac, who is the main protagonist of the series.

T.J Combo from Killer Instinct is an expy of Balrog from Street Fighter II. Although in the reboot of Killer Instinct, he's much more of a mixed martial artist, adding holds and strong kicks to his array of moves.In the first game, Tj combo at once time was the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world for five 
consecutive years. He was stripped of his title for his use of cybernetic enhancements in his arms, he fights to regain his fame and fortune.
Steve Fox made his debut in Tekken 4, and he has returned for every future title in the Tekken series. Steve is a well mannered and gentle-manlike individual who's primary inspiration is to fight in the ring.

Join us as we countdown 10 of the baddest boxers of all time in and outside of the virtual four sided square ring of video games. These chosen fighters carry dominance, mainstream appeal and have achieved legendary status. There are a lot of boxers in video games, from KOF all the way up to street Fighter, but just who's the baddest? Find out below.

Phantasy Star Online 2 delayed yet again!

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Sega must hate money as shown from the continual treatment of the neglected worldwide release of their popular mmo RPG PSO2. The Kotaku team confirmed that Phantasy Star Online 2 is infact still delayed for west localization as quoted by a Sega rep..

SEGA can officially confirm that PS02 has been delayed. We don’t have any specifics but will update everyone as soon as there are more details to share.
As Japanese fans are treated to a second episode of the virtual reality, everyone else is left to hang dry and with this renewed attitude from Sega, you can't blame anyone if they suddenly lose interest. The wait has been far too long and with other popular franchise MMORPG on the horizons, Sega could be digging themselves a deep hole in the long run. The Positive? Well at least we know it's still happening, right?

2014 Update

It's 2014 and if you've still holding onto a trinket of hope that the game will be released in the West then you'll be happy to know that Sega is still reassuring it's western fans that PSO2 is heading their way, although the company refuses to give a release date.

Taking into consideration that it's also been a year since their official PSO2 Facebook account was last updated, several months ago a fan tweeted Sega about the game's continued absence in the west. The Sega account responded, saying, "PSO2 is still delayed. SEGA is currently working on bringing PSO2 to the west and will update soon as we know more."



Minimal as that reassurance might be, it still leaves hope in the hearts of many fans who have been patiently waiting since the original free to play PSO2 was stated to release in Japan in 2011 before being pushed backed and instead releasing the following year of 2012 respectively.

It has since been ported to the Playstation Vita in 2013, as well as Android and iOS (this spring)--again, which was only made available for Japanese audiences. A 2013 release for North America and Europe was announced in 2012, only for the game to be postponed in early 2013 without any reason (or new release date) being stated.



To date, the only region where PSO2 has been released is Southeast Asia, the game was released in Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines earlier this year. This version of the game is available in English but is (unsurprisingly) region locked. So in other words, English-speaking fans living outside of Southeast Asia won't be allowed to join in the fun due to an IP block for other regions.

We no explanation for the game's absence in the west. It's not as if it's failing in sales, as Sega has noted that PSO2 had been an especially strong performer during the quarter. After how long we've had to wait, are you still interested in PSO2?

2015 Update:

Phantasy Star Online 2 now playable in the West without workaround

Phantasy Star Online 2 now playable in the West without workaround


Amazing, this year has positively been loaded with a considerable amount of unbelievable treats;
Final Fantasy 7 remake, Shenmue 3, and now Phantasy Star Online 2. While players in the US were able to play the game before, the game's distributer in Asia had your IP blocked if it was from the US or Europe, which meant a workaround was  necessary to jump in and in addition an English patch.

It would seem that the publisher AsiaSoft has officially removed the IP block and is allowing players outside of Asia acess to download, complete with confined content from the game's official site. Just remember, this is still the South East Asia edition of the game with localization that most likely isn't up to scratch. So expect to see some peculiar translations from in a while. On the other hand, given that fans have been holding up to desperately play the game here in the West since 2012, a somewhat poor localization can be pardoned.

The game is entirely free-to-play so even if it's just caught your attention, you can give it a go without a worry in the world. Phantasy Star Online 2 is a SEGA title nevertheless the IP block dismissal comes strictly from the game's publisher, AsiaSoft, which could be the main reason why there was no official announcement made.


Watch this space for future updates.

Top 10 Super Mario Bros Girls

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Let us take the focus away from Nintendo's main protagonist Mario and instead look at the female mascots of the Super Mario Bro. series. Nintendo has ushered up a bundle of colorful and memorable female characters and it's portfolio is nothing short of impressive. Let's take a look at some of the girls shall we..

Princess Peach


super mario Princess peach

Originally conceived by Shigeru Miyamoto, Peach is the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, which is repetitively attacked by Bowser. She frequently plays the damsel in distress role within the franchise and is considered to be Nintendo's main female. She is at times depicted as Mario's romantic interest and has featured in just about  all the Mario games in existence with the notable exception of Super Princess Peach, where she's the main playable character.

Peach has a love for the color pink, which compliments her feminine attribute and kind disposition. Peach's maidenlike nature and persona as the damsel are often depicted with her heart abilities and Princess emblems. Peach's original look was said to symbolize her stubborn, yet cute, appearance.
Peach is rather tall in comparison to other characters. She is taller than Luigi and Daisy, but shorter than Waluigi and Rosalina, it's also worth mentioning that Peach’s design has not been changed as drastically as other girls like Daisy and Pauline.

Princess Peach is posh, gracious, smart, and venturesome. She often shows an selfless and imposing spirit and puts her companions ahead of herself. For instance, in Super Paper Mario, Peach says she was taught to aid others. She has been said to have a gentle demeanor but can be hard when the moment calls for it. Peach is also a sports junkie  and has been referred to in the Mario Party 5 official guide as being able to "play with the big boys". as well as sports, Peach is also into ball-room dancing and video games. Both Mario Super Sluggers and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story indicate that Peach's enjoys a spot of gardening.

Princess Daisy


princess daisy facts

Princess Daisy, or nonchalantly Daisy, is the princess of Sarasaland. Gunpei Yokoi, Shigeru Miyamoto's mentor, is often credited as being the creator of Princess Daisy. Although Daisy rules over Sarasaland, she presently dwells in the Mushroom Kingdom.

Daisy is a tomboy, a title given to her in her entry appearance, Super Mario Land. In complement to her name, she loves flowers. Her garbs, special abilities, individualized emblems, and overall representations are frequently flowers too.

After an early break, Daisy was brought back due to the fact that there were a lack of human characters in the series. She features most often as a playable character in spin-off titles. She has appeared in over 40 Mario games thus far, and has appeared continuously for more than a decade. We feel Daisy needs to appear in a main Super Mario title because as Super Mario Strikers has shown us, she's a chick with a lot of personality and grace.

Princess Rosalina




Rosalina first appeared in Super Mario Galaxy and is a very powerful figurehead, as her
responsibility is to watch over and defend the cosmos, while also acting as the adopted mother of the Lumas, and overlooking the Comet Observatory. Rosalina's back-story is chronicled in her storybook told by her in the Comet Observatory's Library in Super Mario Galaxy. Nine chapters are unlocked throughout the game, and the last is unlocked by completing the game.

Rosalina is first playable in Mario Kart Wii, where she's a heavy-sized unlockable character. To get her the player must obtain 1st Place with at the most 1 Star Rank in all Mirror Grand Prix Cups, have a Super Mario Galaxy save data and play 50 Races, or participate in 4,950 Races. Rosalina drives in large vehicles, and is the first girl character to ever be in this class due to Rosalina's tall height.

Although Rosalina's look has not been altered since her first appearance, when she was primitively being created for Super Mario Galaxy, her concept appearance was immensely different in contrast to what she looks like now. She was portrayed with a beehive hairstyle along with straight-cut bangs. She had more specific facial features including the manner of her eyes and mouth; the facial features she has today are more akin to Peach's.

Her attire was more similar to Peach and Daisy's, however, complimenting her now dropped trait as a princess. Instead of a crown, she wore a tiara, and her gloves were just like Peach's.Her last concept artwork pictured Rosalina very similarly to the way in which she is now, though it contained insignificant color variation.

Toadette




Toadette is a recurring Toad in the Mario franchise. primitively introduced as a playable driving partner for Toad in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, she has since made several other appearances in many games as a playable character and has played supportive roles in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix, and Mario Party DS, and as a main character in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker.

While her traits are akin to other characters, she's the most commonly recurring girl Toad in the Mario series. Toadette is shown to be on friendly terms with  characters such as Toad, Princess Peach, Toadsworth and Mario.

Toadette is usually a happy and cheerful  girl. She is depicted as being a pleasant, sensitive character, and she relishes being in other people's company; she has similar attributes to Toad. However, it is shown she can get immature very easily.

Without further ado, here's a look at he top 10 best girls in the Super Mario Franchise since 1981 Who's your favorite Super Mario Bros girl?



10 ways to die in Final Fantasy

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ways to die in final fantasy

There is no shortage of ways to seal your fate in the Final Fantasy series and since the franchise's debut in 1987 many heroes and heroines have fallen prey to powerful spells and fearless monsters whose only goal is for you 'the player' to permanently meet your maker. Now let's take a look at several ways players have ended up seeing the game over screen.

Several ways to die in the Final Fantasy series


1000 Needles 


ways to die in final fantasy

1000 Needles, otherwise called Blowfish, is a Blue Magic spell and monster ability. In spite of the
fact that it is in no way, shape or form exclusive to them, the attack has become somewhat a trademark ability for the Cactuar. Consistent with its name, the spell includes showering a constant flow of needles at the target, and deals precisely 1,000 HP harm paying little mind to Defense, Armor, Protect or (at times) Evasion.

This makes the attack helpful when pitted against enemies that have low HP and high defensive abilities. There is also a stronger variant exclusive to enemies known as 10000 Needles, which can break the damage limit and impose precisely 10,000 damage. A weaker interpretation known as 100 Needles can also be utilized by monsters in Final Fantasy VII and low level Cactuar type of foes in Final Fantasy XIV.

In Final Fantasy VIII The Cactuar uses 1000 Needles when it assaulted by the player. Humorously, the onslaught itself demonstrates hundreds of '1's to indicate each needle hitting the player, but this is only done for comedic purposes as the literal  damage is displayed after the attack has finished.

Doom


ways to die in final fantasy

The Doom spell also called Death Sentence, Condemned, or Count, is a dangerous status ailment that has featured in many titles in the series. It places a counter over the target, and when it reaches zero, the target is dead. In some games the pace at which the counter drops to zero is dependent on the target's speed.

Normally the only way for a party member to be ridden of Doom is to either perish or gain victory before the counter lands on zero. Targets exempt to Instant Death are usually unaffected to this status ailment. precisely how long the Doom timer ends depends, but in several games it lasts for exactly 60 seconds. In games whose battle system are formed around rounds instead of real time, Doom normally has the target perish after three rounds.

In Final Fantasy IX Doom's countdown begins at 10, and puts the target to death when it lands on zero. Stop will halt the countdown from further continuing. If Zidane is convicted and the player uses Flee the second he is going to perish from it, he'll still use the skill even though he is knocked out, sending the other party members to safety.

Megaflare


ways to die in final fantasy

Megaflare, also called Mega Flare, Sun Flare and MegaNuke, is a continual attack in the Final Fantasy franchise. It's usually a very detrimental move used by the Bahamut summon. It's also an enhanced interpretation of the spell Flare, and inflicts dense non-elemental magic damage to all it's foes. Megaflare sometimes has an even more almighty variant known as Gigaflare, and on occasion Bahamut is capable of using the other versions of Megaflare with assorted prefixes.

A revenant characteristic when going against Bahamut as a foe is that there is frequently a five-turn countdown preceding Megaflare. In Final Fantasy VII The summon Bahamut uses Mega Flare. Its alternative variants, Neo Bahamut and Bahamut ZERO, use enhanced interpretations called Giga Flare and Tera Flare.

In Final Fantasy X The Aeon Bahamut's Overdrive is Mega Flare. Mega Flare is likewise utilized by the bosses  Spathi, Belgemine's Bahamut and Dark Bahamut. Mega Flare can break the damage limit without changing it with a sigil. Dark Bahamut's Mega Flare trades between 40,070 to 45,246 damage that can only be decreased by an aeon's Shield. It also takes away  all healthful status effects besides Auto-Life.

Chef's Knife


ways to die in final fantasy

The Chef's Knife, also called Tonberry's Knife, Kitchen Knife, Knife, or Cleaver, is a instrument of the Tonberry and a continual ability in the Final Fantasy franchise. In most cases, Chef's Knife is a deathly non-elemental attack. Debuting in Final Fantasy V, The Knife, originally  called the Cleaver, is Tonberry's attack. It is only able to use the ability once it is positioned close enough to the target. Knife attacks several times, while ignoring Defense and inflicting Sap.

The Knife enemy skill is an trademark attack of the Tonberries and Master Tonberries in Final Fantasy VII. An average Tonberry cannot assault it's target until it has moved close enough. Once in the player's personal space, the attack inflicts Instant Death to the target.

Just over 2 minutes long, 10 ways to die in Final Fantasy features almost everything from a deadly Cactuar to life threatening Meteors.

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