via Eurogamer


Early copies of Super Smash Bros. Brawl going on sale in Japan have resulted in floods of spoilers making their way onto the Internet.

They revolve around previously unmentioned characters, bosses and stages. Best look away now if you want all this to be a surprise when the game comes out here in Q2 2008.

The new characters cropping up in footage are Luigi, Lucario, Cartoon Link, Captain Falcon, Mr. Game & Watch, R.O.B., Ness, Marth, Falco, Ganondorf and Jigglypuff. It is unclear how you will gain access to these.

Fresh boss sightings include Ridley, Master Hand, something called Tabuu and some big robots.

Stages we didn't previously know about are Classic Mario Bros., Sonic Green Hill Zone, F-Zero Port Town, Luigi Mansion and Electroplankton.

Other snaps of note show an enormous Diddy Kong and Zelda, both of whom look a trifle annoyed, and a quick picture of everyone together probably singing songs and holding hands.

Pop over to US blog Joystiq for the relevant pictures and a video with lots of game-spoiling footage.

Or you can get excited by the opening cinematic we hoisted up on Eurogamer TV recently.

If you are trying to import Smash Bros. Brawl, good luck - Japanese retailers are having trouble meeting local demand as it is. ...

via IGN


Square Enix has at last opened the floodgates on the second the second DS entry in the Front Mission strategy series. The latest issue of Famitsu has a full report on Front Mission 2089: Border of Madness, which is currently 78% complete.

This newest Front Mission game has its origins as a cell phone game. According to Koichiro Sakamoto, producer of 2089, the game was successful as a mobile title, but Square Enix learned through a survey that fans of the Front Mission series don't really play cell phone games that much, so they decided to bring the title over to the DS.

Square Enix has made some major changes to the title for the new platform. The game has received a complete visual overhaul. The story has also been reworked into something that players can enjoy as a complete storyline. Even the game's cast has seen some changes. Events are presented using full screen artwork, something that the mobile version lacked.

Gameplay has been updated for the DS as well. You can now use the stylus to set up and command your troops. Although, you won't have to if you don't want to. The game will allow players to select button or stylus controls according to their preference. Yes, the mixed controls of Front Mission 1st are gone.

Unfortunately, Square Enix has had to skip out on one feature from Front Mission 1st: multiplayer. Sakamoto cited space problems as the reason for the missing feature.

Making up for the lack of multiplayer, the game's single player mode will have plenty of volume, with so many branching paths that you'll have to play multiple times to experience everything.

Front Mission 2089 is still without a final release date, but given the quick turn-around with DS games, we don't expect to have to wait too long. ...

via IGN


Square Enix has at last opened the floodgates on the second the second DS entry in the Front Mission strategy series. The latest issue of Famitsu has a full report on Front Mission 2089: Border of Madness, which is currently 78% complete.

This newest Front Mission game has its origins as a cell phone game. According to Koichiro Sakamoto, producer of 2089, the game was successful as a mobile title, but Square Enix learned through a survey that fans of the Front Mission series don't really play cell phone games that much, so they decided to bring the title over to the DS.

Square Enix has made some major changes to the title for the new platform. The game has received a complete visual overhaul. The story has also been reworked into something that players can enjoy as a complete storyline. Even the game's cast has seen some changes. Events are presented using full screen artwork, something that the mobile version lacked.

Gameplay has been updated for the DS as well. You can now use the stylus to set up and command your troops. Although, you won't have to if you don't want to. The game will allow players to select button or stylus controls according to their preference. Yes, the mixed controls of Front Mission 1st are gone.

Unfortunately, Square Enix has had to skip out on one feature from Front Mission 1st: multiplayer. Sakamoto cited space problems as the reason for the missing feature.

Making up for the lack of multiplayer, the game's single player mode will have plenty of volume, with so many branching paths that you'll have to play multiple times to experience everything.

Front Mission 2089 is still without a final release date, but given the quick turn-around with DS games, we don't expect to have to wait too long. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Turning Point developer Spark Unlimited has taken time out of polishing Turning Point: Fall of Liberty to ease our minds that the game might not be up there with COD4.

You can see us playing the demo in question right here, which - as we said - features a few dodgy glitches that we certainly hope will be ironed out before release. The response, via an IGN Blog, reads:

...

via Computer and Video Games


Nintendo's UK website is listing the release date for Super Smash Bros. Brawl as June 1, 2008. We repeat, this is not an online retailer like Gamestop or Amazon doing the guessing. It's Nintendo!

While the main gamepage for Smash Bros still lists the game as sometime in 2008, a box out relating to all news articles about the upcoming game shows us the specific date.

To view an example for yourself, take a look here. We've grabbed a pic just in case it magically changes over the next few hours and we start to think we're seeing things.

We've contacted Nintendo UK just to make sure no one's playing silly buggers. More soon. All good hopefully. ...

via Eurogamer


Tecmo has whipped the wrappers off Fatal Frame for Wii at a press conference in Japan.

Its official title is Rei: Tsukihami no Kamen, which roughly means Fatal Frame: The Mask of the Lunar Eclipse.

According to translations from IGN, attendees were shown a two minute CG trailer. Tecmo kept the specifics to itself, mentioning only buzz words "memories", "moon" and "mask".

Stills from the footage show a lovely girl wandering around dark locations with a torch.

Nintendo will be on hand to help with the release, handling sales and promotional duties, as well as lending development aid to veteran studio Grasshopper.

Big names this time around are Keisuke Kikuchi, Makoto Shibata and sits-on-a-toilet Goichi Suda - who has just finished work on the impressive No More Heroes (review published today).

Nintendo says Rei: Tsukihami no Kamen should be out in Japan this summer.

Fatal Frame, known as Project Zero round these parts, is a suspense-focused horror title that scares the snot out of us. It has previously appeared on both Xbox and PS2 but never on a Nintendo console - making its Wii exclusivity seem a bit bizarre. ...

via Games Industry


Two popular import retailers have warned consumers that Nintendo Japan is struggling to fulfil day-one pre-orders for the highly anticipated Wii title Super Smash Bros. Brawl, due for release in the region tomorrow (Jan 31).

The game is likely to be one of the biggest first-party Nintendo titles released this year – excitement is high from Nintendo's loyal fanbase following a perfect 10 score from respected Japanese magazine Famitsu.

"Please note that Nintendo has badly cut pre-orders placed by all distributors and is only shipping very limited quantities into the market this week," states Play Asia on its website.

"Our first shipment of Super Smash Bros. Brawl has reached us today, only covering about 15 per cent of all pre-orders that we have received," added the importer.

National Console Support says the troubles are more likely a delay than a shortage, and initial supplies should be topped up over the coming week.

"Our initial shipments of Smash Bros. are scheduled to arrive on Thursday of this week. We were able to obtain more copies than we originally expected after receiving the bad news from suppliers on Sunday night," reports the company.

"Some of our suppliers in Hong Kong won't be getting any copies until this weekend which makes it more of a delay than an actual shortage," it continued. "We also note that most of our Japanese vendors will receive the bulk of their supplies on February 2 and February 4 which is a few days later than the official street date."

The title has already been delayed in the US, where it is due for release on March 9, and a European release is currently pencilled in for the second quarter. ...

via Eurogamer


Street Fighter IV appears to feature super cancels; a mind boggling procedure where you cancel a special with a super. Makes perfect sense.

Evidence comes from a sequence of screenshots given to Eurogamer which show Ryu slamming his fiery balls into Ken.

Fans should be able to spot the enormous fireball immediately following the initial small burst.

Those who have no idea should concentrate on the facial expressions of Ryu and Ken, the warring would-be brothers who trained at the same dojo once upon a time and were also portrayed as two con artists in the rubbish film.

Street Fighter IV aims to take the series in a new graphical direction. It features chunky 3D models and scenery but good old 2D fighting.

The game is due out on 360 and PS3 sometime in the future, hopefully later this year.


Screenshots here ...

via Computer and Video Games


We brought you first details on the sequel (via PSW Magazine) back in early January. And Eidos has given the green light to show off some screens.

"Thankfully the sequel is going to be bigger, broader and crazier," says PSW. "There's no sign of Eidos tethering Rico to anything as boring as realism. If anything, the added zap of PS3 power behind the game has enabled developer Avalanche to push its ideas further still."

The game's lead designer Peter Johansson, said, "We identified the key areas we wanted to improve for Just Cause 2. We wanted to make better use of our huge game world, enhance the stunts, improve the combat and reward exploration more. We feel we have been successful at that and created a true sequel."

You can read the full PSW preview right here. After you've looked at the screens, of course.


Screenshots ...