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What is it about isometric viewpoints, classic franchises, and role-playing games? They seem to fit so well together! This perplexing equation worked wonders for classicSuper Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Starsand now seems to be continuing with upcoming DS gameSonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. I am not getting my hopes up just yet, though. We all know howSonic’s last outing in the isometric universeturned out (three words: throw-up on bread)....

Usually the first thing I think about when someone mentionsValkryia Chroniclesis how Sega wants us to spell it for the week. While the spelling may have varied in the past, Sega has never wavered from the game’s release on the PlayStation 3 this November. At the Sony press conference yesterday, Sony showed off a snippet of the gameplay. The only problem, as the perceptive eyes atKotakucaught, is that the video was shown during the PSP demo....

Must slow motion be used excessively in every single sports trailer? I realize that it heightens the tension when usedproperly, but it seems like recently it’s taken over the entirety of the trailer. Point in case being thePro Evolution Soccer 2010trailer we’ve got waiting for you after the jump. I suppose it lets them bring in text of all the features of the game, but even then, wouldn’t it just be better to have the video dramatically slow down like in300?...

Let me just start by sayingDonkey Kong Country 2is my favorite game of all time. When Nintendo first showed offDonkey Kong Country Returns— an upcoming Retro Studios-developed 2.5D platformer for the Wii — earlier today, I kind of lost it for a second there. I mean,really lost it. Then, I became kind of worried. Worried like only a fan stuck in the past could be. Now that I’ve had time to letDKCRsink in, though — I’m feeling better....

At Konami’s press conference here at E3 2010 the newSilent Hillgame was detailed. Vatra Games is the producer of the title, which will be coming to Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2011. we saw a trailer that opened on a rainy, secluded highway. A bus drives by and one of its passengers, a man in handcuffs, seems to be shaking. A flashback shows him running through a forest, trying to escape a policewoman....

By readingHamza’sandDale’spreviews of Hothead Games’ upcoming action role-playing title,DeathSpank, I’ve become quite interested in the game, since its premise — there’s a dude who thinks he’s destined to be a hero, so he acts like one, except everyone seems to be in on the joke but him — sounds like it’s ripe for comedy. The trailer above, which explains a bit more about the game’s story, piqued my interest even further with its beautiful-looking cutscenes....

This is easily the most trouble I’ve ever had sitting still to write a post. Allow us to present the new trailer forBeautiful Katamari, coming this fall to Xbox 360. The difference made by the new HD graphics is a little tough to make out from the video, but the sound of it is still like having candy shoved into your ears by a koala bear.Some of our staff were lucky enough to get their hands on this at E3, so stay tuned for their impressions....

Electronic Arts believes that Wii owners will be tempted to upgrade to a PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 thanks to Move and Kinect. According to Euro publishing chief, Jens Uwe Intat, the Wii has opened up a new audience, and Sony is set to capitalize. “We’ve always hoped Nintendo would get new audiences into gaming with the Wii, and they’ve successfully done that,” says Intat. “We also always hoped those people would later buy a next gen gaming machine that does stuff the Wii doesn’t do as well as the others and we can certainly expect that the combination of reducing the entry barrier of the price and making the PS3 and 360 more accessible via Move or Kinect, we will certainly get people who now enjoy playing video games and want to play online or enjoy games in a much high resolution....

By now you’re probably aware that Microsoft closed down Ensembleafter its completion ofHalo Wars. What isn’t exactly clear is what is happening to all of the studio’s employees. Over the last few months we reported that Microsoftwould open a new studioto host the employees, but we’ve also heard that (presumably) Ensemble brass would open uptwo different studiosin the wake of the closing. One of those two possible studios is now go....

Holy Azure Grimore, Batman! After a confirmed new version ofBlazBlue: Calamity Triggerwas coming toEuropewith new features and characters, Japanese and North American players were left wondering what exactly that meant. Was it DLC? Minor, non-game changing aesthetic changes? Something we would never end up seeing? Or a whole new repeat ofStreet Fighter II/Guilty Gearmethod of making minor updates and slapping a $60 price tag on a new version of the game....

Big news in the boxing world today: Oscar De La Hoya, 10-time world champion and winner of Olympic gold at Barcelona in 1992, hasannounced his retirement. The 36-year-old “Golden Boy” decided to call it quits four months after being beaten badly by Manny Pacquiao; De La Hoya’s final career record stands at 39-6 with 30 knockouts. De La Hoya andPacquiao is one of the 40-plus playable boxers in EA Sports’Fight Night Round 4, set for release this June on PS3 and 360....

Man it is so great to see Square Enix takeFinal Fantasyvoice acting in a different direction withFinal Fantasy XIII. I think we were all getting a little tired of winey protagonists, annoying female companions and gruff voiced black guys. Now we have the real characters we’d all been wanting. IGN got their hands on this uber-real English dub of the game. Again, I stress that there is nothing fake about this....

Now we finally get to see what Max looks like after all these years. He’s doing the filthy wifebeater thing now, I guess.Rockstar Vancouver has saidthat they’ve dropped a retired police officer into a violent, corrupt world in their latest, scheduled to hit the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC this Winter. While we can’t attest to how it feels yet, we can say that it looks pretty good judging by these new screenshots....