Gaming Bits


Battling bathing beauty Hitomi graces the cover of the upcoming issue of GMR.

GMR Magazine has just scored the first review for the upcoming Dead or Alive Ultimate from Tecmo of Japan. The much-anticipated online-capable 3-D fighter was given an almost-perfect score of 9/10. The writer who apparently wrote the review defends the mag's propensity for early reviews (such as they did with their review for Ninja Gaiden, which got flack from gamers who contend that the review was written based on an unfinished game). Anyway, it's still about a month to go before DOAU hits store, if the October 4-ish release date holds true. I expect to see reviews and more news online and in print soon enough.

Dead or Alive Ultimate is a two-game compilation which includes an arcade-perfect translation of the Sega Saturn version of Dead or Alive, and a remade, better-than-DOA3 version of Dead or Alive 2. The 'Ultimate' version of DOA2 will include redone graphics, new stages, new moves and animations, as many as 20 costumes for some of the characters and a new CG movie that explains the origins of the game's main ninja girl characters, Kasumi and Ayane. Aside from the 12 original DOA2 characters, the game will also have hidden and unlockable the end boss Tengu, the Russian assassin Bayman and the German-Japanese karate princess Hitomi from DOA3.
I've already reserved my copy... October can't come soon enough. Heh.

In other gaming news...

Siren 2 is coming. This sequel to the creepy PS2 survival horror game will be set on an island possessed by the bloody-eyed evil of the first game. Expect this scary sequel in early to mid-2005.

One of the most hotly-anticipated games on Xbox, Peter Molyneux's Fable, is now more than just a... well, a fable. The game has just gone GOLD, which means that the final build has been completed and the game is ready for mass production. The game puts players into the shoes of a young man whose choices and actions will turn him either into a great hero of justice, or a fearsome lord of evil. This game has been in development ever since Xbox first came out, so it's about time. Despite not having the option to have a female hero, the premise is interesting enough for me to pick it up.

It's the weekend, and hopefully I can get in some hours of Sudeki and Street Fighter 3: Third Strike in between pages for K.I.A. and Kunoichi Boy. It's been a wet, wild week and I really need to relax.