Within the past couple of years, Ubisoft has centered itself as a comparable developer/publisher. That said, wanting to expand its reach, the publisher revealed its ambitions to develop a Japanese role-playing game, much like the Final Fantasy series. When be interviewed Famitsu, Ubisoft’s Alain Corre spoke about the companies general ambitions within the role-playing genre.

“People often say that Japan is packed with hardcore gamers, and it’s important to understand what it is they’re looking for,” Corre said in the Famitsu interview. “Our mission is to create hit games on the same level as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. We’d like to see everyone in Japan root for us. Perhaps someday our efforts will result in a major hit on the level of a Dragon Quest.”

“We have never made any RPGs, a genre Japanese people love,” he continued. “We’ve made shooters, strategy, sports, action, and adventure games, but not any RPGs yet. Still, we’re open to all possibilities. If we can get a quality team of RPG-oriented developers, I’d love to release one. If we have a chance to work with Japanese creators, then I’m sure we can make a game that appeals to the Japanese audience.”

Corre also made it known that they’re “currently investing in Japanese development studios”, and that they’ll be revealing more about those projects “in a year’s time.” With that said, could this have to do anything with “Project Eden”, Ubisoft’s collaboration with Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s Q Entertainment? Well… it’s anyone’s guest.

Japanese role-playing games don’t command the respect that they once had. But, why is that? BioWare, a leader in Western RPG development, believes that Japanese role-playing games don’t innovate, meaning that “lack of evolution” is the reason for the JRPG decline, in both sales and quality.

“The fall of the JRPG in large part is due to a lack of evolution, a lack of progression,” BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk told Destructoid last week. “They kept delivering the same thing over and over. They make the dressing better, they look prettier, but it’s still the same experience”.

“My favorite thing, it’s funny when you still see it, but the joke of some of the dialogue systems where it asks, ‘do you wanna do this or this,’ and you say no. ‘Do you wanna do this or this?’ No. ‘Do you wanna do this or this?’ No. Lemme think — you want me to say ‘yes.’ And that, unfortunately, really characterized the JRPG.”

“We have big debates on whether GTA is an RPG, for example”, he adds. “It’s got all the elements, it just doesn’t have the numbers. And what gamers here want is that higher depth, that higher integration of features…Mass Effect 2 is in some ways a continuation of that evolution.”

BioWare’s known for impressive and engaging RPGs. However, the genre been seemingly non-existent this console generation; there are only a few out in the market right now. One of the many unnoticed problems of this console generation, BioWare has set out to fill this void with its “dark heroic fantasy” Dragon Age: Origins, the spiritual successor to the highly praised Baldurs Gate franchise on the PC. That said, unsurprisingly, Dragon Age surpasses all expectations; pushing the breaking point and scale of any previous RPG. In fact, Dragon Age could even be considered as the greatest RPG ever conceived.

In Dragon Age, you play as a newly mended Grey Warden, warriors tasked with fighting off the advancing Darkspawn in the time of “The Blight”, a catastrophic event in which Darkspawn try and take over the world causing years of darkness and chaos. However, the Grey Wardens have seen better days; their influence, as well as their numbers, are weak. Then, in this time of great weakness within the Wardens, push comes to shovel. Now, your character finds themselves building up an army in time for the impending Blight; done by pulling in debts from the other races and other factions within Ferelden, the setting for this adventure.

But, that’s only apart of the story. Dragon Age’s story also branches of into multiple segments; thanks in part to NPC dialogue tree, made famous in BioWare’s Mass Effect series, and the character creation system. However, with the dialog system, it’s not as obvious as to how your discussions effect your progression towards good, or evil. You see, since you cannot physically see the see the outcomes of your discussions, you’ll have to read and layout your options before picking your answers. This adds interesting aspect but, the moments when there’s only one outcome, are where the dialogue system trends to drags on.

That said, you’ll have three races (human, elf, dwarf) and three classes (warrior, mage and rouge) to pick from when customizing your character. Pick carefully because this decides how the world views and treats your character. Along with, which one of the six origin stories you’ll be to explore as that character. This is the biggest problem with the origin story aspect. After playing though a portion of the game, your characters origin story starts feeling like an afterthought, ie. The people of Ferelden don’t favor elves but, after awhile, it’s like people don’t care about who, or what, you are. This isn’t a major problem; it’s just that it adds an unrealistic feeling to the Dragon Age experience.

Even though there are some substantial differences between the PC and console versions, BioWare has created a combat system that mirrors that of the PC. This system works in one of two ways; fighting in real-time, and micromanaging. However, micromanaging isn’t the preferred battle preference on consoles; the console versions are geared more towards action, which is opposite to the PCs more tactical approach. Meaning that, there’s really no need for micromanagement on consoles – you can play though all the game without micromanaging. However, when you’re facing 15+ enemies, micromanaging is the prefect way for you to insure a clean victory. Be that as it may, the most notable difference between the versions are there presentations.

But, don’t get me wrong, Dragon Age is a gorgeous game. It’s just that, on consoles, the graphics can’t hold a candle to that of the PCs; the colors look washed out and foggy. Also, in the time it told me to play through Dragon Age, I noticed that the game was plagued with many annoying little glitches that, while not breaking the game, put a damper on the overall experience, ie. there’s a glitch in which a character’s lips move while no words came out. However, it isn’t all bad with presentation. Character animations, while stiff at some points, are smooth and well done, and the art style is very eye catching.

Closing Statement:

Dragon Age is one of those titles that can easily take hours out of your life, which, surprisingly, isn’t a bad thing because you won’t want them back. That, along with the fact that BioWare has chosen to introduce downloadable content, proves that Dragon Age is something that you do not want to miss. But, even though I did have a lot of fun playing Dragon Age, there’s just to many glitches that took away from the overall experience. However, if you can get past them, this is the game for you. In addition, never has a game been fully worth the $60; Dragon Age’s quality surpasses that.

Final Score: 9.1

We recently sat down with Martin Wahlund (CEO, Fatshark) to talk about their upcoming downloadable title, Lead & Gold: Gangs of the Wild West – a third person multiplayer-oriented shooter aiming to give players “a chance to relive the thrills of a gunfight in classic western settings.”. Enjoy.

GCO: What’s the general idea behind Lead & Gold?

Martin Wahlund: To deliver a fun and good looking multi-player game with strong game modes that suits the western setting well. This, at a very good price for the players.

GCO: People have called Lead & Gold “Team Fortress meets the old west”, what do you have to say about that?

MW: It is not that far off. Team Fortress is great and there are many common elements in the games but also many differences.

GCO: Lead & Gold is a team based multi-player experience. Please describe some key elements in the game.

MW: Team play. You win as a team or lose as a team. Another key element is the class that you chose to play, it dictates the way you play in each scenario.

The in-game leveling system is also something that stands out; you get experience from completing mission objectives or killing enemies. The character then, evolves by gaining improved synergies.

GCO: Does Lead & Gold have some kind of perk system, much like that in the Call of Duty games?

MW: Not directly. The closest thing is the synergies that the characters get when you level up your character in each scenario.

GCO: We’ve noticed that Lead & Gold uses the same engine as GRIN’s Bionic Commando. Were there any setbacks caused by GRIN’s closing during development?

MW: Well, we worked close with GRIN and it was a shame to see the studio close down but we are still alive and kicking.

GCO: Is there support for dynamic (explosive) environment in the game?

MW: In some sense, yes. You can destroy certain objects with a well placed powder keg. It could be a wind mill or a door.

GCO: Going back to perks. Is there a class system?

MW: Yes. There are 4 main classes in the game at release, the trapper, the blaster, the deputy and the gunslinger. All of them have a special ability for example the trapper can set traps. We hope to release more characters as downloadable content in a near future.

GCO: When can we expect Lead & Gold to release?

MW: Q1 2010.

GCO: Thanks for your time.

If you can’t wait for its release. Piranha Bytes today released the demo for the upcoming role-playing game, Risen in North America – offering players a chance to get a first impression on some of the adventures that are awaiting them on the island of Faranga before the game release.

The demo is available for download at http://risen.deepsilver.com/blog/pages/us/downloads/downloads.php

The complete retail version of Risen will be available on the market as of tomorrow.

There’s no doubt in our mines that Heavy Rain is totally going to kick butt when it releases next year; its developers Quantic Dream are very primed on delivering an adult story with an adult narrative. And what wouldn’t be a better way of doing so; then to do so.

As you can tell by the title, this article is obviously about a “nude scene” that takes place during one of the levels in Heavy Rain – in where the player controls a female character who has a gun pointed at her by a mysterious character who is telling her to take off her undergarments (link is not available).

Just to note: Heavy Rain is a game made for the adult gamer. However, this is most likely to draw attention from many “active parents” who are likely going to try and get the games rating reinforced to an “A” – instead of “M” – or they’re going to try and halt the games release, altogether. Anyway, don’t let me ruin your day with this nonsense that’s mostly promoted by FOX, just kidding.

With the Japanese release of Final Fantasy XIII slowly coming upon us, it’s time for Square to start revealing the heavy details on Final Fantasy XIII. In the latest issue of Famitsu, Square Enix did exactly that by revealing two new characters that will be featured in the game – reports the Examiner. The first, of course, is the lovely lady pictured, Jill Nabato.

When first shown, Jill was quickly dubbed as the female version of Sephiroth. But, officially, Jill is a lieutenant of the government who controls the PSICOM soldiers, and is said to be a cold-blooded, heartless woman. The second character revealed is Yaag. Like Jill, Yaag is also a lieutenant. He has a strong sense of justice and carries a very serious demeanor. One of his primary concerns is protecting the people of Cocoon. Since Cocoon is his primary concern, he views Lightning and her companions as pests that are trying to bring unrest to Cocoon.

[nggallery id=29]

Movie based games normally aren’t as good as they appear, but when a developer gets that movie and game combination just right, they can amaze everyone with their final product. X-Men Origins: Wolverine is just that kind of game, but instead of some hand-me-down PG-13 character, you get a Wolverine that stays true to Wolverine. Because of this, “the kiddies” can’t take on this role of Wolverine – thanks to some very brutal decapitations – but that just sucks for them.

Following events from the film, the game tosses you in into the tattered white tank top of Weapon X in a setting all too familiar from the movie. However, X-Men Origins adds a lot of back story into it. The game centers around the time when Logan was running with his commanding officer Stryker and Sabertooth doing animalistic missions within Africa. But that isn’t all, the title also follows Lugan’s turn from the group for a better life – but we all know how that turns out. So now, he’s on a one man mission of revenge. However, for some reason, the game finds away to pop in and out of these timelines, which sometimes can get a bit tedious.

Luckily, this game isn’t much about story; it’s mostly about hacking ‘n’ slashing your way though waves and waves of enemies. Thanks to some quick reaction, combat provides enough variety in its moves to keep things up to speed and interesting, while the ability to unlock special moves and upgrade them with points earned by experience offers an rewarding sense of progress. But without some of these controls such as the game’s lunges, blocks, rolls, and special moves – handled by shoulder buttons and triggers – the controls feel sufficiently different to most other hack ‘n’ slash titles. And once you get the hang of things, you’ll soon find yourself a pro.

Another thing that’s interesting about X-Men Origins is the new health system they have finally given to Wolverine. Like before there is a heath bar, but you won’t need it because Wolverine has the ability to heal in-game. When bullets fly into Wolverine, the holes appear in his chest and they begin to bleed out. Along this, you can also see the shirt being torn off of Logan back as enemy bullets and explosions hit him.

When playing thought this game, I found that there there hasn’t been much work on the characters within the design department. There are three character types that aren’t bosses, and depending on which mission you are on, there are different character skins you will be able to fight. Don’t get me wrong, there are many special moves and attacks that you can utilise, but you can only do something for so long before you get bored of it. This is want happens with X-Men Origins. Sure, adding new character skins in the mix is a nice aspect, but there’s aren’t that many of them to keep things fresh.

Closing Statement:

There’s only so much you can ask from a movie game, but lucky, X-Men Origins is able to capture them all well. When I was playing though this game I was surprised by all the things they’ve added to give the game replay valve. I played though this game twice: the first to beat it, and the second to find all the extra collectables and ablites. There have been very few movie games that people can consider good, however I’m happy to tell you that X-Men Origins: Wolverine happens to be one of these games.

Score: B+

Assassin’s Creed 2 is the follow-up to the title that became the fastest-selling new IP in video game history. The highly anticipated title features a new hero, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a young Italian noble, and a new era, the Renaissance.

EZIO, A NEW ASSASSIN FOR A NEW ERA – Ezio Auditore da Firenze is a young Italian noble who will learn the ways of the assassins after his family was betrayed and he looks to seek vengeance. He is a lady’s man, a free soul with panache yet has a very human side to his personality. Through him, you become a master assassin.

RENAISSANCE ITALY – Italy in the 15th century was less a country and more a collection of city-states where families with political and economic strength began to take leadership roles in cities like Florence and Venice. This journey through some of the most beautiful cities in the world takes place in a time in history where culture and art were born alongside some of the most auspicious stories of corruption, greed and murder.

A NEW-FOUND FREEDOM – You will be able to perform missions when you want and how you want in this open-ended world that brings back free-running and adds elements such as swimming and even flying to the adventure. The variety in gameplay adds another layer for you to truly play through the game any way you choose.

DYNAMIC CROWD – Discover a living, breathing world where every character is an opportunity for the player. Blending in with the crowd is easier, working with in-game characters provide ample rewards but can also lead to surprising consequences.

BECOME A MASTER ASSASSIN – Perfect your skills to become a master assassin where you brandish new weapons, learn to disarm enemies then use their weapons against them and assassinate enemies using both hidden blades.

After months of rumors, it seems that one of our favorite past times returns “due to popular demand”, but this time it’s making its nex-gen debut on your nearest marketplace.

The return of the title will be called Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes and it’s headed onto XBLA and PSN. However, the game was rumored time and time again, but Capcom hasn’t said anything on the title until now. 

In addition, it was revealed that there will be an exclusive demo on the game, which is set to release on April 30th only on PSN. 

Here are the details of the demo: Two-player local matches; Six available characters – Ryu, Chun-Li, Strider, Spider-Man, Iron Man and Wolverine; Seven selectable environments; Upscaled 1080p graphics; Widescreen or 4:3 aspect ratio; Two graphic filter options for character sprites; And other cool options to check out.

No… Why? Come on!!! After waiting for god knows how long, it seems that the one of the most anticipated titles of this year The Saboteur wouldn’t be releasing anytime soon. Just in case you guys though that it would. 

“There’s still definitely a lot of work to do,” dev boss Tom French told VG247 in London this week.“We’re not even alpha yet. There’s little quirks and kinks, but we still have plenty of time to work that kind of crap out.”

Hoping for a shot in the dark, VG247 asked if the game was going to release anytime this year. 

“We haven’t said an exact date yet,” said French. “We are getting closer, and we are getting closer to locking down that date. We want to make sure we hit the right window. We don’t want to get lost, and hopefully we’ll find the right window and the right place in time to get this game out.”

In addition, French goes onto revealed that the 2007 announcement of the game was way too early considering what had been accomplished at that point. Then he goes to revealed that “…people from Mercenaries and other games… [are] working on the project…”

We were told that we were going to see this in the “upcoming weeks”, no pun intended, but we didn’t think that would be this soon.

Today, details were revealed for the upcoming Fable II DLC entitle “See the Future”. The content gives players the chance to heed the call for a hero to restore color and balance to the world, or let Albion fall. Those who emerge victorious will receive the ultimate reward: a quest that provides a vision of Albion’s future and what lies ahead for those born into the heroic bloodline. The new quests in “See the Future” will bring players face-to-face with new characters, creatures, events and legendary artifacts, like:

Murgo – a person that you meet in the childhood part of Fable II how returns to Bowerstone Market to bring an amazing array of new wares; The Ghosts of the Snowglobe Quest – Holding a disturbing secret, the small model village inside it was once a real town in Albion.; The Cursed Knight Quest – Forever banished to a land beyond the dead, the Cursed Knight awaits a hero who has the strength and will to dress up in convincing costumes, even imitating a hobbe or balverine, to save him from his fate; The Colosseum – The Colosseum puts even the Crucible to shame. Only the greatest heroes have triumphed here.

See the Future will offer free unique items including Welley’s soldier helmet, a braided ponytail, pshyco Jester make-up, a new hero expression, the back flip trick for the dog, a collectible Murgo the Trader statue and more. The new content looks set to release in May for 560 Microsoft Points.

[See the Future of Albion via Lionhead]

In 2007, Cryptic were working on a title called Marvel Universe, a MMO based on characters in the Marvel Universe – no pun intended. But, because of many reasons the game got canceled, and now it seems that the title has turn zombie on us and has returned.

There were many reports stating that Gazillion Entertainment has four development studios working on four massively multi player games. The first three are working on games like, LEGO Universe, the recently announced Super Hero Squad MMO, and an ‘unannounced original MMO’.

The fourth, however? Gargantuan, which is located in San Mateo, California, is busy working on ‘Marvel Universe’, an MMO for the PC and ‘consoles’, but which consoles have yet to be determent. The title sounds interesting especially when you consider that this all-new project is being worked on by former Blizzard, Sony Online Entertainment, Cryptic and NCsoft devs.

The God of War, Kratos, is back for an extended view of the trailer that we got viewed at back at last years VGAs. The trailer looks absolutely amazing, but be warned you may be blown away, if not, let us know!

A Sony rep has confirmed that the trailer is live action, meaning that it was taken from actual gameplay. But, franchise fans will notice the absence of some signature elements; enemies here aren’t dropping light orbs, the person playing the game isn’t being given on-screen button prompt when he – or she - goes in for the gory mini-boss kills. Lucky, Sony has confirmed to us that those elements were removed from the trailer for presentation purposes.

In what wouldn’t be a shocking turn of events, on the official Metroid Japanese website it reveals what looks like an ad for another Metroid Prime title.

The ad showcases a space pirate, which is a recurring protagonist in the game, reading ‘another side story – coming soon’. When translated the text at the bottom of the ad reads, ‘Live the history Metroid Prime on the side of the Pirates.’ But, before you go off let the speculation.

Batman is recognized as one of the world greatest detectives and, along with that, he also uses an heroic set of weaponry.

With that said, he uses his weaponry as new factors arrive, like using his bat-a-rang to knock a gun out of an enemies hand, and what kind of Batman game would it be if they didn’t add that in.

According to Danish print mag Game Reactor, Batman: Arkham Asylum will give Batman the use of new gadgets as capabilities increase: not too dissimilar to the mechanics of an RPG.

“As in a role-playing game, Batman will possess an experience system whereby it is possible to open up for new abilities and new gadgets,” says the piece [translated from Danish].

“Batman will need to use a large number of said gadgets as in many of the game’s difficult encounters as he won’t always be the strongest.”

[Arkham Asylum to have RPG elements via VG247]

South Park has always had a lot of fun with video game referencing, including games like World of Warcraft and Guitar Hero. Both have been used and parodied alot of times, even receiving some help from Blizzard in regards to a World of Warcraft parody. Now, South Park has seems to set its eye on a brand new game, Call of Duty: World of War. Which was revealed in an episode of South Park where the kids are suppose to be learning about computers and Butters has somehow found out that vampires are in the school. It’s really funny so check it out.

[South Park Plays Some World at War (NSFW) via Aeropause]