Gamesugar

April 25, 2011

Travis Touchdown In The Red Zone

No More Heroes Red Zone
Marvelous Entertainment unleashes video for No More Heroes: Red Zone Edition, the Japanese PS3 exclusive return of Travis Touchdown, which follows up on a technically troubled effort to bring the Wii title to HD consoles via the release of Heroes’ Paradise in Japan last year.

With Konami bringing an entirely reworked version of Heroes’ Paradise to North American PlayStation 3 owners this year – with the addition of PlayStation Move compatibility – it’s easy to imagine that Marvelous’ reveal of Red Zone with Move support stems from that same effort.

We had the chance to ask Marvelous about the relationship between the two releases today, and learned that Red Zone is in fact the Japanese localized version of the reworked Heroes’ Paradise Konami is releasing to North America – Marvelous also stressed that this new iteration of Heroes’ Paradise, and thus Red Zone, have very little in common with the original Japanese release from last year.

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November 8, 2010

Q&A – Konami Talks No More Heroes: Heroes’ Paradise

No More Heroes: Heroes Paradise
No More Heroes led a series of unique and alternative experiences offered by the Wii when it released in 2008. The story of Travis Touchdown’s quest to survive the streets of Santa Destroy in order to rise to the top of the United Assassins Association, if only to get the girl, represented a wave of punk sensibility rarely seen in the industry and also exclusive to Nintendo’s console.

Marvelous Entertainment broadened the chance for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 owners to share in the bloodletting with the Japanese release of Heroes’ Paradise this year, and many of us have patiently waited to learn which publisher might plan to bring that HD love our way.

Recently it was revealed that Konami would answer the call, announcing a Move supported PlayStation 3 version. Not unlike starving dogs, we hungered for more details.

Luckily for us, both Marvelous and Konami production team’s Tak Fuji have merged forces not only to bring Heroes’ Paradise to North America, but also to answer our most pressing questions – as well as leaving us all with one I know many of you will offer answers to.

Get your Heroes’ Paradise fix after the break.

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November 6, 2010

Grow Up and Blow Away

No More Heroes 2
As the year of gaming that is 2010 winds down, it’s inevitably time to add up the titles that shaped that time while questioning whether we moved forward, backward, or just spun our tires in the mud to see if we could wear down some tread.

For your reconsideration, the desperate struggle of Travis Touchdown in No More Heroes 2 begs not to be forgotten, despite its early release this year it is a title that lingers like the words spewing from the strip-club monologues that hang on the air like sweet cigarette smoke and still haunt me so many months later.

I recall some critical appraisals, which morphed from pre-release school girl excitement to post-release disappointment over an allegedly stripped down and simplified tale of revenge, which really took the jelly out of my donut at the time. Suda51’s original El Topo flavored inspirations searched for growth and development in returning to the streets of Santa Destroy. And if I could drag Sergio Leone into the mix, I’d suggest that the game shined with the challenging proposition of what happens when the man with no name returns to town – well known now to the inhabitants for previous actions and attitudes, an equal share of burden and pleasure found in the desperate struggle to realize everything arising from how that return challenges the narrative tradition it builds upon.

Travis Touchdown still returns with the hope of another poke and a smoke with Sylvia, but the climb up the ranks saw humor drip away as the game progressed, the absurdest and surrealist giving way to a new sensibility – dare I say the idea that Travis was becoming a man, burdened with the past and still left with more life ahead of him, full of doubts and sorrows and still sought desires that continue shaping him. From nostalgic economic diversions to the sorrowful encounters leading up to its loose fitting and fate unknown conclusions, and a final confrontation that defies offering the satisfaction a typical revenge story would, No More Heroes 2 reminded me that we’re all getting a little older this year, which was overdue for being said, or played out as it were.

Whether that notion caused some to revile is anyone’s guess, but as to whether the game is one of the more significant conversation pieces 2010 has to offer, there’s no question in my mind that it is.

October 28, 2010

Let’s Unbox – No More Heroes 2 : Hopper’s Edition

No More Heroes 2: Hopper's Edition
First-rate Sugarfiend Ujn Hunter had an import order placed for Marvelous’ swagged-out Japanese edition of No More Heroes 2 before they even knew they were making it.

Marvelous’ description of what was inside and on the discs left some questions, so with the release upon us, I’ve been nagging him for two days straight to rip it open and give us a tour, and he did, which is why we now know that The Hopper’s Edition has a motion styled / voice-acted comic, among other treats.

Catch some pics after the break.

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September 15, 2010

Shadows of the Damned

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: , , , , , — Jamie Love @ 8:45 am

Shadows of the Damned
As the Tokyo Game Show prepares to get under way, we finally get a glimpse of what happens when Shinji Mikami and Suda 51 come together – complete with the sounds of Akira Yamaoka working the score. The action-horror title stars Garcia Hotspur, a hunter of demons who’s “wrath will bring hell to its knees.”

A blurb from the game’s site mentions combining Suda’s punk-rock style with Mikami’s horror designs – the tiny bit of gameplay in the first trailer earnestly looks like Resident Evil 4 plugged into No More Heroes, complete with absinthe vending machine. I’m going to guess that’s what they are going for since both those titles are cited at the start of this announcement trailer.

Take a look after the break and let me know what you think.

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August 18, 2010

Of Grasshoppers and Bullets

Filed under: News Feed — Tags: , , — Jamie Love @ 2:37 pm

Sine Mora
News from Gamescom now includes overdue and unforeseen word about Grasshopper Manufacture, specifically a partnership with Digital Reality that will see the co-development of titles, starting with Sine Mora for release on XBLA and PSN – which is being plugged as an “innovative shooter… which mixes traditional side-scrolling gameplay with unique time manipulation mechanics.”

That’s right, apparently I get to write that Grasshopper is working on a side-scrolling shooter. Without assets, all I can offer is the site for Digital Reality, which possibly begs the question, “How did this all come about anyway?”

July 15, 2010

Your No More Heroes 2 Overdose

No More Heroes 2
On the short list of import worthy releases from Japan, the Hopper’s Edition of No More Heroes 2 that Famitsu recently revealed for an October 21, 2010 release is in a league of its own.

Compensation for the wait for more Travis Touchdown offers up one very shiny yellow box that includes the game, an artbook, soundtrack cd, and an additional bonus DVD.

Our friendly neighborhood Marvelous Rep tells me that the added DVD contains two “animes”, one about the events of the original No More Heroes, and another detailing events during the three year space between the two games – plus a documentary about the Japanese voice actors.

Both the regular release and this hopped-up edition also offer a No More Heroes comic as a pre-order present.

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