Headline RePLAY – 7.12.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: Terry Pratchett’s daughter is writing the Tomb Raider reboot, a new Darkstalkers may finally be in the works and Metal Gear’s surprise success in the West.

Crystal Dynamics, the studio that’s developing the upcoming Tomb Raider reboot, has announced that they recruited veteran writer Rhianna Pratchett for the game.  

“I grew up playing Tomb Raider, uncovering the world’s secrets and unearthing its treasures; I have lived and died as Lara Croft, but nothing comes close to the challenge of re-writing her,” said Pratchett. “Seldom do we get the opportunity to reimagine and reinvent a legend, so getting my narrative hands on Miss Croft was a once-in-a-life-time opportunity. It was going back to the genesis of videogame action heroines and exploring how to make such an iconic character meaningful and relatable for gamers today.”

Pratchett also contributed to Mirror’s Edge, Overlord and Prince of Persia.

|Source: Destructoid

Producer Yoshinori Ono asked fans at Comic-Con last year to hold up $5 or $10 bills to express support for a Darkstalkers game so he can show it as evidence of fan support to Capcom execs—he didn’t ask that out of fans this year.

“This year, you don’t have to do that, and it’s not necessarily bad news!” Ono told fans in a Blanka costume.

Does that mean that there is a Darkstalkers game at last in development at Capcom? Ono wouldn’t say, instead telling the audience that he has to be careful with what he says or he’ll get in trouble.

Notably Capcom released the original Darkstalkers on PSN last year and the ESRB rated Darkstalkers 3 for the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita earlier this year.

|Source: Siliconera

The Metal Gear series is a household name in the West, but creator Hideo Kojima never expected it to be such a big hit overseas.

“I made Metal Gear Solid almost as a hobby,” he told Weekly Famitsu. “I had always been making games on minor platforms and had never stood at the forefront of the stage.”

At the time of Metal Gear Solid’s release, Kojima didn’t even realize how much of an impact it made in the U.S. and Europe until he went on global tour to promote the game. During the tour, people everywhere recognized his face.

“Metal Gear Solid was my debut as a producer, but I never really thought about markets then,” he mused. “I suppose that was a good thing.”  

|Source: Kotaku

Headline RePLAY – 3.5.12

Today on Headline RePLAY: A scandal at the Pokémon Videogame Championships, Capcom responds to the Street Fighter X Tekken DLC controversy and rumors about the return of the Darkstalkers!

While the Pokémon Videogame Championships were underway in Birmingham, UK, a Spanish Team was busy with having a drunken “poo” fight in a hotel corridor. It is exactly unsavory as it sounds: human feces were involved.

PokéChamp21, a competitor, detailed the incident on the Pokémon World forums: “After 30 - 40 min. in my room relaxing with a quick snooze I awoke to the sound of banging coming from down the hall from where the 'Spanish Team' were staying in. It seems that at some point after they had turned up and when we went to Wether Spoons the Spaniards had decided to have a 'Poo' fight in the corridor and this had upset the staff and several guests (naturally) at the hotel enough to call the Police and have them leave.”

The report has been verified by other sources in attendance at the tournament.

*Source: Nintendo Life

When an enterprising hacker discovered that downloadable content already exists on Street Fighter X Tekken’s game disc, a bloc of fans were outraged. In response, Capcom issued a statement to explain the matter:

“The character information and files were intentionally included on retail versions of the PS3 and Xbox 360 game to save hard drive space and to ensure for a smooth transition when the DLC is available, allowing players who choose not to purchase the content the ability to play against players that did,” said Capcom.

“As a reminder, the retail version of the game will be the only disc-based version consumers will need to own and all future upgrades will come from post-launch DLC.”

Capcom Community Manager Brett Elston elaborates: “By including these 12 characters on the disc, the idea was to ensure easy compatibility between players who do and do not choose to download the characters when they arrive as DLC.”

“This move also furthers our desire to avoid a "Super" version of the game down the road,” said Elston. “Everything you need to enjoy this game for months (and years) to come will be accessed by the retail disc available this week.”

“I understand the reaction, but SFxT is a damn fun game with a ton of content right out of the gate and more stuff - all designed to keep this fresh - to come.”

*Source: Capcom-Unity

Rumor has it that Capcom producer Yoshinori Ono, whose credentials include Street Fighter IV and Street Fights X Tekken, is working on a long awaited Darkstalkers 4.

According to a reliable VentureBeat source, the new Darkstalkers game has been in the works since last year and will be operating under a modified version of the Street Fighter X Tekken engine.

Recently, it looks like Capcom has been trying to resurrect Darkstalkers in the public eye by releasing the original Darkstalkers on PSN last year and a recent ESRB rating on Darkstalkers 3 for the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita. 

Darkstalkers makes vampires, werewolves and even a trigger-happy Little Red Riding Hood look good, but is often eclipsed by Capcom’s Street Fighter. Darkstalkers first made its debut in arcades in 1994 and had its last major release with Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower in 2004.

*Source: VentureBeat