Did you check out our preview for LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes? Good, because you should also really watch the new trailer. It’s not only filled with cute LEGO stuff that makes me wish for my lost childhood LEGO collection, but there’s a joke near the end that made me die laughing.

Wasn’t expecting voice acting at all. Bravo, Warner Brothers.

source Destructoid

Batman’s back (in LEGO form) and he brought his friends along for sequel in LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes. Not just Robin, though. Superman, The Flash, Wonder Woman and Aquaman are among the blocky heroes, and The Joker and Lex Luthor have the villain thing on lock, as always. Last week we got our first hands-on preview with the title, so read on to see how it all … stacks up.

Sorry about that.

Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita, 3DS)
Developer: Traveler’s Tales
Publisher: WB Games
Releases: June 19, 2012 

The Joker and Lex Luthor have teamed up to spring all the bad guys in Arkham Asylum with a deconstruction weapon that can tear open the blocks that make the prison. Gotham City’s heroes, Batman and Robin, swoop in for riot control, and they handle the job quite well at first, but it eventually becomes a situation where the Justice League needs to be called in. 

The gameplay in LEGO Batman 2 is delightfully simple. I steered a LEGO mini-figure version of Robin in a cooperative session with another attending press member playing as Batman (LEGO Batman 2 supports drop-in/drop-out play for a second player at any time) in the fight against Arkham’s worst, kicking, punching, grabbing and throwing my way through them. A simple combo system lets you string attacks together, but more advanced attacks come from character-specific suits that add new abilities for combat and navigation.

Early on we saw that Batman has a electricity suit that lets him power-up to do special takedowns as well as power up equipment for puzzle solving. I liked Robin’s acrobatic suit, which lets him throw poles into surfaces to swing on and jump from, enabling him to reach higher platforms. The poles can also be used as a baton-like weapon, but it pales in comparison to the suit’s hamster ball ability, which lets Robin roll around to smash baddies and other obstacles. These are just a couple of the many suits available.

This high level of accessibility combined with some depth in abilities and combat means that you can sit down to play LEGO Batman 2 with a child and you’ll both will have a good time. I certainly did.

I really enjoyed the dynamic presentation of the two-player session. The split-screen isn’t static, and will move around to highlight the action, with the division constantly moving depending on where each player stands. If both players are near each other, there is no split, but as they move apart, the dividing bar will tilt and spin freely, and the camera will zoom in to highlight the action. This makes for a cinematic presentation, making your co-op session look something like an animated movie.

For the first time, all of the LEGO game characters have been fully voiced. The work I saw in a presentation and gameplay was top notch, with Superman and Joker being the most notable. The dialogue is packed with wisecracks and jabs, making for some pretty funny cutscenes.

In one scene, Superman teams up with Batman to head to Lexcorp to get some answers. Superman opens the door for Batman, which has him groaning. Inside, the receptionist asks for their names. Superman asks, “Seriously?” After names were given, the receptionist asks if these were their last names. Batman jokes that even Luthor’s receptionist is evil. Spoiler: Luthor’s receptionist actually is evil, as she soon transforms into a sub-boss robot made of the hardest substance known to man. Hilarious.

After I played through the demo mission I was able to get a taste of LEGO Batman 2‘s open-world. Set in Gotham City, heroes can explore freely, taking on missions, picking fights and trying out any of the 70 playable characters. We saw all types of weird experiences in this open world, ranging from crazed Batmobile cruising to Wonder Woman riding on the back of a lion. It all came together for me when I saw LEGO Superman take to the skies, cruising over Gotham’s skyscrapers as the Superman theme queued up in the background. 

Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes will be released later next month for just about every current game platform on the market, save for mobile.

source Destructoid

What’s the weakest possible source for a rumor that you can imagine? A random tweet from a dude who says he’s already got a copy of the new Metroid Vs. Star Fox game because his uncle works for Nintendo? A guy on the train who claims that he’s a window washer for Microsoft, and can confirm that he saw Bill Gates and Hideo Kojima drinking Ecto Cooler and playing Metal Gear Solid 4 all night on the Xbos 360? 

Well, this rumor has them all beat. The source here is a random forum post on IMDb, and it claims that a game based in FLCL universe is being developer by Namco Bandai for Nintendo consoles. It just doesn’t get any less credible than that. Yet, the internet is still getting excited about it. That just speaks to the power of FLCL. Fans of this property love it so much that they just can’t help it. Give them cause to believe that FLCL is coming back in any form, and they’ll lose it. All reason goes out the window.

Of course, there is the outside chance that this rumor is legit. FLCL is an extremely strange a property, and this would be an appropriately strange way to announce its entry into the world of gaming. I’ve reached out to Namco Bandai for comment. In the meantime, I think it’s best that you FLCL fans not get your hopes up. 

[Rumor] FLCL Game in the Works? [Twinfinite]

source Destructoid

Retro City Rampage’s mastermind Brian Provinciano sat down with the PlayStation.Blog to show off his baby running on the PlayStation Vita. Brian details some of the Vita features, from the optimized visuals for the handheld screen, the touch functionality, and there’s even a dot-matrix filter option to give the game a Game Boy/Game Gear feel for that old school touch.

Best of all, there’s going to be cross-play functionality, meaning you can play Retro City Rampage on the PlayStation 3 and transfer over to the Vita when you have to be on the move. Nice.

See Retro City Rampage in Action on PS Vita [PlayStation.Blog]

source Destructoid

I’m pretty bummed that La-Mulana on WiiWare was canceled, though I fully understand why Nicalis can’t allocate any of its limited resources towards publishing La-Mulana on WiiWare. The good news is, the subsuquent interviews that Nigoro (La-Mulana‘s developer) granted regarding the game’s cancelation has spurred renewed interest in the game. According to their official blog “Some publishers have offered just after the interview was posted on the websites.“

Having met some of the staff from Nigoro in person back in 2010, I know that their English is… not the best. Still, I think that quote is pretty clear. It makes sense that some WiiWare publishers out there would be interested in putting out La-Mulana, as unlike more WiiWare titles, the game has a built in following and a fair amount of buzz in the press. If i had the choice between publishing a random WiiWare game about bees and spelling or La-Mulana, my money would be on the game people had actually heard of.

The part that really gets me about this whole thing is Nigoro’s reasoning behind wanting to share the game with the world. 

“However, to tell the truth, our primary reason for it is to set a example that Japanese indie game can be released. When we release the game overseas, which publisher will have working with us? Following La-Mulana’s example, are there publishers dig Japanese unknown good indie games? Japanese indie games world is untouched vein of gold. Japanese may not be going to dig it. Now, please dig for gold as you like!“

I want a T-shirt that says, “Japanese indie games world is untouched vein of gold.”

source Destructoid

The perpetually delayed Aliens: Colonial Marines has found it in its heart to have one more push back, with SEGA today announcing that Gearbox’s interactive Aliens sequel is missing 2012 entirely. The game will now arrive on February 12, 2013.

We’ll be hunting bugs on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360, while the Wii U version remains undated and due an announcement at a later date. 

With Gearbox working on ten thousand other things, I suppose it makes sense. Still, as the resident Xenomorph nut, this game is severely driving me insane. Always so close, and always so far. It is literally the most painful experience any human has suffered.

source Destructoid

E3 is just a few weeks away. Everything that is going to be at the show already exists somewhere, right at this very moment. It’s just a matter of time before wee see it all. 

It looks like one surprise of the show may have leaked early. From the looks of it, the Wii U controller has gone through a few changes since last year. The first thing that jumps out at you is those analog sticks. You nub-haters out there must be pretty psyched. 

We’ve attached a shot of the Wii U E3 2011 controller for comparisons sake. You’ll see that there are a few other changes, like an added logo, and new placement for a few buttons. It looks like Nintendo might have taken consumer feedback into account with this redesign. Lets hope those changes are for the better.

Of course, what really matters is the games. If a leaked photo of a new Wii U controller can leak, that means screens or video of new games (like Rayman Legends) might not be far behind. We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for just such an event, so stay tuned. 

RUMOR – TT Games employee shows off new Wii U controller [GoNintendo]

source Destructoid

Confused by the header? Today’s aforementioned Nintendo Download titles are also known as Kirby’s Block Ball (eShop), Rayman: Origins (eShop), and Chronicles of Vampires: The Awakening (DSi). I had to think of something to jazz this announcement up a bit, as it isn’t that exciting.

Kirby’s Block Ball is $2.99, and it’s pretty much your standard brick-breaking game with Kirby in it. Of course, I can never have too much Kirby in my eShop, so I’m all about it.

Rayman drops in the form of a Rayman: Origins 3DS demo, which is pretty self-explanatory there (even though you shouldn’t need a demo to decide whether or not to buy this amazing game).

Chronicles of Vampires: The Awakening (500 points) is the follow-up to the lackluster Chronicles of Vampires: Origins, and is nowhere near as good of a vampire game as Gameloft’s DSi Castlevania clone Soul of Darkness. There’s also a Men In Black III 3D trailer (please let this movie be good — the lack of early reviews is disturbing).

source Destructoid

A new “behind-the-scenes” video for Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, featuring Warren Spector and other members of the Junction Point team, as they discuss some of the new features which have been implemented in the game. Topics include co-op gameplay with Oswald the Rabbit and improvements to the oft-maligned camera from the first game.

And then they refer to the Xbox 360 and PS3 as being “Next Gen” consoles. Now, I don’t want to be some nitpicking, mega-dork who sneers and sniggers over the use of the term. I’m sure that the audience for Epic Mickey is chock full of people who have no idea what that term might mean to us as game enthusiasts and have no real need to know; if it sounds cool, that should be good enough. That said, I think I can be forgiven for a little knee jerk reaction.

(snigger)

source Destructoid

All eyes will be on the Wii U at this year’s E3. While Sony and Microsoft will most likely have some exciting news, it seems the thing people are the most interested in learning more about is Nintendo’s upcoming console.

What will the final model look like? How will it work? What secrets is it hiding? What will the games look like? How will they play?

There is a lot to be revealed, and with the Wii U scheduled to release later this year, Nintendo has a lot to talk about at this year’s big show.

But the big question is: Are you excited to listen?

The Wii U has had an interesting history leading up to this year’s E3. Last year, it was leaked that Nintendo was working on a next-generation console — a console given the codename Project Cafe.

Before last year’s E3, rumors were running wild. It will be twice as powerful as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3! It will have one of the craziest controllers ever conceived! Oh, just kidding about the new system being powerful: it will actually be less powerful than the two other current-gen consoles.

There was a lot to speculate about. Some true. Some … not so much.

When E3 2011 started, people were dying to see what Nintendo would reveal.

At their press conference, they most definitely revealed this mysterious Project Cafe … but it was one of the strangest and most confusing announcements in recent memory.

At the end of their long, yet stellar press conference, an odd image of a white tablet-looking thing popped up on the giant screen. A white tablet-looking thing called the Wii U. The Wii U? Huh.

After that, a montage played of the Wii U being used. It looked cool and interesting, but no one in the press conference audience really understood exactly what it was. Since no actual console was focused on in the video, people didn’t know what they were looking at.

Was the Wii U an add-on to the current Wii? Was the entire console the tablet controller? Was it in HD? There were many questions, but before anything was answered, the video just … ended.

I, for one, was confused. I left the press conference excited (I am always excited!), but I definitely needed to know more.

Once I finally got to play the Wii U at last year’s E3, I finally understood what it was all about.

Most importantly, I noticed that it was a new console. Sitting under the pretty monitors in Nintendo’s booth was a small, sleek white machine. Kind of like a Wii, but much sexier. Ah, I thought. That must be the actual Wii U. It started to become clearer. The tablet was just the controller.

After playing the demos Nintendo had on offer, I liked what I saw. The interface was interesting. The graphics were polished and in beautiful HD (at last!). The tablet was comfortable and easy to hold.

When I walked away, I was happy. Still a little confused, but much more satisfied than I was after the Nintendo press conference.

I was intrigued about the Wii U, but still needed to know more.

Over the last year, more rumors have popped up about the Wii U. The release date, the specs of the system, the games that may or may not be in development for it — the rumors keep on adding up.

Even though Nintendo revealed the Wii U at last year’s E3, people are still a little confused and just want to know exactly what the system will have to offer.

And that leads us to this year’s big show in just a few more weeks …

This is the E3 that matters for Nintendo. This E3, Nintendo needs to explain exactly what the Wii U is and exactly how the Wii U will play. When E3 ends, people need to not have any more questions about the mysterious little console. Outside of price or release date (those are expected to be announced later), all other questions need to be addressed.

So what should we expect? What will be revealed at this year’s E3 regarding the Wii U?

It goes without saying that the final design of the Wii U will be on display (and fully playable!) on the show floor. And, given Nintendo’s track record, I expect that a bunch of cool features that have not yet been revealed will be announced for the promising tablet controller. (One of these may have been hinted at in the recent Rayman Legends trailer.)

Will there be a huge redesign from what we saw last year? As much as I would love to see a true analog stick replace the sliding analog pad, I doubt much will change. But, again, Nintendo could surprise on that front as well.

What is most important is that Nintendo doesn’t just show off tech demos like they did at last year’s E3. As fun as those tech demos were (the one with the ships and the arrows was fantastic!), Nintendo has to reveal a large amount of real, hopefully playable games that will eventually be released for the system. They have to.

And these games have to excite people.

If the rumors of a new HD Mario and Zelda both being shown are true, this could easily happen. I know I would personally lose my mind seeing Mario and Zelda in high definition for the first time.

Throw in some other fun franchises (Pikmin 3), a strong third-party lineup (this is the biggest question mark), a functional online presence, and a truly refreshing new game experience using the crazy tablet controller, and Nintendo could not only impress with the Wii U, they could set themselves up for another huge seller this holiday season.

Whether the Wii U will generate the same heat in the casual market as the original Wii did is yet to be seen, but if Nintendo knocks the Wii U’s appearance at E3 out of the park, the company will be in a very good position.

This is an unbelievably important E3 for Nintendo. And it is all riding on the Wii U. No pressure, right?!

Gamers are ready to be impressed and excited. It’s up to Nintendo to deliver.

—

What do you think? Are you excited about the Wii U? What do you think will be revealed at E3? What games do you think will be announced?

There is so much to talk about! I am so excited!

source Destructoid