MyMMOshop.com, responsible for selling in game currency to numerous MMOs, including World of Warcraft, Warhammer, and Final Fantasy XI, has recently been bought out by My MMO Inc. for the sum of $10 million, according to an article on Yahoo.

One of the top RMT sites in the business, MyMMOshop.com has specialized in customer service, 24 hour availability, and quick delivery of in-game currency, despite the highly contended issue among more legit MMO players. The store has been running since 2003, and has locations in the U.S., Ireland, and Australia.

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Most of us should have seen this coming. A recent Gamefly listing shows that a game based on the upcoming movie, Dragon Ball Z: Evolution, is set to be released not too far from now.

Not much is known about the game at this time, except for it obviously being based on the movie, which is loosely based on the anime (and I mean very loosely, if you’ve seen the trailers). The game is slated to be released on April 9, around the same time the movie itself opens in theaters. Namco is set to publish it, and it will be on the PSP only.

Judging from screenshots, it seems more like another Tekken copycat (and a poor looking one at that) instead of the high flying, beam tossing action in the anime games. Then again, Namco is responsible for the Tekken series itself, plus the Soul Calibur line of games, so they may have better chances at making the game seem more attractive at least.

Is anyone else getting flashbacks of the Street Fighter live action movie?

The Nintendo 64 system had its fair share of gems for its time. Everyone knows about Ocarina of Time, Mario 64, and even Goldeneye, probably the only truly successful movie based game. However, there were also games that had a small cult following. Mischief Makers, which was done by Enix in a cooperative effort with Treasure, before the merger occured, has such a following.

The premise in Mischief Makers is relatively simple: the professor has been kidnapped, and as the main character, Ultra-Intergalactic-Cybot G Marina Lightyears, you need to rescue him. However, the story isn’t the main aspect of the game, but rather, the unique gameplay mechanics. Everything centers around three things: Grab, shake, and throw. This is where the charm of Mischief Makers really shines forth.

Just about every single enemy and object can be affected by the three actions listed above, and each has a different effect depending on circumstances. Grabbing an enemy, for example, and shaking him can make him drop health items or currency. After that, you can throw him as a projectile to damage other enemy units.

You with me so far?
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Putting on Devil May Cry 4, I expected a lot of the familiar characteristics the series has brought in: over-the-top combat, bizarre weaponry, a badass main character, and hordes of demons waiting to tear you apart. Thankfully, the game has all of that, and more.

DMC4 introduces a new protagonist, Nero, a smart mouth kid who fights using a sword with an engine built in for powered up attacks, and a bizarre, demonic arm. This arm, called the Devil Bringer, is actually a focal point of most of his gameplay, as it can be used to not only grab enemies for heavy damage, but also pull far away targets in for further punishment. Each enemy also has a specific grab animation, where some make Nero perform devastating attacks that are also very cool to watch, and mixing these grabs in with other combos can give rewarding results. Even bosses can be grabbed where appropriate. Initiate a grab on the first boss, and you’ll see him lift it off the ground with ease, then deliver a powerful punch to send it flying!
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Good night, sweet prince...

In a shocking decision, Ziff Davis has announced that the Hearst Corporation, owners of the UGO.com network, will officially own the 1UP.com website. Ziff Davis also announced that the publication Electronic Gaming Monthly will be shut down at the same time.

The details of the sale include the 1UP.com website itself, and included Mycheats.com, Gametab.com, and GameVideos.com in the deal. EGM magazine was not a part of the deal, and the January publication will be its final issue, ending a two decade run since it was originally founded in 1989.

Gaming news website Gamasutra was able to obtain a copy of the letter sent to employees by CEO Jason Young. Below is the letter in full.

Team:

We are announcing today the sale of our 1UP digital business to UGO Entertainment, a dvision of Hearst Corporation.

Over the course of the last 4 years we have built the 1UP sites into a top tier gaming digital destination. While our growth has been sharp, it has become apparent that more scale is necessary to effectively compete in this market segment.

We made the decision that the best path to putting our award winning 1UP brand and content in a more competitive position was to combine it with the operations of another publisher. We received much interest from other parties.

After a comprehensive process, this morning we completed a deal with Hearst Interactive, the owner and operator of UGO Entertainment. 1UP.com, MyCheats.com, Gamevideos.com, and Gametab.com will now all be part of the UGO Entertainment business. Many of our employees will travel with this business and become part of the UGO team.

With this transaction happening, we have also made the decision to discontinue publication of EGM. The January 2009 issue will be the final issue of the publication. With demand for print continuing to decline amongst both advertisers and readers and the content being produced by 1UP no longer available for use in the publication, it simply did not make sense for us to move forward with this business any longer.

We will continue to operate the Filefront business as a part of the PCMag Digital Network. In the coming months we will determine the best ways to leverage the scale and functionality of this digital property to expand our business position.

The Ziff Davis position in the gaming market has been significant and important to our company and the market itself. While many of our assets in the PCMag Digital Network (including Filefront now) will continue to cover this market, it’s important that we celebrate all that we have achieved over the last 25 years.

Our leadership in print for decades with titles like Computer Gaming World and EGM which in turn translated into the build out of one of the leading digital gaming media assets in 1UP are prime examples of the skill, passion, and expertise of our teams.and what they achieved.

It’s incredible to compare the 1UP.com of today versus that of 12 months ago. I want to thank everybody in our Game Group for their important contributions over the years.

For Ziff Davis Media, our attention and focus now shifts squarely to the PC Mag Digital Network. The proceeds from this transaction will be used to pay down debt. One of the primary objectives of our business plan is ensuring that we have plenty of room to service our debt obligations into the future, and manage for growth in what will be a challenging year in the advertising market.

While the market will be tough, we are confident our position is well aligned to where the demand is most active. We move forward as a 100% digital business with tenured brand position, and powerful capabilities to drive results for our customers. I look forward to sharing more updates in the coming weeks.

JY

The Hearst corporation has numerous other publications under ownership, including Cosmopolitan, Esquire, The San Francisco Chronicle, along with a plethora of weekly newspapers. The company also has investments in television companies such as ESPN and A&E, and has ownership of the aforementioned UGO.com.

2009 will definitely be a year to look forward too. Obviously Obama being in office and Bush getting the hell out will be a great way to start things off, though what does the rest of the year entail, especially for gamers? Fortunately, I managed to grab a crystal ball off the E-bay that’s supposed to give a glimpse of the future. Apparently the old owner died of some sort of ancient Mayan curse, or something.

So, gather around all ye faithful, and let’s take a look and see what we’re in for in the new year.

GTA on the DS? It's more likely than you think.

Nintendo: There is no doubt that Nintendo is making bank with the Wii, choosing to cater to the non-gamer crowd more so than it’s own fan base. The sad thing, though, is that the most loyal of Nintendo fans are now feeling left behind by Miyamoto and company. According to my crystal ball, that trend is likely to continue onwards through 2009, with the brunt of non-shovelware titles being released consisting of ports and multiplatform titles. Hope is not lost, though, as developers are slowly but surely working on games that take advantage of the motion sensor controls, and (*gasp*) aren’t shovelware. One such game is the controversial title Madworld, coming from Platinum Games (comprised of former members of the dissolved Clover Studios), which will attempt to bring a comedic, ultra-violent side to a console that has developed a “family” image. Other games to watch are a new Tenchu game, as well as a title that will serve as a prequel to the Overlord series.

On the handheld side, the DS is also dominating, and will likely continue to do so through 2009 when the DSi hits shelves worldwide (the system has already been released in Japan). Unlike the Wii, the DS library is becoming more varied, as developers are finally noticing the potential of the system. The roster for the DS looks very promising, and include a new Dragon quest game, an Atlus RPG, and even a handheld version of the Grand Theft Auto franchise. The DS shows no signs of slowing down in it’s control of the handheld market.
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Anyone who had the original Neo-Geo handheld probably at least heard of the original card themed SNK vs Capcom games. Recently SNK Playmore revived the series, and brought it to the DS, and it’s….. well…… blah.

There’s just really so much more that could have been done with this game, as it’s just riddled with things that make it appear like the people that made the game just did a rush job.

For starters, the Story mode is about the equivalent of one of those half-assed Sunday morning cartoons that they show and hope 6 year old kids can get into, since they don’t know crap when they see it anyway. It’s basically the same scenes repeated fifty million times, and they consist of “OH NOES YOU’VE BEEN BRAINWASHED I DO CARD BATTLE TO WAKE YOU!” then follows with “ZOMG YOU SNAP OUT OF IT LETS BATTLE SOMETIMES LAWLZ!”

Okay, so it’s not exactly like that, but it’s pretty damn close. This is repeated god-knows-how-many times as you progress through the game. Hell, even the NPCs you run into are the same damn kind repeated over and over, only with different color swaps. Seriously, did they think anyone that wasn’t a chimp with down syndrome wouldn’t notice? The AI isn’t exactly the most challenging thing on the planet either, and you’ll find yourself losing more to just bad luck with drawing the right cards instead of actually being beaten by the computer. Sometimes they’ll just sit there when you’re health is in the red and let you rebuild your defenses, or allow you ample time to plow through their own. Thankfully the game has an option for online battles, which lets you go against, you know, humans that are (hopefully) smarter than a Preschooler.

To make things worse, the in-game text is a scrambled mess. It’s not bad enough that the dialog has to be a grammar Nazi’s worst nightmare, and the script the equivalent of an English report done by a 6 year old. The card descriptions, thanks in part to terrible translation work, will leave you scratching your head in confusion, as some of them are incredibly vague in telling you what the damn-hell-crap the card you’re looking at does. You’ll find yourself getting frustrated when you find that a card that you think is supposed to deal 500 damage to all character cards ends up doing 500 damage spread out.

Really, the only saving grace for this game is the card battle system itself, which actually works fairly well. It’s actually rather addicting too, you know, once you get past the horrible grammar, decide to ignore the storyline, and just try to enjoy the whole mess. It’s like finding that one Avril Lavigne song that doesn’t make you want to smash your face against a brick wall.

It’s really hard to recommend this game for any reason because of all the problems that infest it, despite the good battle system. It would be nice though that if SNK decides to do another part of this series, that they actually put some effort into making it instead of this half-assed thingy.

Graphics: 3.5
Sound: 2.5
Gameplay. 3.5
Entertainment: 2.0
Overall: 2.5
Analysis: Not exactly a Yu-Gi-Oh! killer.

Note: Earlier this year, SNK Playmore ended their recall of copies of the game that had a severe glitch that stopped progression on the second playthrough. Bug-free copies of the game should be available at stores, though whether you want to deal with it is your call.

Recently, Atlas launched a beta of their first attempt in the growing field of online games, with the help of Aria Entertainment, which puts out various free online games. Imagine Online also comes with no subscription cost required, though it’s unsure if additional services will be available that will have a fee or not.

Imagine Online is unique in one way, because it’s actually not a WoW ripoff, as many other developers have attempted to do in the past (see Lord of the Rings Online and Warhammer). Players have almost complete free reign over how they want to progress their character. If you want to be a physical type, then you’ll need to use those kinds of attacks to skill up, and unlock new skills. Want to be a caster? Then you’ll want to use spells a lot. Want to specialize in demon recruitment? Well, there’s a skill tree for that as well. The level of customization in regards to player type is very high.

The game also keeps true to Megaten tradition. Players have the ability to recruit their very own demons, and can work with them either alone, or with other players and their own demons. The game also keeps a strong emphasis on exploiting weaknesses, and if you’re using a demon that uses spells that another is resistant to, you’ll end up taking a dirt nap quickly. The level of difficulty is higher than that of many other MMOs out there, and the learning curve is equally high. Thankfully, there’s a training area you can go to shortly after the beginning events to hone your skills.

The game looks to be coming along nicely, though some things, such as players attacking demons you’re trying to recruit, are annoyances that should hopefully be addressed soon. Players looking for something different, along with Megaten fans, will want to keep an eye out on this one.

Imagine retains numerous aspects from the Megaten series, including the Cathedral of Shadows, where demon fusion takes place.

Many different creatures from mythology are available in Imagine.

The Soul series defined weapon based fighting games when it was first introduced as Soul Edge way back in the day. Namco seeks to redefine the series with its latest installment, Soul Calibur IV.

For most people who are familiar with the Soul Calibur games, not much that has actually changed. Staple moves like Guard Impacts and the 8-way run system are still intact, while many of the familiar faces from Soul history make their return. Each of the characters has had their move roster altered, and while newcomers may not notice the subtle changes, series fans are more likely to show glee when they discover that a move now pops up or has guard impact properties instead of just doing normal damage.
SCIV does introduce a new ability, however, called a Critical Finish. Characters now have a new gauge called a Soul Gauge, which works like a guard meter. The meter is depleted when a player blocks an incoming attack (guard break maneuvers deplete the gauge further if not guard impacted). If the meter gets emptied, the blocking player risks getting put into a “soul crush” state, at which point he/she is vulnerable to one of these powerful finishers.

The Critical Finishes can be likened to the Instant Kill moves from the Guilty Gear games. Critical Finishes though, while looking damn awesome when connected, rarely ever make an appearance in actual play against humans, as matches don’t normally last long enough for them to be a dominant factor; they mostly keep turtle players in check, and promote more aggressive gameplay.

The character roster is also surprisingly well balanced for its size, though some can argue about the almost random inclusion of Star Wars characters Yoda and Darth Vader (other than for George Lucas to milk more money). Darth Vader’s Apprentice, based on the game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed from Lucasarts, also makes a guest appearance. Apprentice is the only real cheap character in the entire game. While he is fun to play, he’s definitely the most overpowering out of the entire roster, having lightning fast attacks and devastating ranged moves, and is a pain to fight against.

Other new faces appear as well, such as Hilde, who fights with a short sword and a polearm. What makes Hilde unique compared to the other women in Soul Calibur is her outfit consisting of a full set of armor, contrary to a series that seems to have a fetish for humongous jugs and revealing clothes. Other guest characters make appearances as well, contributed from various manga artists. These guest characters however pretty much are exact clones of some of the main roster, and are mostly there for aesthetics, which is kind of disappointing.

The best feature of the game, by far, is the character creation system. Where SCIII’s was severely lacking, IV makes up for it by allowing for deeper customization of your character, including options to adjust voice pitch, and muscularity, along with a ridiculous amount of equipment to add to your dream character. Equipment added also directly affects your characters stats, which gives armor and weapons more than an aesthetic option. You can even alter the outfits of the main characters to your liking. The only downside is that you’re limited to using the movelists of other characters (minus the guest and Star Wars characters), further adding to the clone problem. Other than that, the customization is so deep, the only limit is your own imagination.

While Soul Calibur IV does have single player play, it’s really lackluster. The story mode attempts to tie together the entire story arc, albeit very half-assed. There’s hardly any actual story at all, save for a couple fancy cutscenes, and can be completed in as little as ten minutes. There is a normal arcade mode as well, which suits the single player experience just fine.

The Tower of Lost Souls mode is a separate area, challenging players to ascend to the top, or descend and see how far down they can go. Floors vary with different challenges, designed to put the player’s abilities to the test. The A.I. however tends to vary from standing around guarding the whole time, and pulling out ridiculous combos out of nowhere to obliterate you, which makes the whole process frustrating. You can also obtain rewards like gold and extra character creation items from completing certain tasks in the tower floors, though said tasks are accompanied by cryptic “hints” designed to gives you clues on how to achieve them.

Multiplayer is definitely the main aspect of the game, and this is amplified by the inclusion of online play for the first time in SC history. The online presentation is fairly mixed between positive and negative. Players are matched via rooms, and while finding these rooms is a simple process, getting one that isn’t already filled up is a tougher ordeal. You’re better off just making your own rooms and waiting for someone to pop in, which doesn’t take long at all.

Everything else about online depends on player perspective. Lag is really a defining factor when fighting someone, and if you’re getting bad lag spikes, even a lame button masher can topple you with little problem, not to mention making getting those pinpoint combos and guard impacts a lot harder. Main thing is to keep an eye out for those that have better connections, as opposed to those with poor ones.

The human aspect is also an unavoidable part, and while you’re more than likely to find cool players to have friendly competitions with, you’ll also run into people that get kicks out of trying  to make you miserable, such as tea bagging you when they get a victory. Others will likely throw fits over the slightest things if they lose. Just don’t get too surprised if you get kicked out of a room by someone you just beat the snot out of.

For game that improves so much on the predecessor, there are still some missed opportunities. Fleshing out the story mode better is an obvious one. Story and Tower modes also introduce tag-team play akin to King of Fighters and Tekken Tag, and works incredibly well. The fact that this feature is missing in multiplayer mode is a big head-scratcher, and a larger letdown.

Other things mire the experience, such as lackluster voice acting, and some of the longest, most peculiar announcer phrases in history. The game makes up for this though by having large amounts of extra content, a well balanced combat system, and online multiplayer, while the character creation alone makes the game worthwhile. And it’s just damn fun.

Graphics: 5.0
Sound: 4.0
Gameplay: 4.5
Entertainment: 4.5
Overall: 4.5
Analysis: It’s missing a couple things, but the end result is just a damn fun game to enjoy with friends.

Some video game characters stay in our memories as heroes who managed to save an entire planet from certain destruction. There are also villains that become memorable for being so diabolic and doing the unthinkable.
And then are those that just make you want to go “What the hell is that thing?!?”
For many years, developers have tested the players sanity by coming up with the most bizarre characters imaginable. However, there are those that are a cut above the rest, causing great mental anguish to those with weak spirits. So with this list, we attempt to rank the truly bizarre, the most visually disturbing, and the ones that make a player’s eyes bug out of their sockets. The most bizarre video game characters.

5. Tingle (Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask)
Tingle is described as a middle aged man who wears tight green outfits, and has a crazy infatuation with rupees and fairies, even believing that he’s a fairy himself. While he provides map making services, his awkward antics alone have earned him the disdain of many players. His weird catchphrase, consisting of, “Tingle, Tingle, Kooloo-Limpah!” didn’t make visits to him any less uncomfortable.

4: Psycho Mantis (Metal Gear Solid):
Psycho Mantis has been more than responsible for giving players the creeps with his psychic abilities. His most memorable techniques actually break the 4th wall, playing heavy mind games with the player, even reading the memory card to find out what games you’ve been playing! Mantis can also mess with your TV set to throw you off your game, and is able to anticipate every move you make. All this makes for a truly bizarre, yet memorable, boss fight.

3. Voldo (Soul Calibur series)
If dressing in S&M inspired clothing and wielding giant claws wasn’t a disturbing enough image, Voldo’s body contortions defy natural logic. He can turn in awkward patterns, snake his way around his opponent’s body, and can even roll himself into a deadly wheel to plow into targets. Seeing this creature crawling around making “hiss” noises has earned him popularity among players for his natural mind games.

2. Bridget (Guilty Gear series)
At first, this character comes across as a little girl dressed in nun’s clothing carrying a giant teddy bear and a yo-yo. Bridget actually performs various attacks with the yo-yo, and the teddy bear, named Roger, changes form to attack would be offenders. Oh, and Bridget is really a guy raised as a girl. Yep. She’s a he. These characteristics have made him one of the most visually disturbing characters for quite some time, not to mention gaining him status as a legendary “trap.”

1. Mara (Persona 3 F.E.S., various Shin Megami titles)
In Buddhist mythology, Mara is known as the demon of temptation, and attempts to make Buddha stray off the path of virtue by tempting him with beautiful women. In Persona 3, this deity is depicted as a giant phallic creature fused to a golden chariot. Seeing really is believing, and seeing this creature is more than enough to cause people great disturbance, even among those aware of the mythology behind it. Seriously, try imagining a giant penis using its signature green fire attack and not associating anything sexual with it. This is not a character you want your grandmother seeing you play with, no pun intended. Mara is also apparently weak to ice attacks (go figure). For extra laughs, try to give him any level of the “Growth” skill.

Honorable mentions: There are various other awkward characters that would have made this list, but certain things limit that choice. Mostly, it’d be unfair to have multiple characters from the same series in this list, so some hard decisions had to be made. There’s also some odd characters in general, but not as mind-boggling as others. Here are some that didn’t make the cut, but are still worth mentioning.

Zappa (Guilty Gear):
A very close contender for Bridget, due to his awkward body animations and random speech when possessed by his ghosts, Bridget’s gender confusing appearance just barely edged him out for the Guilty Gear nomination, a series known for it’s bizarre characters in the first place.

Yoshimitsu (Soul Calibur):
Yoshi’s popularity comes from his own brand of randomness, as his attacks make for great mind control play. Voldo’s bizarre appearance, however, beats him out in spades.

Dhalsim (Street Fighter):
Dhalsim’s trademark stretch attacks and fire-based specials have made him popular among players for his keep-away tactics, not to mention frustrating others trying to get in close to attack.

Michael Jackson (Moonwalker):
Michael Jackson is fairly creepy in general, but him being in a game where he beats enemies with “magical” dance attacks in order to save children, kind of pushes it a little bit.