When I heard I was going to be reviewing Ninja Gaiden 3 I thought “this is great: just the kick in the pants I need to finally play the first two games.” I was going to knock a couple games off of my backlog and be better informed when the third installment arrived. I was wrong. I was very wrong. I am not a good or patient enough gamer to complete the first two Ninja Gaiden games. I see what Team Ninja was doing, and I have a tremendous respect for it, but it just is not in the cards for me to see the credits roll on either game. This isn’t the case with Ninja Gaiden 3, and it is worse for it. Much worse. READ MORE
It’s finally happening once again. PAX East is upon us as it comes every year, and yet each is always more exciting than the last. My buddy Tom, some members of my sketch group and I will all be skulking around the floor looking for deals on games and screwing around and maybe meeting you! I want to get to know each and every one of you who’s coming to PAX East this week. I mean it, if you’ve ever spent any time on Snackbar I owe you at the very least a hearty handshake or a big manly hug. So be sure to tweet at me and let me know you’re on the floor. READ MORE
In order to understand why we won’t ever see a Shenmue III, we must first understand what Shenmue is as a series. Shenmue is the story of Ryo Hazuki tracking down his father’s killer. It started its life being developed for the Saturn, was eventually shifted to the Dreamcast, saw a two-for-one sequel on the Xbox, and then slipped quietly into the night while Sega started spending time and money on its spiritual successor, Yakuza. READ MORE
In this episode, we share our feelings about the current state of JRPGs, discussing Xenoblade Chronicles, Tales of Graces F, Class of Heroes 2, Unchained Blades, NIS America’s new announcements and more. We talk big swords, battle gauges and dungeon-crawlers, and sigh about the localizations that could have been when someone brings up Sakura Wars.
The Vita is on a roll with yet another downloadable-exclusive title, Sumioni: Demon Arts, brought to us by XSEED. This stylish 2D action-platformer combines traditional mechanics found in similar titles, while also utilizing the Vita’s touch screen capabilities. It’s a perfect fit for a handheld and there is a lot of promise to be found, but it never quite lives up to it. READ MORE
