The joys of backward compatibility

The timing couldn't be much better here. Just as many of us are feeling renewed affection for the Resident Evil series thanks to last month's brilliant RE2 remake, Capcom and Microsoft have made Resident Evil Code: Veronica X backward compatible on Xbox One. If you own the Xbox 360 version of that game, a replay might be in order soon (after you burn through Nemesis first, of course).

Code: Veronica recently came up in a staff conversation about how some of the game's more, uh, off-the-rails scenes might translate to a?? modern-day remake. Cheesy food for thought.

A few other Capcom titles are also rounding out the Xbox One backward compatibility list: Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (and Colonies), Lost Planet 2, and Lost Planet 3. You strap into a mech, shoot? at big alien beast limbs until they crumble, and try to stay topped up on life-sustaining thermal ?energy.

Lost Planet is one of those series that I know I played and enjoyed at the time but couldn't tell you anything substantial about nowada?ys. It's like my memories have been erased. There's a real "Yeah I could replay that on a whim!" factor that makes these ideal candidates for backward compatibility.

While we're seemingly on a Capcom kick, I'm hoping for Asura's Wrath to show up next on Xb??ox One so that former Destructoid editor K?yle MacGregor can stop haunting me online. He'll never let me forget.

Xbox One Backward Compatibility [Major Nelson]

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I kinda liked Legendary

Developer of Legendary, Lost Planet 3, and Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z Spark ?Unlimited has closed up shop and l??aid off all of its staff after 13 years of game development.

As reported by Polygon, the company’s assets were found up for sale on liquidation sites. Shortly aft??er, John Butrovich, the chief technical officer at Spark, confirmed the closure, saying that many of the staff will be continuing to work together on projects outside of game development.

According to Butrovich, the CEO of Spark – Craig Allen – left the company at the end of 2014 to “pursue other ventures and interests.” Those other interests may be film, as in 2014 Spark Unlimited produced a film called Nightmare Code, a strange ?move for a team known for maki??ng kinda middling games.

It’s never cool to see a team laid off, and we hope all affected are able to find work soon. We will also never see a sequel to Legendary now, which absolutely breaks my heart.

The post Spark Unlimited’s ironically lost its spark and shut down appeared first on Destructoid.

Just not the ones that weren't developed by Capcom

GameSpy Technology is shutting down on May 31. We've seen some companies respond to this, stating that they'll fix their old titles so they live on, or straight up just abandon them. Capcom has responded, and they'll be migrating some titles over to a new online multi??player service.

Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition and Marvel vs Capcom Origins are already up and running on a new service. Capcom is in the process of migrating over Lost Planet 3, because they seriously think people are still pl??aying it online. I actually forgot it had any online fea??tures. Anyway, the switch over will force the leaderboards and play stats to be reset.

Age of Booty and Flock!, however, will both be abandoned. The?re's no plans to update or migrate either title. They ?can still both be purchased and play fine on their own, but the online multiplayer or level editing sharing features won't work.

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Art out your desktop

Every now and again we like to dump a collection of gaming related wallpapers for you. Why? Well, why not? It's the week?end, and now is a good as time as any to change up your ag??ing desktop wallpaper.

The collection in the gallery this time includes images from Soulcalibur, The Last of Us, Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, and more. Not feeling any of these? Check out the last collection we brought, along with the massive collection located we have going on.

For even more games and higher resolution photos ma??ke sure to check out our friends over at GameWallpapers.com.

The post Weekend Wallpapers: The Reaper of Souls is here appeared first on Destructoid.

I put more stock in the Lollipop Guild's assessment of game writing

The Writers Guild Awards has been giving games writing awards for a number of years now. I'm always confused. Past winners include Dead Head Fred, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Uncharted 2, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Uncharted 3, and Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation. Only two of those sort of make sense to me.

This year's nominees?, the winner of which will be an??????????????????????????nounced February 1, are:

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Batman: Arkham Origins
God of War: Ascension
The Last of Us
Lost Planet 3

Perhaps these lists end up odd b??ecause of prerequisites for WGA nomination. Potentially nominated writers have to apply to the "WGA Videogame Writers Caucus at the time scripts were submitted," for example.

Anyways, it's qui??te clear only one game in this biz??????????????????????????arre list of nominees actually deserves to be praised for its writing.

Lost Planet 3.

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN VIDEOGAME WRITING

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Story by Darby M??cDevitt, Mustapha Mahrach, Jean Guesdon; Lead Scriptwriter Darby McDevitt; Scriptwriter Jill Murray; AI Scriptwriter Nicholas Grimwood; Scriptwriter Singapore Mark Llabres Hi??ll; Ubisoft

Batman: Arkham Origins, Narrative Director Dooma Wendschuh; Writer & Senior Narrative Designer Ryan Galletta; Writer Corey May;? Wa??rner Bros. Interactive

God of War: Ascension, Wri?tten by Marianne Krawcyzk; Additional Writing Ariel Lawrence; Sony Computer Entertainment

The Last of Us, Wri?tten by Neil Druckmann; Sony Computer Entertainment

Lost Planet 3, Head Writer Richard Gaubert; Writers Orion Walker, ?Matt Sophos; Capcom

The post Uh, the Writers ??Guild Award game nominees are weird appeared first on Destructoid.

Acclaimed fighter beats out the competition

Namco Bandai has a hit on its hands with JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle. The fighting game based on the popular manga hit shelves in Japan last week and unquestionably topped the nation??'s weekly software charts with 425,718 units sold.

The PlayStation 3 version of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn came in at number two during its debut, selling 184,018 copies along the way. Ragnarok Odyssey Ace and Lost Planet 3 were other notable newcomers, wh??ich respectively moved 31,622 and 27,503 units at launch.  

ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 オールスターバトル 42万5000本 PS3版のファイナルファンタジーXIV は18万4000本の週間販売ランキング [4Gamer]

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Plus, Final Fantasy XIV, Lost Planet 3, and your funny football-like game

I'll be spending this week playing catch up, but there's no dearth of new releases. Killer is Dead is tempting me, because bloody hell it looks flashy, but I'll probably leave until I'm not drowning in games. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is notable too, if only because it was originally a shockingly poor MMO and had to be entirely rebuilt. I've ?not been impressed with the results, and found myself sick of it after a weekend. Others seem to be getting? more out of it, however.

Also on the docket this week, we've got Lost Planet 3, which is nice if you're sick of the summer heat; Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons comes to the PC, which pleases me greatly; and some burly American fellows kick a ball around in Madden NFL 25. There's more too, but you'll have to scro??ll down for that.

Anything floating your boat this week?

Xbox 360: Killer is Dead, Lost Planet 3, Madden NFL 25, Call of Duty: Black Ops II - Apocalypse

PS3: Killer is Dead,  Lost Planet 3, Madden NFL 25, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn

Wii U: Pokemon Rumble U

PC: Lost Planet 3, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, Guardians of Middle-Earth, Shelter, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, Grim Dawn, Game Dev Tycoon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, The Chaos Engine

Vita: Spelunky, Sweet Fuse: At Your Side

PSP: Sweet Fuse: At Your Side

PSN: Spelunky, The HD Adventures of Rotating Octopus Character, Floating Cloud God: Saves The Pilgrims in HD, Hatsune Miku Project Diva F

XBLA: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (PC, PS3)

Lost Planet 3 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

Madden NFL 25 (PS3, Xbox 360)

Pokemon Rumble U (Wii U)

Game Dev Tycoon (PC)

Chaos Engine (PC)

Sweet Fuse: At Your Side (PSP, Vita)

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Did I mention there's a giant mech?

Hey check it out, it's new gameplay footage for Lost Planet 3! Or is it upcoming DLC for Dead Space 3? I don't know any?more... it's all starting to look the same??.

All joking aside, I'm not sure what to think of Lost Planet 3. My time playing it at E3 left me rather unsatisfied. I loved the Zone of Enders-esq??ue finally of the first game, though couldn'??t will myself past the train stage in the sequel; even with the co-op play. But then again, OMG GIANT MECHS!!!

Lost Planet 3 arrive??s August 27 for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

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And here's the rest of the lineup

At first glance, Capcom's E3 2013 lineup feels lighter than expected. There's the usual Lost Planet 3, DuckTales: Remastered, Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara, and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, as expected. Yes, these are mo?stly things I would like to play. But what else is there?

The company also has "a big surprise to share with you," which is the kind of thing that puts fans in a frenzy knowing some of the beloved intellectual properties in the vault. Personally, I'm dying to see more on the next-gen Deep Down, aka that one?? game people kept making crazy gifs for.

The post Capcom has a ‘big surprise’ in store for E3 appeared first on Destructoid.

New trailer

We knew Lost Planet 3 would have multiplayer, but we've not heard anything about it until now.&nbs?p;

Capcom says that the game will feature four modes across six maps. You'll play as either the NEVEC or the Snow Pirates in modes like Scenario, where ?each team goes through random offensive and defensive challenges. This mode can be played on foot in third person, or in Suits in first person.

Akrid Survival mode has two teams of three going up against enemy waves for a bit before they go PvP. Kill baddies, and?? then kill each other.

You can get a peek at MP in this new trailer.

Lost Planet 3 is coming to Xbox 360, PS3? and PC on August 27. 

The post Lost Planet 3 multiplayer details revealed appeared first on Destructoid.

Still not feeling it

Lost Planet 3 is still set for an August release date, which could have fooled me, given how little we've heard about it this year outside of a delay. But the radio silen?ce ends today as a new multiplayer trailer has surfaced, showing off some of the game's combat, and tactics, like upgradeable tools and abilities.

A classic Counterstrike style Demolition bomb-defusal mode also looks like a go, and we get a closer? look at the new first-person mech gameplay. If this doesn't pan out, can we just get an E.X. Troopers localization instead, Capcom?

The post Watch dudes blast dudes in this Lost Planet? 3 MP ??trailer appeared first on Destructoid.

Tiered pre-purchase system goes live

The revamped Resident Evil: Revelations for consoles and PC has found its way on to Steam, offering pre-purchase rewards based on how many folks pay up before launch. Currently, the game is sitting pretty with the first tier unlocked (an art book and 13-song soundtrack) and more than five wee?ks to? go before release.

The next two tiers are a free copy of Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions and a season pass, respectively. This third and final pre-purchase bonus encompasses "four pieces of additional content" which Capcom has not fully detail??ed yet. For what it's worth, the description on Steam does say the pass will "expand your Raid mode experience."

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The quotation mark around bonuses implies sarcasm

Oh goodie! Another barrage of retail specific pre-order bonus fluff such as weapons, items, and characters that won?'t really alter y??our experience were you to just skip out on pre-purchasing the game.

Lost Planet 3 is the latest to try this tactic, with the better of the three pre-order options going to GameStop just because Hunk from Resident Evil will be given to players to use in the multiplayer. You'll get four other multiplayer characters in this, plus some mech weaponry too. T??he Amazon and Best Buy bonuses both consists of various guns and mech parts.

Lost Planet 3 suffered a small delay again yesterday, and will be out on August 27 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation? 3, and PC.

The post Lost Planet 3’s many retail specific pre-order ‘bonuses’ appeared first on Destructoid.

What's a couple more months?

In an updated release schedule, Capcom has listed Lost Planet 3 as releasing on August 27 and August 30 in North America and Europe, respectively. If you've been keeping an eye on this third installment -- someone's got to be, righ??t? --? you'll recognize this as a slight delay.

The PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 title was previously slated for a June 25 release in North America. For as much as I want to take a wait-and-see approach for Lost Planet 3 coming off of its predecessor, it's good that Spark Unlimited is branching out with, in this case, first-person mech gameplay. I'd rather they try something different and fail than never try at?? a??ll.

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Atlas and P-Body are almost ready to science

ThreeA toys showed off their Portal 2 Atlas and P-Body? concepts nearly a year ago, and since then we haven't heard a thing about?? them. That was until at the ThreeA event held at Beast Kingdom Toys in Taiwan recently.

Personally I'd like clean versions of the two Portal characters, but the dirty a?nd worn down design doesn't look that bad here. No other details were revealed, but at least we know they're still in the works.

ThreeA also announced during their event that they've partnered up with Capcom to produce figures, starting off with Lost Planet. Head on over to Tomopop for more pictures o??f all the upcoming ThreeA toys.

ThreeA's Atlas and P-Body appear a??fter a ?year in hiding [Tomopop]

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Coming June 28 in Europe

Capcom has officially set the release of Lost Planet 3 for ?June 25 in North America, and June 28 in Europe. The game was originally slated for an early 2013 launch, but was slightly delayed to later this year.

Feelings towards Lost Planet 3 have been mixed at best, and from what I've seen it looks alright. Check out today's new trailer and screens, plus our preview from last year to get a better since of what ??the game is offering.

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Guess it's time to import the damn thing

Capcom has done just about everything possible to waste any consumer goodwill they've built up over the years. Even recent attempts to reconcile with fans have been met with scorn by some. The other day, I surmised that even if Capcom were to bend over backwards to please fans, at this point, they'd likely just get called out for being spineless. Unfortunately though, this news regarding Lost Planet spin-off E.X. Troopers isn'?t likely to win anybody over. 

"It was not planned for Western release," Capcom's Christian Svennsson said in response to a fan who asked about the possibility of localization. "You can tell this because all of the te?xt is 'hard coded' as actual art. The text isn't just standard 'text' that could be swapped relatively easily. To localize a release, one would have to redo a ton of art in the game, not just do the localization and loc QA."

Well, that's disappointing. Equally discouraging is the fact that the manga-inspired title doesn't seem to be selling well in Japan. Given those hurdles it seems likely that E.X. Troopers will never be making the journey a?cross the Pacific. Well, that is unless you de?cide to take matters into your own hands and pony up for an import copy. Hey, at least PlayStation 3 discs are region free. 

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Lost Planet spin-off out now for PS3 and 3DS

E.X. Troopers has yet to be announced for a release on Western shores. And if Capcom Senior Vice-President Christian Svensson's words are anything to go by that's?? not like??ly to happen. So unless you're still holding out hope to the contrary, it looks like importing is the only option for now.

The Lost Planet spin-off released in Japan earlier this week, and if Famitsu's early review scores of the game are anything to go by, the game sounds pretty damn good. That's something I ca?n attest to after spending some time with the game's Japanese demo??.

Though I can't speak the language, E.X. Troopers seems like a fairly straightforward third-person shooter and its one that I'd like to spend more time with. Just about everything from the gorgeous cel-shaded look of the game to J-pop/techno soundtrack and manga aesthetic emanates style and personality. ??If you're interested you can download the demo from the Japanese PlayStation Network Store or grab the full game from one of the usual channels.

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SCORPION! FISTING!

So I haven't been paying too much attention to Lost Planet 3, but I'm genuinely intrigued now thanks to this nine minute long look at the new game. It looks like it's trying to go for more of a realistic and cinematic take on the franchise, and overall it's giving me a giant Dead Space vibe.

The m??ech combat looks pretty neat too. Especially the part where you get to fist a scorpion in the butt. Videogames!

The post Lost Planet 3 will have scorpion fisting YEAH! appeared first on Destructoid.

I was already pretty close to all-in after learning of the concept behind Capcom's Lost Planet spin-off E.X. Troopers. The idea was to take the snowy and fairly serious world and soften it up a bit with cell shading and pink?-haired teenagers. It's still a third-person shooter that centers around exploration, but the action is more? arcade-y and the Japanese factor has been turned up past maximum. 

And now that I've pl?ayed it, I'm going to be waiting impatiently for a western release announcement. 

Let's face it, Lost Planet is a pretty heavy franchise. Even with all the snow and white, it's rather dark and gloomy. It's amazing what some cell shading and manga-style panel artwork can do for a game's atmosphere. Of course, nicely designed characters, like E.X. Trooper's boy hero Bren, don't hurt either. These things alone make for a more lively game than any of the Lost Planet titles.

This game may stick to the franchise roots when it comes to the setting and story line, but the rest feels so completely different that I almost hate to ??compare the ?two. 

What really makes Troopers feel more perky is its ??light, easy, arcade-y controls. There's no learning curve or complicated controls here. Bren moves with standard third-person control, with the camera mapped to the right stick. For the face buttons, two are mapped to two different types of we??apon fire, another to general purpose world interaction, and the last set to running and dashing. 

The two-part TGS demo kicked off as a tutorial that taught the control basics and platforming, with a bald guide showing me the way. Outside of standard movement, the circle button covered all other platforming situations, meaning that everything from jumping to climbing to grappling was done with a single press of the same button. This greatly simplifies the actions from Lost Planet, leaving the player free to concentr?ate on the shooting action.  

The demo gradually moved me into battles with snow pirates where my primary, unlimited gunfire was enough to pick off one or two of the baddies. But when larger waves appeared, I had to make use of a secondary weapon that fired out a missile-like multishot; this weapon always did the trick, but had a recharge time. The R1 button could be used to lock onto an enemy and L1 switched the locked target to another enemy. These streamlined, tight controls make E.X. Troopers really easy to get into. 

The second half of?? the demo gave me a taste of what it would be like to run arou?nd with a party. Characters Julie and Luan ran around with me as we explored a base together, teaming up to take down waves of enemies. One section had Luan and I covering Julie as she worked to unlock one of the base's gates to progress. Fire came from every direction, but we managed to hold them off. One attacker's fire had his target (me) turning into a snowman, forcing me to mash the X button to shake off the snow to continue fighting. Weird, but funny.

Inside the unlocked gate awaited a heavily armored mecha that I did not manage to take down, even with two helping companions. I blame its huge life bar. The situation was similar to a boss fight in a Lost Planet game, but the arcade-y play made it se??em more fun and less like work.  

And really, that's the takeaway here. Lost Planet's setting and narrative are keepers, but the third-person shooting aspect was a bit too complicated for the really accessible party-style gameplay they seemed to be going for in Lost Planet 2. So now, with streamli?ned, tight controls, a great-looking manga/anime type look, and a touch of weird, we have something that's shaping up to be quite remarkable. 

E.X. Troopers wi?ll be released on the PS3 (and 3DS) in Japan on November 22. Don't give up hope for a western release!

The post TGS: Lost Pl??anet spin-off E.X. Troopers is super dupers appeared first on Destructoid.

One might argue that third-person shooter series Lost Planet is already Japanese, but...well, not really. It's pretty western, as that was the goal for the title at some point. But what if you took the basics -- space exploration and third-perosn shooting -- and turned the Japanese Factor up to 11, added J-pop, cell shading, laser beams, insane voice work and a comic/manga style setting? Well, you'd have the most Japanese game ever, called E.X. Troopers, set to release?? on PS3 and 3DS later this year in Japan. ?;

I've been all over the previously released trailers and gameplay teasers for E.X. Troopers, bu??t this new reveal from today's Nintendo Direct presentation tops them all. It shows off a bit of the story and characters at first, but finishes with some incredible looking boss battles.

Gimme this game. GIMME. Capcom, ?let'??s hear that western release schedule. 

The post E.X. Troopers: Los??t Planet turned cute and super Japanese appeared first on Destructoid.

From the moment I laid eyes on E.X. Troopers I had a feeling I had a pretty good feeling about the project. Cel-?shaded graphics, an anime-inspired art-style, spaceships, mechs, what more could I ask for? Apparently the answer to that question is the ability to evade enemy attacks with a jetpack and then juggle with a machine gun.

Special thanks go to Gematsu for piecing this video together from footage found on the Lost Planet spin-off's official website. The more I see from this game the more excited I get. I just hope Capcom USA decides to acknowledge its existence at some point or at the very least decide not to pull a Persona 4 Arena on this thing s?o those of us that are interested can still import the damn game.

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For a game that's coming to PlayStation 3 and 3DS later this year Capcom has been pretty tight lipped about E.X. Troopers. Well, that is until today when the publisher brought the cel-shaded Lost Planet spin-off center stage at their Summer Jam event in Tokyo. There Capcom revealed co-operative multiplayer for the upcoming third-person shooter, which players in attendance were given the opportunity to go hands-on with at the event. Also announced was the involvement  of Dai Sato of Halo Legends and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex fame, who is working on the game's story. 

Additionally Capcom proclaimed that E.X. Troopers would be getting a promotional anime film to be packaged with the August 30th release of Sengoku Basara HD Collection for PlayStation 3 and a limited edition of the game would include a figure of TeeKee, both of which are shaping up nicely if the screens in the gallery below are any indication. I think the game is looking fantastic thus far and can't h??elp but think 3DS owners clamoring for something to play should give Capcom an earful. It'd be really unfortunate if this became yet another great-looking title that never made the journey west. 

Export Troopers report stage ?- PV latest, published cast, also May'n Live! CAPCOM SUMMER JAM [Famitsu]

The post E.X. Tr??oopers getting multiplayer, anime, limited?? edition appeared first on Destructoid.

Capcom didn't bring their Lost Planet spin-off to E3, but it hasn't taken them long to get the cel-shaded third-person shooter back on our radar. The publisher has revealed the setup for the title's plot and the motivations behind its anime boy h?ero of a protagonist. 

E.X. Troopers follows the exploits of a mischievous rapscallion by the name of Bren Turner. With dreams of becoming the top Gingira ??Vital Suit pilot on EDN-3rd, the brash young man decides to attend the NVEC educational institute with the not at all generic na??me of "Academy." Upon arrival to the facility the student's space transport is attacked by hostile suits, which Bren and his instructor Walter manage to fend off before escaping to the planet's surface. 

We should have more details in the coming weeks as the forthcoming PS3/3DS title is supposed to be playable at Capcom's Summer Jam in Tokyo on June 30. Until then you can feast your eyes on these n?ew s??creens and tap your foot in anticipation.

E.X. Troopers Background Story Detailed [Andriasang]

The post Have a taste of Lost Planet spin-off E.X. Troopers’ story appeared first on Destructoid.

Having played and enjoyed Lost Planet when it first came out only to stay far, far away from Lost Planet 2, I'm still eager to give Lost Planet 3 a chance. It is, after all??, a full-on prequel with a noticeably different direction.

Max got to check out the game at E3 2012, and it sounds as if he's in a similar position. Though LP3 doesn't seem to offer anythi??ng groundbreaking from the game builds we've seen so far, he says it's all feeling pretty tight. In particular, th?ose first-person Rig segments look like they could be satisfying.

The post E3: Drilling elbows and more in Lost Planet 3 appeared first on Destructoid.

Last week Capcom unveiled a rather unusual new project. E.X. Troopers is a cel-shaded third-person shooter with a manga-style art direction. Sounds plenty Japanese, but not exactly out of the ordinary. Oh, did I forget to mention it's a Lost Planet spin-off?

While few might have guessed Capcom's interstellar colonial war series had an association with E.X. Troopers based on looks alone, some fans had a sneaking suspicion that the forthcoming 3DS and PS3 title was the "reanimated corpse of Mega Man Legends 3." Not so, says Capcom's Seth Killian.

Responding to a potential connection between the two games in a forum post over at Capcom-Unity, Killian asserts that E.X. Troopers "is definitely not a reskinned Legends," claiming it existed prior to the demise of the ill-fated Mega Man game. While he notes that the titles were being developed by separate teams, Killian believes it's conceivable that there could be some personnel overlap now that the Legends 3 staff has moved on to other projects.

The post Sorry angry Mega Man fans, EX Troop??ers is not Legends 3 appeared first on Destructoid.

Hey guys! Here's?? today's D??estructoid Show, the only show about video games on the internet. Ever. Don't argue with me.

Today we talk about how Diablo III is the fastest selling PC game of all time, and how people are still griping about the nerfing and buffing and other class-warfare. Speaking of Diablo, the Marvel Heroes F2P MMO is being worked on by one of the dudes from Diablo I and II. Dale North checked out Lost Planet 3, which sounds fun because you get to kill aliens, as well as XCOM: Enemy Unknown, which also sounds fun because you get to kill aliens. Also, it's got some pre-order bonuses, and the other XCOM game's getting delayed.

After the break, we run down Maurice's Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Future Soldier, which is a game that has too many words in i??ts title. Seriously, video game companies, stop it. I will hit you.

The post The DTOID Show: Diablo III, Marvel MMO, & Tom Clancy GRFS appeared first on Destructoid.

Remember that hands-off Lost Planet 3 reveal demonstration I saw last month? Capcom finally let me put my hands on it -- that exact demo. It makes me wonder why they didn't let me play it in the first place. Still, I was able to finally?? play through it last week, and as you'd imagine, I have a bit more to say about it. 

Lost Planet 3 (PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)
Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Releases: 2013 

Just as in our earlier preview, this demo kicks off introducing Jim, a working-class guy t?hat came to planet E.D.N. III to d??o some hard labor to earn cash for his wife and baby back home on Earth. He takes on a job that one of his colleagues wasn't able to handle, insisting that he'll get double pay for his troubles. His boss demands that he get going as soon as possible as they really need the T-energy at their installation, adding that there might be a another storm blowing in.

Jim's first job works as a sort of training mission, with the game first taking you through the controls of the pilot-able robot rig, and later letting you loose on foot, braving the snow and alien beasts alone. From our f?irst preview, I was worried that the first-person rig controls would be sluggish, but that's not the case at all. In fact, it's pretty fun to stomp about in this big bot and manipulate its claw and drill hands, with its sense of size and power really having you wanting to dig into enemies. It's too bad that the rig froze up in one of E.D.N.'s many ice storms before I got the chance.

It seems silly that Jim has to hop out of this massive and powerful rig to defrost it, but the situation serves nicely as an introduction to on-foot, third-person combat. Being out in the open, alien monsters surround Jim, forcing him to take them on with his gun. Just like in other Lost Planet titles, weak spots glow brightly, so I aimed for these spots on the approach??ing feline-like attackers. Too slow. Or bad aim.

One of the monsters pins me down, initiating close range combat, where I had to fight back claws and jaws by mashing the action button, and then use the left analog stick to try?? to aim a knife attack to its face. It's not as easy as it sounds, but after a few tries I killed one off, and then gunned down the others. Movement and aiming felt to be pretty much in line with that of the previous series titles, so no surprises here.

Back safely in the de-iced rig, a few more of the same beasts were laughably easy to dispose of. I was able to pick one up with my left-hand claw (left trigger) and then drill into it to have its guts splattering on the rig's windshield. It was like payback for being?? pinned down earlier. 

After moving farther toward the mission point, Jim is forced to exit the? rig and go into caves on foot. From here, all radio communication is cut off, so it felt pretty lonely. A grappling hook let me climb and repel through the cave until I reached a clearing where a large, heavily armored crab-like creature came rumbling from the ground below. This sub-boss was a bitch to take down, as it was huge and constantly plowed toward me, forcing me to run at all times, never quite sure where it was behind me. It felt like the came??ra was working against me the whole time, but I eventually learned that quick dodge rolls would get it to strike me with a claw; when it missed, the creature plunged it into the ground and snow, opening up a short window of opportunity for attacks on its armored back. 

With this boss down and the mission accomplished, the demo took a survival-horror turn. Through the released heat of the T-energy, an abandoned base was uncovered, and wandering around in its dark corridors felt a lot like playing Dead Space. I found myself shooting at creepy crawly aliens with a shotgun, wishing I h??a??d plasma cutter instead.

After making my way through this maze-like space base (again, very Dead Space), I was able to get back to the open and into my rig. Of ??course, another huge crab thing shows up. This time I was able to rip off one of its crab claws, and later was able to hold it up by its stump and drill into its back to make easy work of it. And then, in a classic demo cliffhanger move, the ground rumbles and about eight more of these things appear. 

It's hard to tell where Lost Planet 3 is at when compared to the last two games. I definitely appreciate the move towards stronger narrative, and I really like where these survival horror-type segments are going, but it's not clear how much of either we'll see based on this short demo. If nothing else, LP3 will provide a more varied experience than the prior titles, and that's always a plus. For me, right now, I'm in, and that's mostly because I like this big bearded Jim? character, and I want to see what they'll do with him.? 

Lost Planet 3 is slated for release in early 2013 for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. 

The post Hands-on preview: Lost Planet 3 appeared first on Destructoid.

One of the weirdest games to be announced so far this year is E.X. Troopers, the manga-style Lost Planet spin-off for the 3DS and the PS3. After Lost Planet 2 failed to set the world ablaze, a lot of people thought the series was over. Instead, we're getting both the gritty and rough Lost Planet 3 and this colorful romp. What gives?

Some discerning (or paranoid) fans are guessing that E.X. Troopers is actually the reanimated corpse of Mega Man Legends 3. The fact that both games are cel-shaded, third-person shooters for the 3DS was the first red flag. Then came the observation that both titles share at least one very similar character design. I don't see an other specific gameplay mechanics from Mega Man Legends 3 (red hot kicks, wall running, shorykens) in E.X. Troopers as of yet, but if any of that stuff pops up in the game down the line, you can expect Mega Man fans to cry foul. 

Personally, I think it's just as likely that the art director on E.X. Troopers liked that one character from Mega Man Legends 3 and decided to give him new life. That doesn't mean that the games will play anything alike. Heck, for all we know, it could be that Mega Man Legends 3 and E.X. Troopers share the same art team. Regardless, I don't see why anyone would be mad about this. If E.X. Troopers turns out to be re-skinned version of Mega Man Legends 3 with a Lost Planet paint job, then great. That'll give us a chance to play Mega Man Legends 3, whi?ch is what we wanted in the ??????????????????????????first place. Maybe they'll even stick some Servbots in there too, just to show us that they care. 

Is E.X. Troopers r??eusing assets from Mega Man Legends 3? [GameOverViews]

The post E.X. Troopers yanks a characte?r from Mega Ma??n Legends 3 appeared first on Destructoid.

Remember that thought you had about Lost Planet way back when? You know, that one about it being alright and everything, except for the fact that it desperately needed cel-shaded anime graphics. Well, friend, you're in luck -- the folks at Capcom are mind readers and always strive to fulfill your desires...as long as they don't include Mega Man.

But seriously, I'm not sure anyone knew they wanted this crazy Lost Planet spin-off, but here it is and after watching that trailer (and re-watching it half a dozen times) I'm incredibly excited about it. E.X. Troopers is an action shooter that follows the story of a g?r??oup of students caught up in a fight between the snow pirates and Akrid. 

Headed up by Monster Hunter series producer Shintaro Kojima, Capcom is bringing E.X. Troopers to PS3 and 3DS, a rather odd combination. While few other details are known about the project ?at the moment, the title will be playable next month at Capc?om's Summer Jam in Tokyo.

EX Troopers Goes Playable at Capcom Summer Jam [Andriasang]

The post Cel-shaded Lost Planet spin-off EX Troopers lo?oks amazing appeared first on Destructoid.