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Orange has unveiled three new ways for its customers to enjoy gaming on their mobile phones.   They will launch over the next month three mobile gaming initiatives – Playtomo, Games Zone and Orange iPhone Games – pitched at mobile users with mid-market and smartphone handsets and employing a variety of revenue models.   Playtomo was launched yesterday and 'integrates directly into social networks', essentially acting as a quick way of securing bragging rights on mobile games.   The games themselves are 'free classics', with versions of Breakout, Suduko and Tetris demonstrated on the website, and the company promises two new titles every month.   The app integrates with users’ social network profiles where they can issue invitations to friends to join, including those on different mobile networks.   Neil Holroyd, head of gaming products and services at Orange, said, “The launch of these mobile gaming offerings forms a key part of our strategy to grow our business through entertainment.”   The second platform is a £5 subscription-based service called Games Zone, which will be launched tomorrow. The subscription cost covers two free mobile games a month along with a 20 per cent discount on any subsequent purchases from the Orange catalogue.   Both Playtomo and Games Zone can be downloaded from Orange World.   Orange's games for the iPhone are expected to hit the App Store in 'late April', and consist mainly of classic games such as Blackjack, Poker and, 'Off-road racing'.   No further details are available on exactly what titles will be available at launch, but a Duck Hunt style game in which you shoot the people from the Orange Wednesday adverts would probably see some success. But we at gaminghub.co.uk can't wait to check these new apps and share the results with you, of course.

Tags: Orange, Mobile, Games, iPhone
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Just this past weekend, the Game Developers Conference was held in downtown San Francisco, CA. If you're unfamiliar with GDC, it is the "world's largest professionals-only game industry event." In other words, everyday gaming enthusiast can't just walk in off the street to take a look around. GDC is held every spring and is basically a forum for learning and networking for the creators of computer, console, handheld, mobile, and online games. Hundreds of companies come out to present their latest wares, preview upcoming titles, and also interview thousands of potential game developers.   Intel used GDC 2010 to announce their latest processor, the Core i7 980X Extreme Edition. Codnamed "Gulftown", it is the first 32nm, six core processor that that can process up to 12 threads through the use of HyperThreading technology. Intel's booth ran several systems that were running applications enhanced for this new platform, including Sega's Napoleon Total War and Ubisoft's RUSE. A dinner event thrown by Intel provided a demo of the Extreme Edition processor in action, installed in Alienware's ALX system.   As you would guess, game developers of all kind come out in full force for this particular event. There were hundreds of booths set up and plenty of big names were on hand to chat with attendees. While there were plenty of names previously unheard of, all of the gaming industry's big dogs were on hand. Companies on the expo floor included Intel, NVIDIA, ATI, ARM, Blizzard, Crytek, Nintendo, Ubisoft, Sony, Palm, Microsoft, and many others. Unlike CES, the majority of the booths were not designed for press coverage.   HARDWARE: Hardcore Computers has been around since 2005. Without a doubt, the reactor system is an impressive sight and very unique. The Reactor's heat producing components are fully submerged in coolant which uses both natural and forced convection for circulation. The CPU, NB, GPU, and power supplies get coolant pumped directly to them while the rest of the system makes use of natural convection. All told, you get a quiet, cool, and expensive PC that if filled with the fastest parts available. The base model starts at over $5K so the target market for the system is a very elite crowd of enthusiasts.   VISUMOTION: 3D technology was the biggest theme at CES 2010 with almost every major company featuring new 3D-related products. A recurring criticism of 3D is the mandatory use of glasses, however, which can look rather unappealing and might get uncomfortable after awhile. The small booth on GDC's show floor which featured a 3D monitor that did not require users to wear glasses. VisuMotion provides the answer to this problem with their extensive line of 3D products that take glass out of the equation.   During the week, there were a myriad of meetings, lectures, and break out sessions that focused on how to make superior games on every platform imaginable. It was both exciting and impressive to see how these companies make use of existing hardware and related technologies, in an effort to provide more entertaining and realistic games. GDC 2010 drives home the realization that without faster, more powerful hardware, breakthrough advancements in applications and games wouldn't be possible.

Tags: GDC, Games, Developers, Conference, SF, CA
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Mochi Media, which helps indie game creators monetize Flash games, is launching a platform today that makes it easy for Flash game developers to create, monetize and distribute social games.

Mochi Social will enable developers to build games with social features, such as the ability to invite friends, send gifts, or post to a news stream. The company, which was acquired by China's Shanda Games in January for $80 million, is announcing Mochi Social at the Flash Gaming Summit that it is sponsoring today in San Francisco. The idea is to let Flash game developers enjoy the benefits of social networking without being locked into a single social network.

“We are making social games distributable across many sites,” Jameson said. “They have been locked social networks. Now we are letting them out.”

San Francisco-based Mochi Media has been a key player in the democratization of game development. Flash game developers use Mochi to insert ads into their Flash games. Mochi collects game play data and charges advertisers for the number of times their ads are viewed. Mochi then shares most of that money with the developers. On its network, Mochi says it can reach 150 million monthly active gamers who play 15,000 games across 40,000 different web sites. That's a pretty big empire.

But social games on Facebook have been so successful that advertisers and developers have moved in that direction. To save Flash gaming and adapt to the new world of social games, Mochi has added new ways to monetize beyond ads. Last July, the company launched its Mochi Coins virtual currency to enable Flash game developers to make money from free-to-play games, where users play for free but pay real money for virtual goods. Mochi is moving to build an Xbox Live style service around Flash games.

In doing so, it has been in a kind of leapfrog race with rivals such as Heyzap and Hooked Media. Now Mochi Social is an attempt to duplicate a lot of the functions on Facebook. As Facebook puts more restrictions on what game developers can do, Mochi is trying to court indie developers to move back in its direction for the sake of more independence and better monetization, said Mochi founder Jameson Hsu.

The good thing about Mochi Social is that the social features can be tapped by a user regardless of what Mochi Social-enabled site they play on. Mochi Social gamers can post updates on their game achievements to Twitter, Facebook or MySpace. All of the Mochi Social components are embedded in a game file, so they follow the game wherever it is distributed. A gamer playing a game embedded with Mochi Social can send a notification inside the game to friends, regardless of what platform they are using.

Mochi Social is in private beta. The first Mochi Social-enabled game is Kingdoms at War, a social game from developer Thinking Ape that has been a success on the iPhone and now debuts on the web. Wilkins Chung, co-founder of Thinking Ape, estimates his company will be able to use the social features to reach millions of new gamers with no advertising cost.

Tags: Mochi, Media, Social, Network, Games, Online
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The Tate Britain in London is set to host a one off event showcasing the art behind gaming this week, with installations highlighting the smartest, most beautiful and thought provoking titles out there. It's free, and it's this Friday.   The Tate Britain Game Play exhibit goes down on Friday evening. You can play some of the latest games, including DJ Hero and the immersive adventure game Heavy Rain, as well as an older classic contender for the most artful game of all time: tuneful shooter Rez HD.   There's also a panel discussion on design, narrative and gameplay in video games, with artists, games critic Kieron Gillen and one of the creators of graphic novel Watchmen, Dave Gibbons.   If that's not up your street, the Tate Britain will also be hosting a talk about children's games and songs, and how they helped to inspire a new playground game for the Nintendo Wii.   Kudos to the Tate Britain: we’ve said before that video games deserve this level of artistic recognition and debate, so if you feel like showing your support, get down this Friday night from 6pm. Or if you can’t make it, start your own gaming book club instead.

Tags: Tate, Britain, UK, London, Pimlico, Games, Gaming...
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A Derby computer games developer has been chosen to release its new game to millions of Xbox players across the world.   With only its second game, Strawdog Studios, in London Road, has been selected by computer giant Microsoft to have its new title, Space Ark, released on the internet.   The game is due to be released on Xbox 360 Live Arcade in April and will be available months before the first appearance in shops of the company's debut game, Geon.   The Xbox Arcade is a shop hosted on the internet where gamers can try out, buy and download games straight on to their Xboxes.   There are similar services for PlayStation and Wii owners, too.   Simon Morris, technical director at Strawdog Studios, which has just four staff, said the game had been designed with the internet in mind.   He said: "We are all about download games. With online marketplaces for every major console and the introduction of the iPhone, there are a lot of opportunities for small independent developers to get games out there.   "Our first game, Geon, was released on all the online marketplaces for the different consoles and we have now got a boxed copy going into shops in either the spring or summer.   "We were very fortunate for Microsoft to accept Space Ark because they won't just take anything – they have strict controls on quality."   In the game, players try to destroy grids of bricks by bouncing a small animal into them. They control a trampoline which they have to position under the falling creature, sending it back into the bricks.   Paul Smith, managing director of Strawdog Studios, said the game was targeted at casual gamers.   He said: "There are a lot more people playing games than there used to be. People who might have shied away from more hardcore games now play more casual games through internet sites like Facebook.   "These are the players who we are designing games for but if you make a casual game well enough, they can become guilty pleasures for more serious gamers."   Mr Smith previously worked at Free Radical studios, a Sandiacre-based firm which went into administration. There he worked on games like Second Sight and Timesplitters.   He said: "We did well with Geon and we would like to at least repeat that success with Space Ark. In the time since the first game the market has grown and matured.   "The fact that people can go online and download what they want has meant a lot of new games are getting more exposure.   "And with online marketplaces and Apple's application store for its iPhone, developers can make their games available without having to go through bricks and mortar publishers and into shops."   Derby has already made it on to the worldwide stage of computer games with the Tomb Raider series which was developed by Ashbourne Road-based Core-Designs in the 1990s.   Since then Lara Croft has been officially recognised as the "most successful video game heroine" of all time by Guinness World Records.   There have been eight Tomb Raider games released, as well as a number of spin-offs including two films produced by Paramount Pictures.

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Tags: EA, Dantes, Inferno, Slogan, Hell
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The most comprehensive review for Dragon Age: Origins.
  
"Once every few hundred years, the Darkspawn Blight comes to the fair lands of Ferelden. Agents of darkness, bringers of evil, these unholy creatures cut great swathes of pain across the earth. They are led by the Archdemon, an ancient beast of immense power, and they would surely destroy us all if it were not for the stalwart courage of the Grey Wardens. They alone stand against the horrors of the Blight, forever our vigilant guardians, protecting us from harm. They perform their duty without thanks, for lately, there is none to give. Ferelden is split, torn asunder from the highest castle of a Noble Lord to the darkest corner of a Dwarven mineshaft.
 
These are dark times. Against the backdrop of backstabbing politics, racial unrest and the shadow of civil war, the remaining few of the Grey Wardens have begun to hear rumours of Darkspawn movements. Their worst fear is about to come true: the Archdemon is on the move once again. Only a unified force will be able to fight this coming Blight. In Ferelden, unity is a dirty word.
 
Things are about to get a little messy.
 
And so the stage is set for Bioware's latest opus. It's a story of corruption on every level and the fight to regain some sense of balance to stem the tide, which at times seems all but overpowering. Much has been made of the supposed "maturity" in the run-up to the game, but all that Marilyn Manson nonsense can be forgotten as it is abundantly clear from the moment it begins that Bioware is telling a tale head and shoulders above the competition. Dragon Age: Origins is deep, complex, and mighty.
 
The first step to exploring this vast world is the ever-daunting process of creating your character. Coming up with the hero you'll be staring at the rear of for upwards of seventy hours is a daunting task which is made ever more difficult by Origin's entire reason for existing: that of the origin stories. Between a choice of Human, Elf or Dwarf there are six origins to choose from and each represent a couple of hours of absolutely unique play at the start of the game.
 
They teach you the basics – movement, combat, dialogue and inventory management - but the events that happen within couldn't be more dissimilar. We suggest playing them all; each one is practically an entire game by itself. There is one constant, however. Whichever one you pick leads to a dramatic story about how your unassuming character is thrust into the ranks of the Grey Wardens with the fate of the world inevitably resting on their shoulders.
 
Incidentally, that figure of seventy-odd hours is due to us sniffing out most of the side-quests we could, although even then there's a feeling we've missed out on so much. Added with the other Origins, happily bump that up to 80 and beyond, not beginning to count the inevitable deluge of fan-made content that the mod-creation tools will surely provide.
 
Much of the time the people you meet will play important roles in your quest against the Blight, but they remain distant in attachment compared to the wonderful rag-tag group of adventurers that join you in your quest to unite Ferelden against the Darkspawn. These fellow travellers will join your cause automatically, while others you can find and befriend yourself. Your constant companions, they bicker and fight, joke and flirt for the entire time they're with you.
 
You should take the time to get to know them; while at first you'll be granted with some stat bonuses and character-specific missions, soon you'll realise they represent something more than a way to simply increase stats – in this group there exists a bond of friendship and duty that is almost palpable. They are often broken, troubled people with past demons that still torment them – all equal parts confused, brave, frightened, loving, valiant in their own ways, and above all, human. Well, apart from the non-human ones anyway. And after all that, they will follow under your leadership as a Grey Warden into battle and glory.
 
Naturally, a huge part of the game is the combat, which is handled as ever by off-screen dice rolls, measuring the chance of a successful attack against any defences the enemy might have. Attacking, then, is as simple as right-clicking on an enemy and watching your band of heroes run off to thrash it. Coupled with a versatile tactics screen that allows you to configure the automated combat A.I. of the squad to unending complexity, battles feel more like conducting the bedlam from above than gripping the weight of the blade yourself.
 
It's a joy to behold - battle animations are performed with flair, all swinging blades and pirouetting whirlwinds of death. The two-handed weapons have particular weight, massive man-sized Swords of Doom that swing laboriously through the air, coming down on hapless, gibbering foes with the crushing finality of a collapsing house. Not that they take centre stage - there are three melee combat styles to invest in, as well as a dizzying array of magical spells.
 
Combat styles are dual-wielding for slicey-dicey, a sword and a shield for stabby-bashy and the aforementioned Bastard Swords. There's some variety in how you approach each one, usually a trade off between finesse and power, and happily there's an entire branch of skill-tree unlocks based around thumping someone in the face with a shield, which never, ever gets old. There's also archery if you enjoy making your enemies resemble one of auntie's more cadaverous pincushions. Four unique class specialisations for each of the three core classes further increase complexity, giving party members a diversity of different roles.
 
Still, no matter the armaments, tactics play the biggest part in combat. You can have the biggest, baddest, unique-armour clad nutcases ever to accept missions from people wearing exclamation marks, but if you don't lead them into battle with any kind of plan they will perish with depressing ease. This doesn't mean that the game is hard, however - think of the combat as a kind of angry man's chess, a puzzle to be figured out with wit and cunning as much as fireballs and +7 swords. If things become too much, a quick escape to the options menu can dynamically change the difficulty, but be warned that Origins remains a challenging game.
 
The kind of tactics you deploy depend entirely on the members of your chosen party. Three companions at a time is the maximum in these adventures, having to return to base camp if one wishes to mix up the selection. It makes for some chin-rubbing thought as you anticipate the coming battles - will you take the Berserker who's smashing against golems, or the Assassin for sneaky attacks? The warrior mage or the spirit healer? A balanced squad is the key to success in many of the engagements, and depending on your choices the core combat can play out in hugely different styles. There are some mainstays - at least one mage at all times seems to be a universal constant - but on the whole there's a breadth of choice in how you approach things.
 
Boss fights, on the other hand, are a little more chaotic. There's a steady feed of them throughout the campaign, some part of major quest lines and some to be ferreted out with cunning detective work. The bosses in Origins are terrifying - huge, twisted, straight-from-hell beasts that hate you completely and will kill you without a second's hesitation. While you're still trying to cover your mage and bash the enemy with your warriors while archers stand far away, the size of some of them, coupled with their raw power and potential to smite, turn the battles from angry chess to simply hanging onto the horns of a rampaging bull for dear life. They're panicked, glorious messes as you struggle to throw everything you have at them with vain hope before it takes you down. These are some titanic fights.
 
Origins remains tough because the challenge ups its ante as the campaign unfolds. Enemies level up alongside you, which can be a little absurd if one dwells on it – a mere Captain of the Guard towards the end turns out to be several magnitudes of order more powerful than the first giant Ogre fought at the beginning, but the trick is that the scale of the battles increase alongside you as well. What starts off as taking down uncoordinated roving bands of blaggards ends up with facing off against entire armies of beastly brethren. And all shall fall at your sword." Andrew Smee, Dragon Age: Origins UK Review, IGN UK; November 2009. For full review, click here.
 
Out now for PC, PS3 and Xbox360
 
Tags: Dragon, Age, Origins, Dragon Age: Origins, Review...
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Firmware updates can be a pain at the best of times but last week's Nintendo Wii firmware update 4.2 seems to have been terminal for some consoles. But don’t worry, if yours is dead, you could get it fixed for free.
 
Nintendo has admitted to the problem and stated that it will offer free repairs to any UK Wii owner who has lost their console to the firmware foul-up.
 
Beware though, if you’ve modded your Wii, you’ll be out of luck. Nintendo is offering the repairs only to people with bricked consoles that are running the normal system.
 
The firmware problem apparently occurs when the installation crashes mid-way through and sends the Wii's digital guts into spasm. Nintendo claims that only a very small number of users have been affected. Are you one of them? If so, comment on this post and let the gaminghub.co.uk community know about how Nintendo dealt with your free repair.
 

Tags: Nintendo, Wii, Firmware, Problem, Free, 4.2
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Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/6/2009

Operation Flashpoint 2 will mark the long-awaited return of the total conflict simulator, which won international acclaim.
 
 
Alpha Protocol
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/6/2009

Developed by award-winning development studio Obsidian Entertainment, makers of smash hits including Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic II The Sith Lords™ and Neverwinter Nights 2™
 
 
Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/6/2009
 
Based on the Cartoon Network series and collaborating directly with Lucasfilm Animation, Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes allows players to take up arms on behalf of the noble Galactic Republic.
 
 
Lucidity
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/7/2009

In Lucidity, players take a trip into the imagination of Sofi, a young girl who is filled with a persistent desire to explore new worlds and overcome all obstacles in her way.
 
 
South Park: Let's Go Tower Defense Play!
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/7/2009
 
Play as Stan, Kyle, Kenny, Cartman, or any number of your favorite South Park characters in South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play! It's the fast-paced action/strategy game.
 
 
Brütal Legend
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/13/2009
 
Work has been going around the clock and insiders close to Schafer have described Brütal Legend as the chronicle of Eddie Riggs, a roadie of a virtuous metal band.
 
 
Tony Hawk: Ride
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/13/2009
 
Tony Hawk: Ride features a wireless skateboard controller designed in conjunction with the game to offer a dynamic gaming experience built from the ground up.
 
 
Rock Band Metal Track Pack
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/13/2009
 
Summoning power from the metal gods on high, the Rock Band team has assembled 20 on-disc tracks exploding with bone-crushing, ear-lashing, face-melting metal including anvil-heavy cuts from Godsmack and much more.
 
 
Way of the Samurai 3
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/13/2009
 
The time is the Sengoku period. The story takes place in Amana, a land ruled by a rising feudal lord, Fujimori Shuzen, who had overthown his former superior, Lord Sakurai, and became the new ruler.
 
 
Tropico 3
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/16/2009
 
Tropico is a construction and management simulation game in which the player takes the role of "El Presidente," the ruler of an island in the Caribbean during the Cold War era from the 1950s onward.
 
 
Borderlands
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/20/2009
 
Borderlands is an extraordinary cooperative experience, allowing for multiple players to share the same game experience simultaneously online. Players can freely join or leave each other's games at any time.
 
 
Dragon Age: Origins
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/20/2009
 
As the spiritual successor to BioWare's Baldur's Gate™, one of the most successful role-playing games in the industry, Dragon Age: Origins represents BioWare's return to its roots.
 
 
Bakugan: Battle Brawlers
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/20/2009
 
Bakugan tells the story of Dan and his friends as they battle their Bakugan Brawlers to save the planet of Vestroia and, ultimately, Earth from destruction.
 
 
FIFA 10
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/20/2009
 
On the pitch, critical gameplay fundamentals have been enhanced to ensure that FIFA 10 mirrors real-world football, providing more sophisticated ball control, and physical interaction between players.
 
 
WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/20/2009
 
The best-selling fighting video-game franchise returns to the virtual ring with the most authentic, entertaining and compelling simulation of WWE programming to date.
 
 
CSI: Deadly Intent
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/20/2009
 
For the first time ever, team up with the new cast of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation(TM) Season 9 to solve Sin City's most gruesome crimes.
 
 
Panzer General: Allied Assault
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/21/2009
 
Developed by Petroglyph, Panzer General: Allied Assault is an all-new single and multiplayer digital card game that takes place during the last phase of World War II, from 1944 to 1945.
 
 
Tekken 6
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/27/2009
 
Spanning over a 14 year legacy, Tekken is among the most popular and well-known gaming brands in the world with the entire franchise selling more than 32 million units to date.
 
 
DJ Hero
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/27/2009
 
In DJ Hero, faces in the crowd are transformed into the life of the party as the game's turntable controller – created exclusively for DJ Hero and featuring familiar DJ tools including a fully-rotating deck.
 
 
Fairytale Fights
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/27/2009
 
A sick & twisted fighting game featuring many of your favorite fairy tale characters from childhood now acting like the crazy maniacs your deviant adult mind could only imagine them to be!
 
 
Forza Motorsport 3
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/27/2009
 
Whether it's an exotic sports car like the new Audi R8 V10, a classic American muscle car such as the Ford GT, or a hot Asian import such as the Nissan 370Z, everyone has a dream car.
 
 
Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/29/2009
 
Grand Theft Auto IV's second downloadable episode, The Ballad of Gay Tony injects Liberty City with an overdose of guns, glitz, and grime.
 
 
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City
Platform: Xbox 360
Release Date: 10/29/2009
 
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City will include both episode one The Lost and Damned, and episode two The Ballad of Gay Tony together on a single disc exclusively for Xbox 360.
 

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PLATFORM: PSP
 
 
As excited as many were for Dissidia Final Fantasy, the game was certainly met with some reservations. After all, developer Square Enix is quite well-versed in the art of crafting RPGs, but designing a fighting game? It was feared that Dissidia would rely too heavily on its inclusion of classic Final Fantasy characters and fail to deliver a truly engaging gameplay experience. Fortunately, all fears evaporate when you begin playing Dissidia. This is one of the most robust, well-thought-out games on the PSP to date and a favorite for many on the platform overall. Even if you're not a tremendous fan of the franchise, you'll be missing out if you leave this game on store shelves.
 
Dissidia Final Fantasy combines heroes and villains from the first 10 proper Final Fantasy titles (with some secret characters to boot) and mashes them together in a sprawling battle of light versus darkness. In the world of Dissidia, the Goddess of Harmony, Cosmos, is waging a desperate war against the God of Discord, Chaos. Cosmos and Chaos have summoned warriors from across time and space to do battle, but as the forces of Chaos employ sinister tactics, the warriors aligned with Cosmos are on the brink of defeat.
 
Although Dissidia is most commonly referred to as a fighting game, a more accurate classification of the game would be "one-on-one action." This is not a fighting game in the traditional sense, as it doesn't require elaborate directional inputs and it isn't quite as precise as modern fighters like Street Fighter IV and BlazBlue. It's not even similar to 3D fighters like Tekken, Dead or Alive and Soulcalibur. Instead, Dissidia plays like a fully realized version of Kingdom Hearts, but without the menu interface. You roam around a massive arena and send visually spectacular attacks at your opponent with just a few simple button presses.
 
While this might sound like a shallow system, Dissidia requires a respectable amount of skill to play. Battles call for specific timing, especially when engaged in an attack/counterattack dynamic. Players must also learn to effectively dodge, block and gauge distances when executing special techniques. In this way, Dissidia is still very much like a fighting game, but the complete free-roaming nature of character movement gives it a unique feel.
 
The battle system can be very overwhelming at first, but it becomes second nature after you spend a few hours with the game. Each character has a pool of Bravery Points and Hit Points to keep track of during a match. By using Bravery Attacks (with the Circle button), you increase your character's Bravery while lowering your opponent's Bravery. Once the time is right, you execute an HP Attack that damages your opponent's HP in the amount equal to your current Bravery. If the attack connects, your Bravery resets to zero and you start the cycle again. In this way, Dissidia is all about the constant balance between Bravery and HP as well as keeping the scales tipped in your favor.
 
This Bravery/HP system is very interesting and seems to suit Square Enix's style nicely. But of course this one system is just a very small piece of the entire experience. Characters also have an EX Gauge that fills gradually during battle (by collecting particles of light called Ex Force). Once this gauge is filled, each character can transform into his or her EX Mode and dramatically boost his or her stats and abilities. During EX Mode, if you land an HP Attack and follow-up with an additional tap of the Square Button, your character will perform a unique (and breathtaking) EX Burst attack, which -- nine times out of 10 -- can end the battle.
 
These various systems, combined with the stylish wall-running, grinding and flying that characters can do, make Dissidia battles a real treat to play -- and even watch. These mechanics are brilliantly complemented by an incredible cast of familiar faces: one hero and one villain from Final Fantasy I through X. Legendary warriors like Terra, Cloud, Squall and Tidus will meet their equally reputable nemeses in the form of Kefka, Sephiroth, Ultimecia and Jecht. Their fame isn't the only thing to enjoy, though, as each character has a fairly unique play style to experiment with. For example, the Warrior of Light is best suited for close-range combat, while the Emperor sets traps in the ring and draws his foes closer with treachery galore.
 
What makes Dissidia stand out from other fighting/action games is its tremendous RPG component, coupled with an insane amount of customization options. Characters can grind to level 99, armor and weapons can be equipped (purely for statistical purposes, not aesthetic), summons can be used and accessories can be discovered. As a character grows stronger, he or she will learn more abilities which can be equipped in the customization interface. Players can tweak a character to their liking, which is really great to see in a fighting game.
 
Overall, this game is superb for the system that accomodates it. Very intricate and strategic but with a hint of direct action. Its main contender is the PSP version of Soul Caliber but, in a showdown between the two, Dissidia gets the award.
 
Tags: Final, Fantasy, Final Fantasy, Dissidia, Cloud, S...
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