Lollipop Chainsaw Premium Costumes

In Japan, Lollipop Chainsaw will be available in a Premium Edition which features some revealing outfits.

The PS3 versions gets a maid/waitress and striped bikini outfit. The waitress look is cute, but nothing special.

The bikini is definitely sexier, but also a bit uninspired as well.

The 360 gets a shell bikini and body suit.The shell bikini wins the sexiest outfit award for sure.

My favorite is definitely the rider suit. If you're gonna run around chopping down zombies, this is how you want to look doing it.

There's no word of a similar limited edition for the US yet. There are already pre-order bonus outfits so it's unlikely these will go that route. What I think is more feasible is to make all pre-orders an automatic upgrade to a "limited edition" that includes these outfits. That would certainly get me off my butt to pre-order instead of waiting for a price drop.

There are also some multi-player outfits as well, but those revolve around licenses anime characters like High School of the Dead so I'd be shocked if those were released here.

Source: 4gamer.net via Kotaku

DEAD OR ALIVE 5!!!

This trailer totally made the hairs on my arm stand in awe. Akira can't be the only Virtua Fighter cross over character right? We need Sarah Bryant!

Game Party

Got to play a good amount of titles recently. Some quick impressions:

Soul Calibur V (PS3)
I still have mixed feeling about SCV. While the new character creation options are great, the rest of the game feels a lot emptier. I’m also not a big fan of most of the new outfits for the characters. Ivy’s outfits in particular are a step back from previous offerings. The price has dropped to $39.99 which is about right for what you get. I prefer to get this on Vita, but may jump on the PS3 version soon anyway.

Speaking of the Vita, I looked up Soul Calibur Broken Destiny for PSP and it’s  $39.99! I picked up the UMD version for $10 a few months ago. I’d rather have it digitally on the Vita, but not for forty bucks. Looks like I’ll have to just stick with the PSP if I want some Broken Destiny.

King of Fighters XIII (PS3)
Put simply, KOF XIII is a fully featured return to form. Tons of modes, lots of fun story elements, improved graphics, a bunch more levels, the list goes on and on. As was the case with Chun Lin returning in SFIII Third Strike, getting Mai back into the KOF fold was crucial for the series to feel whole again. As a collector of KOF titles, XIII will eventually find its way into my library. Recommended.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus (PS Vita)
I played this on Xbox (Black), PS3 (Sigma), and now the PS Vita (Sigma Plus). If you’ve never played the game, the PS3 is the optimal way to experience it, but if you want it portable, Sigma Plus is pretty great. If this gets a sale on PSN, I wouldn’t mind picking it up again for another play through on a plane.

Darkstalkers (PSP/ PS Vita)
I wanted to check out a PSP game on the Vita so decided on Darkstalkers since I don’t seem to have a version of the game on another system right now and it’s one of my all-time favorites. I transferred it to the PSP just to compare to how it runs on the Vita and there is definitely a noticeable improvement. That said, it’s not quite as vibrant and colorful as I would like. The audio does sound better coming out of the Vita speakers though. For $9.99, I’m happy.

New Impressions Coming Soon

Got a chance to borrow Soul Calibur V PS3, King of Fighters XIII PS3, and Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus for Vita this weekend so will post some impressions soon.

As I've mentioned on twitter, these are all games that are on the bubble for me for one reason or another. Prices have started to drop on Soul Calibur so if it wins me over this weekend, it could warrant a purchase.

More soon!

PS Vita GET!

Yes, Twitter has made me way too lax on updates as well as work being super busy. The good news is that my gaming time has been on the rise thanks to the PS Vita. With a growing family, my time with the consoles has been few and far between. I'm only half way through Uncharted 3 (started way back in November) and unopened copies of Portal 2 and Arkham City are giving me dirty looks from the backlog shelf.

Like gaming on the iPhone, it's just easier for me to play something mobile than anything tied to a TV. So far I've picked up what you see in the pic above. Hot Shots Golf, Escape Plan, and Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom. It's been a while since I've played a Hot Shots Golf and ad hoc multi-player is awesome. I'm not sure if this was a feature in the older PSP or PS3 titles, but all the players are shooting at the same time during the hole. It makes the rounds go very quickly. I do wish there was an option to watch the other players after you're done.

Escape Plan is pretty cool so far. I like it a lot, but don't quite love it yet. I've logged the least amount of time on Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom since I got it last. It's amazing how much action the Vita can handle. I do believe I will finally buy the Jill Valentine DLC character now. I see the various costume packs are available individually, but don't see a bundle with everything. Will need to look into that.  

So what's next? I ordered Uncharted and Lumines which should get here soon. I kind of want Ninja Gaiden, but $40 is steep for a game I've owned on two previous consoles. Maybe once the price drops. That goes for BlazBlue as well.

On the download front I'll probably pick up Super Stardust soon. I'm also very close to buying Darkstalkers and some of the SNK games either individually or in the SNK Collection. The Samurai Shodown Anthology is tempting too. Note: I have almost all the SNK/KOF games that were released on the PS2, but I can see me playing these a lot more on the Vita. I'm very curious to see how they look on the OLED screen.

A bit further off is the my most anticipated Vita release, DRAGON"S CROWN! Seriously cannot wait for that game. I'll also pick up Street Fighter X Tekken and Mortal Kombat as well. Yup, fighting games are still my favorite. It's in my To Do list to take a pic of all the fighting games I own across multiple systems. It's scary.  

(Full disclosure: I'm currently an employee of Sony Computer Entertainment America. In case you are new to this blog, I started this way back in 2005 while working as a games journalist. Would I have purchased a Vita if I didn't work for Sony? Yes. One of the reasons I decided to join almost a year and a half ago was because I was psyched for the Vita. In any case, absolutely take anything I say with a grain of salt as you would reading anything out there.)

I love wetsuits...and Resident Evil

Long, long overdue, but I finally picked up Resident Evil 5 Gold for the PS3. I originally bought RE5 for the 360, but my save file was corrupted when my system red ringed. Since I have to start from scratch, figured I'd change systems as well as getting the extra content on disc instead of DLC if I went the 360 route.

This got me into a RE mood and it just so happens some new screens of Revelations for the 3DS appeared. The game is looking amazing. If there's one game that still has me tempted for a 3DS it's Revelations. The addition of wetsuits is an interesting twist to the RE costume repertoire. Especially the half legless variety which makes absolutely no practical sense. Maybe the lady prefers a completely legless swimsuit, but has horrible scars on one leg so wants to cover up?  Who cares, it looks damn cool.

As good as this looks, I'm hoping beyond hope they do a Vita port. Imagine how great that would look! Even if it happens, it's most likely a year out to preserve some sort of exclusivity window for the 3DS. Maybe Revelations GOLD for the Vita?

Speaking of ports, I'd like to see the Gamecube RE remake get the HD treatment ala Metal Gear and Ico collection for the PS3. Even though I've played it a hundred times, the original is still a ton of fun. I was a bit surprised that it didn't happen when they released Code Veronica and RE4 HD. There's still time to make it right Capcom!

Dead or Alive facelift

It's not a complete re-imagining, but it does appear the faces of the Dead or Alive characters have been tweaked. I'd say slightly more adult looking and less cartoony.

I'm an admitted DOA fanboy so these latest screens have got me pumped! 2012 has some blockbuster fighting releases. Street Fighter vs Tekken, Soul Calibur V, and Dead or Alive 5 are all top tier titles. I'll pick up Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 when it comes out for the Vita next year as well. Very exciting!

In a strange twist, I've started playing with the PSP lately. More on that in the next post.