Tecmo

Being a 3DS and Kinect owner as well as a fan of Japanese robots/mechs, two neighboring games on the main exhibition hall of PAX East immediately caught my attention: Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor for the Xbox 360 and Spirit Camera: The Cursed Memoir for the 3DS. Both games are updates to game franchises that were once considered innovative back when they were first released.

Is Dead or Alive: Dimensions kiddy porn? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.

The Dead or Alive series has never pretended to be anything but what it was. It featured nubile, scantily-clad women with entertaining breast physics that kicked and punched opponents across a fighting ring or stage. It was a game aimed squarely at young men and over the years it catered to that demographic to much success.

This magical week of E3 goodness is drawing to a close (which is sad…), but that doesn't mean I have nothing left to show you before normal life resumes its relentless attempts to crush your very soul.

For example, here's Tecmo's new PSP title, Undead Knights. One common refrain over the years from gamers has been "hey, why can't we play games as the bad guy?" No one ever gives  a satisfactory answer for why this is (and to be fair, there have been some recent games where you can play as the villain), and now gamers who want to explore their dark side will have another opportunity to do it when this game eventually hits shelves.

Although the camera is ridiculously slow and unresponsive (an intentional choice to alleviate the motion sensitivity Japanese gamers are so prone to?), it's as sickeningly entertaining as it ever was to lay down a giant bear trap, snap it closed on an approaching attacker, shoot him full of electrified spears and then drop a giant flaming boulder on his head, laughing as the whole mess explodes.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Mild Cartoon Violence

Considering the anemic status of the PSP's library at the moment, it pains me to see UMDs with potential that end up being mediocre, one right after another. Every time something new hits shelves, I wonder if it's going to be the thing that kickstarts Sony's shiny black portable into being a valid take-along option, but besides Lumines, I'd be hard-pressed to pick a game that has less than a handful of problems and rough edges. A perfect example of this consistent failure to thrive is the all-new intellectual property (IP) from Tecmo, Tokobot.

Game Description: Tokobot is unlike any other PSP game you've played before. Exploring some ancient ruins, you discover small and friendly creatures called "Tokobot". The Tokobots have incredible abilities called "joint-acton" that help you past obstacles—and you'll need it, as you'll have to reveal mysteries and save the world from a horrible plot!

I agree with Mike in finding that Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly is one of the scariest, most unsettling game experiences around but only when I wasn't being bored out of my mind by the game's busywork and glacial pace. I do share our horror maven's sadness at seeing such a promising title go astray, but I'm not quite as forgiving as he is.

This use of music and sound is perhaps the greatest strength of Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly, the sequel to Tecmo's underrated survival horror offering Fatal Frame. While Crimson Butterfly never wants for a gruesome or terrifying visual, it's the audio component of the game that makes it so creepy. As it stands, the game is a veritable primer on how to use sound to create atmosphere in a horror game.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood, Violence