Games That Never Were: Fear and Respect (Xbox 360, Playstation 3)

What do you get when you mix Midway, ‘hood film director John Singleton, Snoop Dogg, and Max Payne? Fear and Respect, the third-person action title that was originally revealed for the Playstation 2 and Xbox in 2004 and then was being re-tooled for the next generation of consoles. However, Midway put this title to rest over two years ago due to a crowded market of urban-themed action games.

This title starred Snoop Dogg and was set in South Los Angeles. John Singleton (of Boyz ‘n the Hood fame) added his talents to this release in terms of direction, and the game play was supposed to be similar to the Max Payne titles.

Beyond starring one of the most successful gangsta rap artists of all time and having a big-time director underneath its belt, Fear and Respect appeared as if it had little to offer compared to the other numerous urban third-person action titles released through the years. No matter how good an album Doggystyle was, I still can’t find myself excited to play as Snoop in a videogame (whether it was in the original True Crime as an unlockable character or in this).

Past entries in this series:

#1 - Capcom Fighting All-Stars
#2 - Frame City Killer
#3 - Vectorman

Be Prepared to Pre-Order Your Metal Gear Solid 4 Bundle!

...that is, if you've got a disposable income.

Tomorrow you'll be able to pre-order the Gun Metal-colored Metal Gear Solid 4 Playstation 3 bundle. It is going to be sold exclusively through Konami's online store. Not only does it feature a special paint job, but it will contain a copy of Metal Gear Solid 4 (which is, hands down, the most eagerly anticipated game coming to the Playstation 3), the game's soundtrack and a non-interactive Blu-Ray disc jam-packed with extras.

Although Konami has not revealed how many of these will be produced, early reports from Japan (where they received a Metal Gear bundle of their own and it sold out almost immediately) indicate that these will be very severely limited.

The bad part, now, comes from the actual price of these units: $600. Yup, 600 big ones for a Playstation 3 that contains a mere 40 GB hard drive. Now, I'm no mathematician, but this bundle is more than wee-bit overpriced for what you're getting. Still, fans and collectors are undoubtedly going to eat this pack up when pre-orders start on Konami.com tomorrow. The actual unit will ship out on June 12th.

Source

The Creator of Final Fantasy Speaks!

Hironobu Sakaguchi, the mastermind behind the creation of the remarkably popular Final Fantasy series, has recently had some stern things to say about many subjects in today’s gaming industry. Not all of it was positive, either – he blasts Sony and the Playstation 3, but besides these personal things he touches us up with some information on his newest projects.

When asked about how he feels about the Playstation 3 in the recent Electronic Gaming Monthly interview [EGM, June 2007 issue], Sakaguchi responded by saying

“I’m not interested in the Playstation 3. The machine’s architecture is tricky, and I don’t’ like Kutaragi”.

Ouch. Despite this, he still believes in the Wii and especially the Xbox 360. While he has several plans for new Xbox 360 games (which I will get to in a moment), he said that

“The [Wii] is intriguing, but right now I have no plans on making a game for the Wii”.

With the enormous popularity of the Wii, you could probably expect him to make something unique for it down the road. Hell, even beyond this, Sukaguchi even talks about the recent global warming phenomenon by saying that he’d like to make a game about it based on the bizarre changes in climates he experiences where he’s current living (Hawaii).

You can read the article in it’s entirety in the June 2007 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, on newsstands now.

In the mean time, here are some looks at his future Xbox 360 projects:

Blue Dragon

Already released in Japan, Blue Dragon was one of the few Xbox 360 games to gain popularity on the other side of the pond. It helped sell some 360’s over in the Land of the Rising Sun, and even though it didn’t significantly help out the struggling system over there it became a bit of a hit nonetheless. With great reception from the important version and a talented team working on it, you can expect Blue Dragon to be received warmly when it hits the U.S. this fall.

Lost Odyssey

Not much information has been revealed about this intriguing title yet, except that it will have a rather complex storyline and be powered by the same engine found in last year’s tech-powerhouse Gears of War.

Cry On

Appropriately titled, Cry On will feature a story line that Sakaguchi hopes makes you cry every 15 minutest (yep, he actually said that).