Grave Gamer News & Views — psn

Resident Evil HD Fastest Selling Digital Release in Capcom’s History

Old School Horror Tops PSN’s Sales List in January

When I reviewed Capcom’s remaster of 2002’s remake of their 1996 classic (a fact that’s been confusing the hell out of press junkets — some referring to the title as a remastering of a 20-year-old game), I praised it as the definitive way to play the absolute pinnacle of the Resident Evil series.

Apparently, you savvy, savvy consumers out there agreed, putting Resident Evil HD Remaster atop the PlayStation Store’s best-friggin’-selling list across PS3 and PS4. Day one downloads alone broke records for Sony’s store. Better yet, the remaster has gone down as Capcom’s fastest selling digital release of all time.

So what does this mean? Hopefully, it encourages Capcom to stop sleeping on the more traditional horror elements that laid the foundation for this franchise to begin with. Reaching for the stars, maybe REmaster’s success will finally twist the company’s arm into producing a remake of Resident Evil 2.

Once upon a time ago, a full-on reconstruction of the second game, a beloved entry to this very day, would’ve been a mixed herb pipe dream. But now? It’s a good time to be a Resident Evil fan.

Here’s a special message from Mr. Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, the game’s producer, thanking fans for taking that ill-fated trek through the Arklay Mountains area once again.

Good News, Everybody! PSN is Still Down

Well, it seemed like good news around 3:30AM EST when I checked on the PlayStation Store. On PS4, instead of an oppressive blue screen of nothingness that only alters to cry about server woes, the store actually worked, giving the thousands of us night owls first wind of an online-capable future.

Then PSN took another big shit and stopped working. This pushes us into the third day of the Sony network’s inactivity since it was supposedly “taken down” on Christmas Day, alongside Microsoft’s Xbox Live service, by a group of hackers that call themselves “The Lizard Squad.”

The hackers’ reasoning for this attack on home entertainment? ”Microsoft and Sony are fucking retarded, literally monkeys behind computers,” one Lizard said in an interview with The Daily Dot, and the attack was meant to illustrate both corporations’ failings when it comes to online defense. The hacker goes on to say companies like Microsoft and Sony would be wise to hire criminals given their proven successes in the field — a Suicide Squad of nerds, basically.

There is some doubt about The Lizard Squad’s involvement with the outages, however. Especially in Sony’s case, in which crucial, and private, information was hacked and leaked last month thanks to our friends in North Fucking Korea (spawning The Interview debacle — yet another struggle over mere entertainment). The Squad even claims their denial-of-service attacks only spanned 12 to 14 hours Christmas Day, and yet PSN is still KO’d. Online gaming could have bigger enemies than a faceless group of kids “doin’ it for the lulz.”

While Xbox Live has recovered, returning to a functional state sometime yesterday, PSN’s troubles are still extending across the PS3, Vita, and PS4. That means no games (or services) can be downloaded, nor can media apps (like Netflix and Hulu) be used.

It’s a critical strike against the company given that many new customers will have received brand new consoles over the holiday; brand new consoles that don’t work as intended. Currently, Sony has not spoken publicly about PSN’s continued troubles. We’ll update as word comes in.

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam Reborn Brings an Endless Waltz of Hack n’ Slash to the West

My childhood appreciation for the piloted mechs of Gundam lore combined with my weakness for repetitive hack n’ slash combat against massive hordes of moving fodder has allowed Tecmo Koei’s Dynasty Warriors: Gundam crossovers slip right past my usually unrelenting wall of cynicism.

But after buying into three below average games trickled with modest, barely-an-inch-forward improvements? …Good Gundamn am I ready to do it all again! Call it a guilty pleasure, if you want. I’m not here to excuse myself. Take this old adage to heart if it helps you understand: I likes what I likes.

This summer brings Dynasty Warriors: Gundam Reborn, the fourth installment in Japan’s Gundam Musou series, to Western shores. Not without some shake-up’s in its release format, be warned. Gundam Reborn is dropping exclusively for the PS3 – no Xbox 360 counterpart this time – and it will only be made available as a downloadable title on PSN.

The fact that anything Gundam doesn’t find the same widespread appeal stateside as it does in Japan probably explains why we’re not getting a physical release (North America, after all, has far less to-scale Mobile Suit replicas dotting our parks than Japan does). Worse news hits the handheld community, as the PS Vita version of the game, including its cross-play functionality, is not being ported overseas.

If, however, you’re in the qualifying bracket to attain the game, the good news is that you can expect to man over 100 Mobile Suits along with the ability, for the first time ever, to pilot gigantic Mobile Armors. It’s a mecha wet dream turned wet reality.

The returning Official Mode centers on the Universal Century timeline, which spills across the continuity of eight different Gundam animes and features actual footage from the shows. Ultimate Mode, however, is a cross-dimensional free-for-all that sees you hacking through mechanical hordes using a mixed stable of Gundams from every timeline. But it just ain’t a mobile infantry without friends, though. Fans can also expect split-screen and online co-op to make a return.

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam Reborn for PS3 will release digitally in the Summer while Europe can expect both retail and downloadable copies near the same time.

Strider Releases This Month

Double Helix and Capcom’s downloadable reboot of Strider, the classic tale of a man and his violent hatred of things that stop him from moving on one side of the screen to the other, comes out this February.

PS3 and PS4 users can find Mr. Hiryu on PSN Feb. 18th, while both Xbox versions (current-gen and next-gen) as well as the PC release can be purchased Feb. 19th. The retro revival will cost you $14.99.

Two new modes make the cut, too, including “Beacon Run” – where you’ll make speed runs across levels while dicing foes – and “Survival Mode” – in which waves of enemies barrel your way as you utilize an assortment of weapons and items to end them.

More than that, it’s been revealed that you can locate alternate costumes throughout the game, giving you access to new customization options. You’re morbidly peeling these clothes off of dead Striders, but the cost of fashion has always been high.

Slender Man Arriving on PSN and XBL

Watch your back, folks. Something awful is coming to PS3 and Xbox 360. Did you see what I did there? Something awf– Nevermind. I only just Googled it myself.

Sequel to the indie horror sensation, Slender: The Eight Pages, Blue Isle Studios’ Slender: The Arrival is being ported to PSN and XBL. No mere copy and paste here, though; the console edition is being packaged with two brand new chapters, pitting players as previous victims of The Slender Man (spoiler: they fucking die).

The port is being published by Midnight City, an experimental branch of Majesco Games that allows indie developers to keep their independent label while Midnight handles public relations, marketing, community management, and a whole host of other duties that cramp a micro-dev’s style.

Oh, and PC People. Rest assured that The Arrival’s extra content ain’t console exclusive – the additional chapters will be made available for the PC version once the console edition is released later this year. So everybody gets to brown their pants in unison.