Skepticism toward a fighting game with characters culled from other genres and mediums is perfectly natural. For every praiseworthy effort like Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, there seems to be an equal number of mediocre cash-ins ...

Seemingly, the Disgaea franchise has caught itself in Prinny-borne predicament. Nippon Ichi Software president Souhei Niikawa avowed to broaden the size of the strategy role-playing game’s audience. But attracting new fans is difficult without tampering ...

Omega Force’s musou games have a contentious reputation, with critics and consumers often finding fault in the repetition of combat, a rigid adherence to formula, and the excessive frequency of release. While the latter culpability ...

With the next installment in the Rock Band franchise is poised to please fans of the music rhythm genre, those with more eclectic tastes are bound to enjoy several of this week’s new game releases. ...

In 1991, Capcom released Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, forming an indelible blueprint for fighting games. Teeming with innovation, many of the game’s mechanics became convention, bequeathing elaborate combos, an intricate multi-button input system, ...

During the Xbox 360’s reign, Microsoft was only able to shift about 1.6 million consoles in Japan, a small fraction of the unit’s nearly eighty million worldwide sales. But despite the middling numbers, Japanese developers ...

What is the concept? From Raiden’s snaking plasma-beam to Ikaruga’s polarity switching mechanic, any respectable shmup has a distinctive hook. For Solar Shifter EX, a recent PC release from the one-man studio behind Meridian: New ...

In 2011, when developer Toys for Bob released Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure, the concept of fusing physical toys with video game was innovative. For many, being able to place a figurine on the bundled “Power of ...

The release of two NBA titles, an entry in the lapsed Tony Hawk franchise, and LEGO’s initiation into the RFID-driven “toys-to-life” genre dominate this week’s schedule of new game releases. While these heavy hitters are ...

With early rhythm games, representation was obvious. Dance Dance Revolution duped players into boogying atop a set of neon-lit panels, mimicking the energetic gyrations found in dance clubs. Similarly, GuitarFreaks, DrumMania, and Keyboardmania simulated musical ...