More AM Show 2008 Clips...

This year's Amusement Show is still going on at Japan now...



Here's the latest trailer for Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, which is now coming to the Wii at Japan at the end of the year along with the arcade release. The latest additions to the roster are Tatsunoko badsss swordman Karas and Lost Planet's PTX-40A Vital Suit.



King of Fighters XII is another big hitter at the show and this new entry looks amazing (perhaps the best looking fighter now and it is still in an early state). This game is out next year on arcades and consoles (PS3/360). Expect this to give Street Fighter IV some competition for your quarters soon along with Tekken 6 BR.

Burnout Paradise Bikes DLC Hands-On

So the Bikes Pack for Burnout Paradise came out today on both PS3 and 360 for free adding more ways to mess around Paradise City. You start out with 2 bikes and 2 more are unlockable by beating burning and midnight routes with them (those 2 are basically upgraded versions of the default bikes). As for how they handle, they control fine with no boost and less traffic to worry about. Since this is not something like Motorstorm where the rider flies out after a crash, crashing is a simple reset to the game not seeing the rider flying like crazy (I think its not Criterion's style anyway). There is enough content contained in this DLC from more single player events, new road rule times for the bikes themselves, and more freeburn online challenges designed specifically for the bikes that could take a few hours to beat. The burning / midnight routes are pretty easy for the bikes (if u choose the faster Firehawk) as you're given a lot of time to beat them (even the Road Rules as well). I haven't messed around online with the bikes yet, which I'll do that tomorrow along with finishing the game since I'm already 3/4 done with it after four hours.

The other big feature in this Bikes update is the day / night cycle to Paradise City, which works well to the game as gameplay reflects pending on time of day. As for a 24 hour day in the game's timeframe, it takes nearly about a hour for it to pass, but it can be customized for quicker days. The sky itself changes throughout the day from sunny days, some fog, or being cloudy. Graphically, this game looks better with dusk and dawn skies along with nighttime. When darkness comes, traffic is barely in meaning you can cruise around with the bikes as a madman allowing more opportunities to do long wheelies. With traffic not being that much of a distraction, the night visibility itself can be one at times, especially playing while the sun is up.


So far, I'm really enjoying this Bikes update to Burnout Paradise. It is another reason why this game is still awesome today while Criterion continues to release big updates like this for free (The new island DLC should be out this fall). The Paradise Awards adds more replay value to the pack as well being "in-game achievements" (No trophies or achievements were added yet to the console versions). Simply, the bikes themselves are fun enough to drive with even though the single-player events are only burning routes, so no races against AI opponents unless you're online against human competition. If the Cagney update wasn't enough for anyone to go back to Paradise City, this Bikes pack is worth a return trip with hours of content to mess around.