Japan Gaming Guide

Outrun Online Arcade – 360, PS3

Outrun is one of the few arcade games that can still turn our heads. The latest home version will be distributed over PSN and Live Arcade so we’ll be able to launch ourselves round the feelgood, super-high-speed tracks with nary a disc swap to get in our way.

Street Fighter 4 – 360, PS3

In our opinion the only fighting game where it’s actually worth learning dozens of characters and hundreds of moves is the best fighting game. Here it comes.

Wii Sports Plus – Wii

With an all new upgraded motion sensor on the Wiimote our dreams of semi-realistic swordplay could at last be realized. We’re also looking forward to the jet-skiing, heck even the frisbee flinging might work out alright, it is a Miyamoto game after all.

Heavy Rain – PS3

No-one seems to have any idea what this is about, but that’s half the fun if you ask us. Artistic, French and likely to be highly original.

Bionic Commando

Swinging about and shooting stuff. That’s about all we know. It looks great to us.

The Another World

Anime powerhouse Studio Ghibli makes it’s first foray into the world of videogames. That they’ve waited this long is surely a testament to their unwillingness to do anything unless they’re ready to do it absolutely perfectly. With Level 5 coming off the back of the awesome Professor Layton series, could The Another World finally put JRPGs back at the top of the gaming agenda?

Overlord II

Overlord was a very promising game, and the sequel will hopefully iron out it’s little flaws as well as being a lot more evil than last time. We actually enjoyed the irony of the first game – you were actually a lot less evil than the ‘heroes’ you faced. Irony, unfortunately, doesn’t often translate into those oh so critical U.S. sales, let’s hope the game’s vicious wit isn’t also lost in the quest for dollars.

Ghostbusters

The Spook busting foursome have been away from our screens for a very long time. This game takes place a couple of years after the second movie, and is so far looking very good indeed.

Formula 1 2009 – 360, PS3, Windows

It’s been a while since we saw a truly great F1 game. With Codemasters recent track record (Dirt, Grid), this could change that. The sport itself is going through a fair amount of upheaval. The teams are being forced to standardise the technology – that might translate into tighter races more suited to armchair play than before.

The online potential for an F1 game is obviously huge – playing a full grand prix will be a fantastic experience if all goes well. A decent matchmaking system to separate budding Schumachers from the kiddies driving the wrong way round the track will of course be required.

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