Mafia II features Vito Scaletta in the lead with childhood friend Joe along for the ride and is set in the 1950s.  Fans of The Godfather films or Goodfellas will feel right at home as the look of the city, the sounds of the people and the music of the environment has all been meticulously included.  At first glance you’ll mistake the game for a ‘sandbox’ but it is mostly story-driven with a minor cosmetic alternative option sprinkled here and there.

The game’s  engine allows you to fight hand-to-hand, take cover behind cars and walls and drive through the city.  Driving is a large part of the game – in fact you’ll spend the majority of time inside your car or watching cut scenes.  The cut scenes help progress the story and develop the characters but six chapters into the game meant a TON of driving thus far.  A good old fashion shoot out or brawl were the best parts of the game but they were vastly spread out between driving from one location to the next.

Mafia II will appeal to those looking to immerse themselves in the 1950s as an upcoming Mafia hit man.  Car aficionados and fans of the music from that era will enjoy the time devoted to making this game.   If you are looking to leap into a sandbox-like game with guns a’blazing then Mafia II will not wet your appetite.

For more info on Mafia II visit: http://www.2kgames.com

The Gundemonium Collection is compromised of three separate games all developed by Platine Depositif.  It’s only fair I talk a little about each game and my over all impressions of the collection itself.  First and foremost, the art throughout each of the titles really stands out.  The backgrounds are good but what really stands out is the character art.  If you’re an Anime fan you’ll definitely appreciate the art.  Now, if you’ve ever played a shmup before then you’ll understand how frustrating it can be when you die after one hit.  Hitogata Happa is an exception to this rule because it allows you to be hit a few times before you die and even then the game has its own spin.

The first game you’ll probably end up playing is Gundemonium Recollection. It takes place in an alternate 18th century universe where mankind has discovered 6  Philosophers Stones which have revolutionized Alchemy but they came with a price.  Now, mankind is at war with an army from the very same place where the stones were discovered.  The game-play is pretty straight forward.  You move around dodging your enemies bullets while at the same time shooting and destroying as many of them as you can.  You get three types of attacks:  standard attack, a special attack based on how much mana you have and a bomb.

The second game you’ll end up playing will be Gundeadligne.  It takes place ten years after the original story and plays pretty much the same as the previous game except you get to choose what you want your third attack to be at the beginning.  This also happens to be the only one of the three games that supports co-op play.

And finally we get to my favorite game in this collection and that is Hitagata Happa.  The story for this game takes place years before the first two games and revolves around a girl named Rosa who controls deadly flying dolls created by Kreutzer.  Each of the dolls has its own ability that you can use once you fill up the Flowmax gauge.  When you use that ability the doll dies.  The game can be pretty hard at first but once you get the hang of it it becomes a lot of fun.

If this is your first introduction to the world of shmups don’t hesitate to pick up this collection.  If you have to choose between any of these three titles go for Hitagata Happa.  Unless you want co-op in which case Gundeadligne is the way to go.  One added bonus to this collection is that it gives you the option to save a replay of each stage you complete and you can upload it to You Tube for the world to see.  You can pick up the collection for your PC or download it from the PlayStation  Network.

Some things that stood out during our demo – phrases like ‘sandbox mode’ where you create your characters and environment and the ‘campaign story’ which will take you all over the terrain.  There is also a community aspect of the game which involves new technology developed by Stardock called ‘Impulse Reactor‘ which is an in-game skin interface.  The player may choose to battle and conquer or make treaties to advance in the game.  Elemental is for the HARDCORE strategist gamer – this would be a difficult title for casual gamers to latch onto.

The graphics of Elemental stand out – in fact we inquired about using the game to replicate a ‘machinima-like’ animation.  It turns out this is a complete possibility and within minutes we were able to fly a camera through a scene of two dragon’s interacting in the middle of the village.  The developers at Stardock admit they didn’t develop the game for this reason but we’re always on the look-out for other ways to make games even more fun!

Check out more from Elemental – War of Magic from Stardock here:
http://www.elementalgame.com

In ‘Dance Battle’ the song is broken up into sections where two players switch off at different parts of the song trying their best to keep up with the music and Kinect motion sensor for the Xbox 360.  If you are playing in the standard ‘Perform It” mode then other players can dance alongside of you but the Kinect sensor only registers the person in the center.

We brought COIN-OP TV correspondent Erin Darling along to dance the afternoon away as you’ll see in this video clip below.  Dance Central is certainly one of the biggest Kinect titles getting buzz.  Harmonix admits that they are on the forefront of this new technology and pushing things as new Kinect abilities unfold.

If you are considering buying Dance Central – remember that this title, like other Kinect games, requires a good amount of room so that the camera can see from your head to your toe.  If space is an issue then you may consider other options but if your living room is large enough then be ready to work out and get down with Dance Central this holiday season.

More on Dance Central here: http://www.dancecentral.com

Konami

DanceDanceRevolution Wii was also part of the party – which doesn’t have the same caliber of graphics as the PS3 title but appears to maintain the fun.  Finally, tucked away in the corner, was DanceMasters, which uses the Kinect from Microsoft’s Xbox 360.  We never got a chance to try DanceMasters for ourselves due to the crowds of people lined up but from a distance it looks like healthy competition for Dance Central from MTV Games/Harmonix.

The atmosphere at the party was relaxed with people there from all ages and excitement levels.  No VIP room for media journos made it tough to see games close-up but this event was more about fan appreciation.  There was a bar with drinks, snacks and a full size DDR arcade where the kids were showing off their moves.  No celebrities in attendance but DDR’s creator Naoki Maeda was available for photos and eventually took over the tunes when he doubled as the DJ.

For more info check out – http://www.konami.com

Positive things about the show – the personalities in season 1 were great. Each episode had enough ‘fun’ to them even though they were all on the ‘silly’ side. Since COIN-OP TV seeks out the top professional gamers it was only natural that half the cast had appeared as guests on the show over the years including: Starslay3r, sWooZ1e, Alyson and Prod1gy X.

Season 2 contains only two former COIN-OP TV guests in Justin Wong and Yaz aka ‘Cl0wn’.  Hosts Joel and Hannah are back calling the shots – let’s hope this time around they are less stiff and more playful.  The big question is, will we see any PC games in the mix?  We know that Nintendo will participate this time around in Wii Kart.  According to the trailer (see below) we should also expect to witness Tekken 6, NHL 10, Forza 3 and Battlefield.  Will Super Street Fighter IV make an appearance? If so, you can count on Justin Wong coming away with a victory.  Should any PC shooters pop up? Count on Yaz to get the most ‘head shots’.  On a side note – don’t count out female gamers Faye and Vanessa as both have won high level fighting tournaments in the past and are cool under pressure!

WCG Ultimate Gamer – Season 2 premieres Aug 19, 2010 on the SyFy network -
http://wcgultimategamer.com

Link to first wave of photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/robertwelkner/sets/72157624671389768/

The group discussed upcoming video games, reactions to both E3 Expo and the San Diego Comic-Con and also talked highlights on the COIN-OP TV DVD Volume 3 collection.  Be sure to check out more of the show from this awesome team of video game journalists!

Press The Buttons episode 17:
http://www.pressthebuttons.com/2010/08/power-button-episode-17-talking-comiccon-and-e3-with-rob-welkner-of-coinop-tv.html