Portable versions of fighting games have a long and storied history of using alternate control schemes, although it's primarily been more out of necessity than for the sake of innovation. These days, however, modern handheld systems (like Sony's upcoming Vita) offer just as much input dexterity as their shelf-based counterparts, if not more so, to the point where developers are able to expand and experiment with their control paradigms.

The Vita port of Marvel vs. Capcom 3, for example, makes use of both the device's touch screen and its rear capacitive touch panel for movement and attacks. Moving your finger horizontally along the back panel moves your character left or right, moving it down makes them duck and moving it up makes them jump. Attacks are initiated by tapping the screen, and hyper-combos are triggered by tapping... (Continue Reading...)

"It's something completely different that we're crafting," Irrational Games boss Ken Levine tells me as I press him for details on BioShock for the PlayStation Vita. Levine revealed during Sony's media briefing at E3 2011 (pictured) that the new handheld would be home to a unique experience set in the BioShock universe.

"It's not BioShock Infinite ported to the Vita," he reiterates.

Moments earlier, Levine highlighted a point of frustration that comes with making announcements. While happy to discuss BioShock Infinite's October 16 release date, his Twitter feed immediately filled with questions about the "next thing, or the 'Collector's Edition,' or the Vita game." And here I am, falling into the same trap as his Twitter followers -- asking new questions... (Continue Reading...)


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46