Archive for June 20th, 2008
Filed under: News
Not sure whether to drop that five bucks (or three quid) on the new Hot Shots Golf course or not? A new preview on the PlayStation.Blog might help you make up your mind. Technically, you already have the new Oceania Resort Course, as it’s included in the latest game patch. You simply need to unlock it with the key, which is on the PSN Store right now.
The course is promised to be one of the most difficult yet, and includes many features of the Australian outback, including kangeroos, alligators and … giant lobsters? There will be official tournaments coming up especially for the Oceania course, which we should hear about before too long. If you want to see more images of the course, be sure to check out the preview post over at the PlayStation.Blog.
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Continue Reading June 20th, 2008
Filed under: News, Video
When we heard about the Speaker Channel that would allow Band Brothers DX players to share tracks with one another, we were immediately smitten with the title, even if we knew in the back of our mind that we’d probably never get to play it. Regardless of the end product’s quality, strives such as this set precedents for others to utilize the DS and Wii together in interesting fashions.
Now, we can view the Channel in action, courtesy of the video uploaded over at the Touch DS site. We’d like to embed it, but, alas, we cannot. So, head on over and give it a look.
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Continue Reading June 20th, 2008
Filed under: How-tos
Have you thought about making a custom PSP theme? But, maybe you don’t know where to start. Or perhaps you’re scared by all the work that goes into it. Sony’s official PSP theme guide won’t make it any less work to create a theme, but it will give you all the tools mandatory to make your own PSP themes. The images mandatory require precise specifications, so make sure you follow all the instructions.
The theme program offered is available here (Windows only).
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Continue Reading June 20th, 2008
Filed under: Accessories
The case : cartridge size ratio for DS games is like 300 : 1. You could fit a huge pile of the tiny games inside a single case, but then there’s a grand total of one secure slot. A bit of overkill for the cases, then, but the awesome boxart on most games needs to be acknowledged — so no smaller, please.
abandon it to the rest of us to solve this problem, Nintendo. A handy little uber-case has been found, and you can secure 16 DS carts inside with ease. It comes in clear, pink or black, and retails for around eight dollars. Much better price than some other accessories. Check out some more images after the break, and head to the official accessory page for extra goodies.
It’s settled, then. You’ll have your clever stack of DS games all lined up affable and pretty, so visitors will accomplish how cool you are when they drop by. Little do they know, the cartridges will be stored safely in your bag! Find a mega-case and get efficient, because Nintendo wants you to. Alternatively, check out the best of our collection and try to one-up those wacky devices with your own DIY concoction.
Continue reading 16-in-1 DS case is accountingly efficient
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Continue Reading June 20th, 2008
Filed under: News
Earlier in the week, PlayStation Lifestyle reported a rumor that Resident Evil 5 would be a Xbox 360 timed exclusive. Thankfully, they turned out to be wrong. According to Capcom’s Sven, “the assertion is false. RE5 is a multiplatform release that fits with our oft-stated crossplatform strategy.” It was an easy rumor to start, as many PlayStation fans are still acrid about Capcom’s treatment of the PS3: the loss of Devil May Cry exclusivity, the lack of a proper Dead Rising port, and the loss of a Monster Hunter game for the PS3.
Thankfully, this is one of the rumors that has quickly bit the dust. Resident Evil 5 will launch simultaneously on both PS3 and Xbox 360 … some time.
[Via X3F]
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Filed under: Friday video
The Arkanoid series appears to be fairly abstract. The paddle and blocks can’t be anything other than gameplay elements, right? The Tetris blocks don’t represent animals or anything, and Arkanoid is the same kind of non-narrative puzzle-action experience.
Except it isn’t. One of the things that elevates Arkanoid beyond other Breakout clones is its ridiculous sci-fi storyline, which pits a cylindrical spaceship called the Vaus against barriers put up by the evil Doh, who is a giant moai. The Vaus’s primary weapon is … a giant ball that the crew bounces off of the ship’s own body. The spacefaring backdrop makes the game a lot more enjoyable — especially once you accomplish that your every action jostles the crew of a spaceship as if they were in a giant cocktail shaker.
For an example of the kind of epic narrative featured in the series (which, to an extent, is also found in Arkanoid DS), we’ve chosen to present the ending from the Super NES Arkanoid: Doh it Again.
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Continue Reading June 20th, 2008
Filed under: News
When magazines compete, you win. EGM may have secured the exclusive cover story on Killzone 2, but GamePro has the details on the other big PS3 FPS game, Resistance 2. Insomiac’s 60-player FPS promises a new epic story, and an almost mind-numbing amount of multiplayer functionality. GamePro isn’t just content with providing a preview and tons of juicy hype text (”Better than Halo. Bigger than Call of Duty” is proudly featured on the cover). No, they’re going to do much more than that. They’re giving away free codes to the Resistance 2 beta. Not every issue will be a winner, but this is the first opportunity the general public will have at getting into the beta. We’re sure other methods of entry will pop up (Qore, anyone?). But for those that cannot resist, the next issue of GamePro is one to look out for.
[Thanks, Ether02!]
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Continue Reading June 20th, 2008
Filed under: Another Week in …
Just as we were starting to get comfortable with the DS coming in third consistently on the Japanese hardware charts, Metal Gear Solid 4 came out and helped push our favorite handheld down to fourth. Fourth! Meaning, it only did better than the PS2 and 360. Snaaaaaaaaaaaaaaake!
DS hardware did get a little boost, though, despite the fact that not much new software made its way into the charts:
- Playstation 3: 75,311 (
64,455)
- PSP: 64,675 (2,659)
- Wii: 45,564 (925)
- Nintendo DS: 39,201 (4,181)
- PlayStation 2: 7,297 (1,018)
- Xbox 360: 2,163 (
117)
There were some surprises this week, as Let’s Make a Pro Baseball Team! found itself back in the top thirty (so did Pokémon Diamond). But, you can just see all the hot software action for yourself after the break.
Continue reading Another Week in Japan: Hardware and software numbers 6/9-6/15
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Continue Reading June 20th, 2008
Filed under: Reviews, Features
You might believe that the gaming industry’s only fairy tales are those enjoyed by fictional characters, dashing heroes and beautiful damsels whose stories are coded and animated by passionate men and women who craft their interactive tale for generations of interactive “readers” to enjoy. If you were to believe that, you would be wrong. Sometimes, amid exhaustive crunch cycles, harrowing milestone deadlines, and devious metascores, true love — and a passion for gaming — does conquer all.
“The couple that created N, Mare Sheppard and Raigan Burns, founded Metanet [Software] in 2001,” said N+ producer David Geudelekian. We were kicked back on adjacent sofas in the 18th floor Aster Suite of the St. Regis hotel in San Francisco, California. David leaned back and folded his hands behind his head as he continued relaying his favorite modern day fairy tale. “They graduated college together in Canada, fell in love, and decided to make games for the rest of their lives. They’re living that dream. They’re indie darlings, releasing their games for free. They have a business model that will turn their games into bigger allot portable games. They’re doing it for fun, and they’re doing it for themselves.”
He sighed. “It’s a fantastic story.”
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Filed under: Interviews
In an interview with Pocket Gamer, game designer Ben Everett and publisher Empire’s product manager Rob Lightbody went into detail about their remake of the classic game Pipe Mania (also known as Pipe Dream) on the PSP. The original game, with a simple premise of keeping a usually green liquid (officially known as Flooze) oozing through a list of different pipes of the player’s choosing until the next level, has been ported to many systems over the years. The remake will feature new game modes, slightly reduced difficulty, a “leak-meter” to allow you a chance to repair the pipe, different types of Flooze, new characters, “electricity” and uniquely for the PSP, a versus mode.
However, we feel the most interesting aspect are the positive things they had to say about the PSP. Lightbody states that he has had “positive experiences” with the PSP, and they are also pleased with the sales of Jackass: The Game and FlatOut. Lightbody also states that respectable software sales are possible even in mainland European territories with a smaller PSP install base but it just requires “a little more of a focused effort.” Look for this nostalgic remake coming to you from the PSP-friendly publisher in “mid-September.”
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