Archive for July 30th, 2008
Filed under: Video
Both veteran Disgaea fans and new fans who want to experience the series for the first time are getting ready for the release of Disgaea DS. The strategizing won’t begin until September 23rd, but until then, it’s a good idea for us to know exactly what we’re getting into by observing some gameplay action.
We think that the presentation is pretty affable on the DS, and although the graphics may have toned down in the translation, the visuals aren’t wanting for anything. As for the gameplay, Disgaea virgins will notice from the videos that while the grid-based style is familiar, the actual execution differs from many other strategy games.
Come September, we’re ready to sacrifice hundreds of hours of our lives playing this title. Are you with us?
More battle footage lies after the break!
Continue reading Get a glimpse of Disgaea DS
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Continue Reading July 30th, 2008
Filed under: Mac, PC, Action, Online
This week’s GameTap update un-Disney-fies fairy tales with the addition of American McGee’s Grimm. Play as the crude title character in the first set of eight episodes over the coming weeks (schedule posted after the break). The game buffet also adds one other title for subscribers this week. Remember, the first episode of Grimm is free to play for all and all future episodes are free for the first 24 hours after release.
- Grimm (Windows) - One angry dwarf is bringing everything back to basics.
- Alien Stars (Windows) - A top-down shmup. So, pew, pew-pew, pew, pew-pew-pew, away.
Grimm is this week’s addition to the GameTap gratis lineup. The full list of free ad-supported titles on the service can be found after the break.
Continue reading GameTap Thursday: Grimm and Alien Stars
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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/
Continue Reading July 30th, 2008
Filed under: News
The start made by Dragon Quest V: Hand of a Heavenly Bride in Japan is hardly going to deter Square Enix from releasing more remakes (which we’re completely fine with, by the way). Famitsu is reporting that the title has already burst through the million units sold mark, a meager thirteen days after it first appeared on Japanese store shelves. You won’t be surprised to hear that it’s currently creaming everything else in the charts over there.
If a remake of a sixteen-year-old Dragon Quest SNES game can hit seven figures inside its opening fortnight, then perhaps Dragon Quest IX really can reach Yoichi Wada’s lofty expectations … and then some.
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Continue Reading July 30th, 2008
Filed under: Trophies
The first game to launch with trophies is almost here. Finally! This stylishly addictive puzzle/platformer/rhythm game will be available on the PSN Store in the US and Japan tomorrow. No word on Europe, but fingers crossed. We thought you might like to take a peek at the trophy list, in preparation for the game’s release.
There’s a distinct lack of gold trophies in PixelJunk Eden, but plenty of bronzes to get stuck into. Here’s the official trophy list for the game:
Bronze Trophies
- All Seeds 01 - Open all seeds in garden 01
- All Seeds 02 - Open all seeds in garden 02
- All Seeds 03 - Open all seeds in garden 03
- All Seeds 04 - Open all seeds in garden 04
- All Seeds 05 - Open all seeds in garden 05
- All Seeds 06 - Open all seeds in garden 06
- All Seeds 07 - Open all seeds in garden 07
- All Seeds 08 - Open all seeds in garden 08
- All Seeds 09 - Open all seeds in garden 09
- All Seeds 10 - Open all seeds in garden 10
- All Gardens Clear - Get a Spectra in each garden
- Combo Ten - Pollen Prowler combo x 10
- Combo Fifteen - Pollen Prowler combo x 15
- The Hundred Thousander - Get 100,000 pollen in one garden
- 500 Dead Pollen Prowlers - 500 Pollen Prowlers killed
- Ten Minute Grimp - Get all 5 Spectra from a garden within 10 minutes
- Fifteen Crystals - Get fifteen crystals in a single jump
- Zero Wasted Pollen - Open all seeds in a garden without missing any pollen
- Three Play Ping Pong - In 3p mode, trapeze jump between two swinging Grimps
Silver Trophies
- All Spectra Found - Get all the Spectra in all gardens
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Continue Reading July 30th, 2008
Filed under: News
Nintendo has to be a short step away from building an evil fortress in a volcano, because now they have super villain money. Like, the kind of money Dr. Doom could use to take over the entire world. Good thing Nintendo isn’t evil and just wants us to play games.
During Q1 of this year, Nintendo earned nearly 1 billion dollars (107.2 billion yen). We can only imagine how many Deathstars that could build. Hardware sales showed the DS at 6.94 million units (which was down from 6.98 million year-over-year), bringing lifetime DS sales to 77.54 million units. As for DS software, sales were up, increasing by 2.33 million units to 36.59 million. With this delicate dip in DS hardware sales, some analysts are showing concern.
Hiroshi Kamide, an analyst at KBC Securities Japan, commented to the AFP in Tokyo that “for the first time, we’ve actually seen DS hardware sales fall year-on-year. The DS has hit a bit of a high-water mark.” If the opinions of gaming bloggers count for anything, we’re going to go on the record and state that we aren’t worried in the least. With a Grand Theft Auto game coming to the DS, along with the DS just being awesome overall, we think the handheld still has a fighting chance.
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Continue Reading July 30th, 2008
Filed under: News
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue expands this Friday, August 1st with a fairly large content patch. Not only will the patch bring the first load of GTTV content, but also a few gameplay enhancements and fixes. A full list of GTTV videos is available on the official site and will be constantly updated as more is added.
At the moment there’s plenty to choose from, from season 6 of Top Gear (a must see) to Japan’s Super GT and a “video magazine” called Video Option. For the first two weeks all paid-for content will be at the reduced price of $0.99, letting you trial the content for a little while for half price.
The patch also adds “fixes in penalty judgments, more tire choices for Time Trial and improved physics during collisions between cars during online races.” Sounds like a pretty hefty update. Not bad for a free patch, right? Check the PlayStation Blog post for more info.
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Continue Reading July 30th, 2008
Filed under: News, Homebrew, Imports
Chalk this one up to “we saw this coming,” but the troubled waters that flash carts have found themselves in has led to an increase in R4 sales.
Nintendo and fifty-three other companies are filing a suit against retailers selling flash carts, demanding that they stop the sales and imports of said cards. According to Kotaku, Japanese retailers in Akihabara are noticing a difference in demand for flash cards already. Regarding the R4, one staffer noted, “The rush in demand has been amazing. These devices always sell well. But this weekend should be staggering, don’t you think?” Amazon.jp has also seen a rise in cart sales, which is to be expected.
We’re sure Nintendo foresaw the immediate panic following the company’s announcement, and that’s the risk they decided to take — watching things get worse before they get better. If Nintendo and the others win the suit, though, it will likely be worth their while in the end.
[Thanks, supa_s!]
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Continue Reading July 30th, 2008
Filed under: News
var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/xbox/Wal_Mart_selling_60GB_Xbox_360_early’; Apparently not wanting Target to steal all the limelight, it looks like Wal-Mart is now selling the 60GB Xbox 360 Pro console ahead of its August launch. The info comes from X3F tipster Gerald, who snapped the above image — note the 60GB portion of the box we’ve enlarged at lower right — at his local Wal-Mart in Roanoke, Virginia, where he says there are currently four 60GB consoles in stock. Looks like would-be early adopters have a new place to look. If you’ve seen the 60GB console in your local Wal-Mart (or anywhere else) let us know in the comments.
[Thanks, Gerald!]
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Continue Reading July 30th, 2008
Filed under: News, Xbox Live Arcade
It might be a little too early to breathe a sigh of relief, but things could be looking up for Castle Crashers and Braid. Both were recently listed on the official Japanese Xbox 360 blog for the relatively high prices of 1800 ($22.50) and 1200 ($15.00) points respectively. According to Shacknews, Microsoft has denied these prices, noting that they are “incorrect for both domestic and international markets.” Microsoft adds that the official prices will be revealed on the Mondays before Braid and Castle Crashers release dates, which are August 4 and 25 respectively.
You can all put your torches and pitchforks away … for now.
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Continue Reading July 30th, 2008
Filed under: News
Scares are, not surprisingly, a vital part of any survival horror game. The latest developer diary for Dead Space is all about scary moments, and the devs at EA Redwood Shores want to assure us all that the game will be full of ‘em. The developers spend time talking about exactly what makes a scary moment scary and furthermore how Dead Space will go about utilizing them. It’s kind of hard to be scared by the game when we’re not actually playing it, but at least the dev diary gives us an idea of what to expect. It doesn’t hurt that the game looks beautiful either.
If you still need convincing, check out our hands-on impressions of the game from E3.
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Continue Reading July 30th, 2008
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