PlayStation News Message Board older than one year ago

JRPG developer Gust is working on yet another addition to its Ar Tonelico series exclusively to the PS3. Like its predecessors, Ar Tonelico III will explore a new music-based battle system, with players able to create custom songs and change background music, according to Siliconera. The initial teaser trailer doesn't reveal much -- beyond showing off some of the characters, it reveals a surprising early 2010 Japanese release for the game.Gust's previous PS3 game, Atelier Rorona, was in full 3D, and we're hoping Ar Tonelico III will follow suit. NIS America has localized both PS2 Ar Toenelico games in the past, so it's likely the third game will also find its way to the publisher some time next year.

Get your minigolf fix on PSN.

Kami Toman gets his rage on over IGN UK's 'controversial' Uncharted 2 review.

Bethesda Softworks has revealed the cover for The Infernal City, the first of two Elder Scrolls books the publisher plans to produce. The novel, written by Greg Keyes, will make its way to store shelves November 24 ... the audio book will only have six voice actors (OK, we made that last part up). Joystiq chat transcript upon seeing the cover:Alexander S.: Question: Where is the water generated from that just flows out of this flying city?Dave H.: A wizard did it.Alexander S.: That's your answer for everything.Ben G.: Yeah, Dave's wrong anyway. A whole bunch of wizards would be required for something like that.Alexander S.: They have a wizard on the "Hamster Wheel of Water Generation."JC F.: How could you even keep the city's inferno going with all that water?Justin M.: It's a water inferno.

Naughty Dog developer accidently confirms new network feature.

In a PlayStation.com Forums thread about the existing Uncharted 2 chat system, a Naughty Dog staffer with the handle "ReklissAbandon" reportedly said that "the next PS3 firmware update is going to allow cross game chat."Currently, that alleged confirmation is "deleted" (presumably by ReklissAbandon), but the text reappears as a quote a couple of posts down the thread. We've got the full quote after the break in case all record of the statement should meet with an unfortunate accident, and we've also reached out to Sony for comment. In the meantime, please temper your excitement over hearing your friends' voices with a bit of healthy skepticism. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Aside from providing a venue for a wonderfully childish gender bending game, PlayStation Home initially failed to offer PlayStation 3 users much of a playground. But the various Home spaces and minigames implemented by third-party developers have changed Sony's thinking, according to platform director Jack Buser: "In the early days when we built Home, we really were building a social network for gamers ... through that, over the last year, it's developed into a game platform, first and foremost."Speaking at a San Francisco meeting -- documented in detail by Gamasutra -- Buser described Home-based games as a "low-risk and high-margin" opportunity for developers. "Home is a high definition environment where you can create extremely polished games but with very rapid development cycles," he explained. "You can have small teams of developers -- a couple of engineers and a few artists -- crank out very sophisticated social gaming experiences in very small amounts of time."Buser also highlighted the value of community input in the "evolution" of Home, though he didn't indicate whether Sony had also stopped listening to that guy in the office who's really into Snow Crash. But even that guy might see the sense in Sony's vision, which is "about social, repeatable, fun, and dynamic games that are always changing and being fun for people." We haven't seen the "killer app" yet (we're still waiting in line), but renovating Home into a social games platform -- even if it's built atop the PS3's actual game platform -- seems like a much better use of all that segmented real estate.

Creat Studios, which has done several PSN titles at this point, will unleash Mushroom Wars on the PS3 this Thursday, October 15. The PixelJunk Monsters-looking RTS has players controlling adorable armies that will slaughter each other in that endless pursuit for control of land, with mushroom bases being the staging ground for the next assault.Some may say Mushroom Wars' premise and cutesy art don't mix, but after watching the Critter Crunch creatures feed each other through rainbow vomit, we don't know if there is a line anymore between cute and disturbing.Gallery: Mushroom Wars (PSN)

We've never really understood the attraction of adding a middleman to the digital distribution sales model. Why would anyone want to purchase a download code for a PSN or XBLA title through a third party, when they could just as easily purchase the same title directly through those services? Now we know the answer to that question -- because occasionally, those vendors will undercut the price of those services' first-party offerings. (Does this qualify as a scenario deserving of an "oh, snap?" We believe so. Oh, snap.) Amazon recently lowered the price of a download code for Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty to $10 -- which is a $5 discount off the game's current price on PSN. We're sure Sony doesn't appreciate being undersold, but Amazon's cheapening of one of the PSN's most robust titles -- and the predecessor to the swiftly approaching A Crack in Time -- is definitely okay in our book. [Via Cheap College Gamers]

Online retailer Amazon is having a "buy two, get the third game free" deal this week - ending this Saturday, October 17 - on select titles. The qualifying selection is impressive, with plenty of worthwhile games, new and old, making the cut. While we're at it, we might as well reiterate that Toys "R" Us is featuring the exact same deal this week. We have no idea if the competing sale is a coincidence, but we're more than happy to take advantage of good deals. Let us know of any notably great finds in the comments. Choose your platform for qualifying titles: [Thanks, Goldenchild; via CheapCollegeGamers]

All-in-one multiplatform development solution now available for licensees.

Hokuto no Ken, it means no worries for the rest of your days ... Koei recently sent over a handful of screenshots from its recently announced video game adaptation of the Fist of the North Star anime series, Hokuto Musou, which is due out in Japan in 2010. Thankfully for those of us who aren't manga aficionados, these screens were accompanied by a brief primer on the series' plot. We won't bore you with the entire premise, but instead offer you this highlight from Koei's description: "Channeling their energy into a single deadly blow, players can strike their victims and cause them to violently explode on screen. Gamers can also let loose with Kenshiro's signature move- a ruthless flurry of ferocious punches, triggering the instantaneous breakdown of internal organs, and death." Yes, please.

Frontier Developments has used the WiiWare platform to deliver two small, but high-quality games: the LostWinds series. However, according to David Braben (and a quick look at the offerings on any console download service) not everyone has taken the same approach. "One of the things that really annoys me," Braben told Develop, "is when people see XBLA, PSN and WiiWare as a dumping ground, in terms of 'you don't need to put the same amount of effort in.'" Instead of a place for shallow games, Braben described the download space as the "short story" of game design. "It's a way to try out a radical idea," he said, "It's a way to try out a radical idea, and quite often a lot of those do become novels later on. What I don't like is the idea that people can scratch one out at the bus stop, which I've overheard at conferences." More CUBELLO, less Frogger 2. Of course, the real takeaway from Braben's article is that you should look around at conferences to see if David Braben is nearby.

Click for more highlights! Dear Download-only Record Holder, You had a good run -- time to move over. Madden NFL Arcade is coming to town. EA has detailed, priced and dated its bite-sized Madden for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. Targeted for the holiday season, Madden Arcade is described as fast-paced, 5-on-5 football. It's a classic backyard scenario -- first to 30; 4 plays per possession; no penalties; no field goals -- draped in NFL glamour. Following in the tradition of EA's 3-on-3 NHL Arcade and its arcade-sports predecessors, Madden Arcade will feature a 'toonish art style, downsized playing field (60 yards) and 13 "Game Changers" (power-ups), including the ability to freeze your opponents, turn off their passing icons, or enlist of an army of lineman to pretty much guarantee a sack. Each match is customizable, too, by altering skill level, points to win and other options, and supports up to 4-player co-op on a single console or 1-vs-1 online. Madden NFL Arcade will be released this December on XBLA (1200) and PSN ($14.99). And shortly thereafter, the game is the odds on favorite to become the best-selling download-only title ever. How's the saying go: Don't hate the player? Hate the ...

Ever wonder how Uncharted protagonist Nathan Drake got so darn pithy? Curious how he developed his Spider-Man-like acrobatic finesse? Want to know how he met up with his cigar-chomping partner in crime, Victor Sullivan? All these questions and more will (probably) be answered in the next piece of Uncharted errata coming from developer Naughty Dog: A motion comic set before the events of the first game, titled Uncharted: Eye of Indra. The project was announced during yesterday's PlayStation.Blog live chat with Naughty Dog's Travis McIntosh and Neil Druckmann. According to them, the motion comic will be voiced by many of the actors from the game series, and focuses on "a prequel story that we eventually cut" from Uncharted 2. We hope the story reaches back far enough to show when Nate's mother taught him how to dress himself in such a slapdash manner.

You know, one day we hope to be as rich as the cats at Mega 64. The troupe's latest video -- an alarming look at one of the PSP Go's lesser-known features (courtesy of IGN) -- shows us just how stacked with loot these guys really are. We're not going to give the ending away, but let's just say the whole thing is a fine way to burn a neat stack of Benjamins. In the end, it's alright -- we bet they got paid a lot more than $300 for their work.Head past the break to check out the video. If you need us, we'll be eating some ramen and freezing to death in our apartment we can't afford to heat.

The subset of people who really want motion control on their PS3s yet refuse to wait for Sony to actually add it is pretty small, but never let it be said that peripheral maker Blaze is willing to leave money on the table. The company has just announced the Motion Freedom 3D controller for the system, and it looks unmistakably like a Wiimote for the PS3. The release promises the "all new device opens up unthinkable gaming possibilities," which we're taking to mean that no one actually thought to make any games for it. Okay, fine, Blaze says it at least works with Sega Tennis and Tiger Woods, but we can't imagine that such a retrofitted solution would be worth investing in before Sony's official offering arrives. [Via Engadget]

Yesterday's announcement that Daxter, God of War: Chains of Olympus and Wii Okami developer Ready at Dawn would be releasing its own game engine was missing something. Specifically: Mention of Nintendo Wii as a supported platform. We found the omission a little odd, considering the studio has done Wii development, so we contacted RAD president Didier Malenfant to find out more."We plan on our newly announced platform to support all console systems," Malenfant told us. OK, that was easy. When asked about the fresh job posting on his company's site seeking "a few additions to our engine team in order to add support for an unannounced console platform," though, he remarked that his previous statement was "about all I can say for now," but that "we will have more engine news soon." We're sure it will be ... rad.

When asked whether or not the Assassin's Creed series would be getting a third installment, Assassin's Creed 2 producer Sébastien Puel thinks the answer almost goes without saying. "I'm often asked if we're doing a third game after ACII... I mean, we could do 35 of these," he (hopefully) exaggerates to Xbox World 360 in the mag's latest issue (via CVG). When the game's creative director told us the second game would be ending with a cliffhanger, we didn't know he meant we'd have to play 35 games to resolve it -- that's approximately 35,000 assassinated fools, by our estimations.Explaining his hyperbole further, Puel admits that a female assassin isn't out of the question, even confirming "We've had discussions on that very topic." Still, the Ubisoft producer doesn't want to switch the protagonist's gender without a good reason. "World War II, the economies in England and France were run by women because the men were off fighting ... we don't want to just decide we want to change and have a female hero, as the first inspiration is always the time period." To read the full interview in its original context, pick up the latest issue of Xbox World 360 (if you're in the UK, that is).

Brian May says there's talk, thinks it could happen.

Let's get this out of the way at the top: No, Sony's Aino phone, which touts limited PS3 Remote Play functionality, can't access any of the PSN or PSP games you may have hoped it would. However, a recent Playstation.Blog post revealed the crosstalk capabilities imbued within the mobile device (which hit store shelves today) -- while it may lack ludo-logical punch, it's packing some impressive multimedia tools. After registering your Aino with your PS3, you'll be able to use your phone to access the XMB, browse the internet, watch any non-DRM'd media on your console, send and receive PSN messages, shop in the PlayStation Store and watch TV shows using the PlayTV service. Best of all, you can use your phone to turn your PS3 on and off, which should prove handy when you attempt to convince your roommate that your entertainment center is haunted.

Wait, wait, wait! Tell us you haven't already purchased Uncharted 2 on this, the day of its release! Oh, you haven't! Great. Why purchase the boring ol' standard edition of the game when you could just as easily purchase the ultra limited Fortune Hunter Edition on eBay. Sure, it's $2,990 more expensive than the regular edition, but it comes with a dagger which will unlock ancient, wondrous portals to treasures untouched by human hands for a millennium. So, you know, the cost should be fairly easy to recoup.

We've got some good news for anyone already feeling just a bit overwhelmed by the impending holiday game season. Toys R Us is running a "Buy 2, Get 1 Free" sale this week for all video games. Even better, the sale also covers accessories and items like Microsoft Points cards. Intrepid NeoGAFers have even uncovered some pre-orders that qualify for the promotion (any Dark Void or Bayonetta fans out there?). The sale ends Saturday, October 17, so hop to it if you're looking to save some cash. [Via Cheap Ass Gamer]

The new game being teased by Koei Tecmo -- the one with the flowers? Um, yeah, it's actually about punching people: As predicted, the game's been revealed by Famitsu as Fist of the North Star Musou (officially, just Hokuto Musou, or North Star Musou) combining Koei's populous Dynasty Warriors series with the venerable manga series, and it's the smartest thing Koei has ever done with the Warriors series since the original idea.The Fist of the North Star franchise follows a martial artist named Kenshiro who wanders around a post-apocalypse Earth, using his "Hokuto Shinken" style to fight gangsters that prey on hapless innocents. Why is this series so perfect for Warriors? Because it's a well-known universe in which it's perfectly believable for one guy to beat up a couple hundred enemies with his bare fists. This license will not require much adapting in the transition to a Warriors game.Hokuto Musou, according to the magazine, will be out sometime next year on both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Koei blends two unlikely franchises.

Ten tips to forge a friendship between her and your console.

Here's one reason why PSP minis are more expensive than their iPhone counterparts: the ESRB. Sony doesn't enforce any control over the pricing of minis, but they do mandate getting approval from the ESRB ratings board. That, apparently, has been a significant hidden cost some developers didn't expect. "You have to invest some money into dev kits and into getting ratings for your game. The costs of ratings such us ESRB is significantly more then we had realized," Fieldrunners developer Sergei Gourski told Gamasutra. According to a posting at GameDev.net, the cost of getting an approval is $2,500. [Update: The ESRB responded to our story, correcting the price. "ESRB has a reduced fee of $800 for games that have development costs under $250,000, which would likely apply to virtually all PSP Minis."] Content developed for the iPhone doesn't need to go through the ratings board, an oversight which, surprisingly, has yet to attract a media call-to-arms. Should the ESRB succeed in courting Apple as the defacto ratings system for the iPhone, the high cost of approval should curtail one of the largest problems facing the iPhone store today: having too much content, a sentiment shared by Minigore developer Kimmo Vihola. Vihola noted that "[Apple's] process is starting to crack from the seams," and pointed out that Sony's turnaround time on minis is much faster than Apple's store. Sony takes three to five days for approval, while Apple varies "from a couple of days to up to six weeks."

click for Savage Moon: The Hera Campaign gallery Usually, when games head to a mobile platform from a home console they, by necessity, tend to get pared down. But it sounds like just the opposite is happening with the PSP version of PSN tower defense game Savage Moon. For The Hera Campaign, you'll now additionally have the option to access the Tactical Layer, a zoomed out view of the action that casts you as the Supreme Commander of the armada, deciding how and where resources will be used in the humans' fight against the Insectocytes. If you're interested in the plot of the new campaign (incomprehensible to the Savage Moon neophytes among us) you're gonna need to read for yourself.

In an interview with The Washington Post's Mike Musgrove, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime handily dismissed the DS's competition, suggesting either that he doesn't feel threatened at all, or he feels really threatened (and the history of DS sales makes us more likely to believe the former interpretation). He said that the newly launched, download-only PSP Go has a "fundamental concept problem in terms of 'Who's it for?' and 'What's the benefit?'" He added that he has the "utmost respect for all our competitors, but it's interesting to try and answer the consumer question of 'What's in it for me?' in that product."As for the other major competition in the handheld space? When discussing the DS's advantages over the iPhone/iPod Touch platform, Fils-Aime made the surprising move of referring to a third-party game, namely Scribblenauts. "That's a fabulous experience that can only be brought to life on the DS." Honestly, it probably could be done on iPhone, but it hasn't and probably won't, which is just as good for Nintendo.

Man, this watch is really hard to read! Choose your platform to jump to a specific release list: Last updated: Monday, 10:49 AM