All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Speaking at Austin GDC, Justin Cooney from Sony Computer Entertainment spoke about the upcoming PSP minis program to a crowd of developers eager to start creating games and applications for the system. They promise an extremely fast process to get onto the PlayStation Network: no stage one or two approvals, and very light Q&A. They're hoping to average three to five days for approvals, which contrasts with up to two weeks for normal-sized PSP games.The minis program is also fairly limited. You can't develop network or online features for it (goodbye multiplayer), it doesn't support DLC, and you can't use it to work with peripherals. Developers will also have to have their game approved by the ESRB, which costs money. You can also release your titles in all three territories, but you need to sign agreements with each territory (North America, Japan, Europe) in order to do so.Sony is definitely taking an iPhone App Store approach to this process, and Cooney himself dropped the iPhone name a few times. We're wondering if they've considered that there are over 20k games now on the App Store, and if they've prepared themselves for the onslaught and how they'll be devoting a lot of time to minis approvals. So, look for PSPFart to be available for download sometime soon.

Sega and Red Entertainment's Sakura Wars series has enjoyed great popularity in Japan (witness the Sakura Wars Dreamcast system), but despite that success, it's never been localized. It seemed that non-importers would never get to try the long-running strategy RPG series, until NIS America announced plans to localize Sakura Wars V as Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love on Wii and PS2.It is the novelty of a Sakura Wars game in America, along with the appeal of a mech game set in an alternate 1920s NYC, that sustained us through this trailer (after the break), despite the voice acting. Don't worry, the game will include both English and Japanese!

Next week's release of Halo 3: ODST extends the New Mombasa conflict, which first started in Halo 2. Aside from doing your homework on Firefight mode and the campaign, you may also want to prepare your ears for the audio assault they're about to undertake by listening to the Halo 3: ODSTOST. AOL Radio has the goods on its Video Game Scores station, though you'll have to put up with non-ODST tracks between the good stuff. We just wish Sgt. Johnson was deejaying the station, but beggars can't be choosers, can they?

Sega and Red Entertainment's Sakura Wars series has enjoyed great popularity in Japan (witness the Sakura Wars Dreamcast system), but despite that success, it's never been localized. It seemed that non-importers would never get to try the long-running strategy RPG series, until NIS America announced plans to localize Sakura Wars V as Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love on Wii and PS2.It is the novelty of a Sakura Wars game in America, along with the appeal of a mech game set in an alternate 1920s NYC, that sustained us through this trailer (after the break), despite the voice acting. Don't worry, the game will include both English and Japanese!

Infiltrate, attack and defend in this competitive trailer.

I’ve been seeing this one a lot lately… If the Triforce is on every dollar bill, you would think that we’d get a little more value for them than 4 quarters worth!

There is a spy amongst the Spyborgs.

Make a run for the border with some killer gear!

The image above, posted by Kotaku, appears to be a Target ad for the week of September 27, featuring a $50 price drop on Wii hardware. This ad would further corroborate the Toys R Us ad we saw that also showed the same price cut -- if we knew either ad was real. Us? We're hoping for a drastic price cut on cameras so tipsters can get better pictures of these advance ads.The DVD at the right side of the Target ad is Monsters vs. Aliens, which comes out on September 29. That at least shows that if this ad is a fake, it's a somewhat clever one. As always, we're not going to take this as confirmation of a price drop, but we will take it as confirmation that it would be smart to wait a couple of weeks before going to buy a Wii.

This is an Art Style game that Nintendo hasn’t talked about yet, but an European trademark has blown the doors off of this secret. We don’t know anything about the game just yet, but you can be sure that it’ll hit either DSiWare or WiiWare!

A portion of a Nintendo Life review… Unless you’re a huge River City Ransom fan or you’re looking for something totally off-the-wall, you might want to take a pass on this one. It’s a classic example of a great idea that was just never able to take shape.

For those of you who dropped a few bucks reserving Brütal Legend early, now's your chance to get some face time with Eddie Riggs and co. The demo dropped today on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, giving those who pre-ordered the game roughly a month of time to enjoy ... erm ... demoing it. If you didn't pre-order it and you're following Joystiq on Twitter, we'll be giving away some download codes later on today.The rest of us plebes will have to wait until September 23, which is when the demo will arrive for everyone else. Tim Schafer would love for us all to be able to play the whole thing right now, though he concedes, "While we're waiting for Rocktober 13, a taste of Metal is better than none at all." Indeed it is, Mr. Schafer.

Spyborgs, Capcom’s hottest new thrill ride will be coming exclusively for the Nintendo Wii this year. Combining an extraordinary sci-fi world with action packed 2-player co-op, this original IP is a must-have Wii title for action fans. A cybernetically-enhanced group of super heroes is set-up to die by a former team member they trusted. [...]

LOS ANGELES – September 17, 2009 – Consumer software and entertainment company TOMY Corporation announced today that players can pre-order a limited edition bundle of NARUTO™ Shippuden: Clash of Ninja® Revolution 3 for Wii™and NARUTO Shippuden The Movie on DVD from VIZ Media, a combined value of $64.97, for the low price of just $49.99. [...]

Of course, Nintendo wouldn’t comment on this finding either. I’m starting to wonder when they’ll say something, considering the price drop is due to come out at the end of this month!

A Life Well Wasted art by illustrator Nick Derington While I do enjoy the image, I fear that it’ll give many an idea of games that is an age-old stereotype. When I think of gaming, I always think of people around, lots of laughs, and tons of smiles. I’d like to see a piece [...]

If you're a busy body with an infinitesimal attention span, Sony's added a feature to the PSP Go that should land squarely in your wheelhouse. First unveiled during a Gamespot UK unboxing of the new handheld (around the 10:00 mark), the Go allows players of any game to save their progress and perform other functions on the device. Upon returning to the game, you can instantly hop right back into whatever it was you were doing at the time of your save. In the aforementioned unboxing video, Gamespot UK's Guy Cocker saves his progress during a Motorstorm: Arctic Edge race in order to watch a trailer for Motorstorm: Arctic Edge. Rarely do we get urges to watch trailers for games we're currently playing -- but we suppose we've succumbed to stranger impulses before.