All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Put on your 3D glasses! Put 'em on!

Take aim and play a new Fullmetal Alchemist video game.

This tough new game requires your attention.

One of the most attractive promised features of PlayStation Home was the ability to meet up with friends in Sony's virtual space, pick a PS3 title, and join in the multiplayer offerings of said title as a group. Sony's delivered on that promise by adding this functionality for a few select titles, such as MotorStorm and Street Fighter IV. However, these capabilities are going "universal" with the release of Home Patch 1.3, which will add "simplified game launching" to the service. No, this form of launching won't allow you to group up with friends in Home and jump into a game of your choosing as a single, conglomerated entity. Rather, it lets you ... well, launch your games without having to return to the XMB. It was a wise choice to cut the middle man out of the game-booting equation, but it seems for the "full" game launching experience, Sony's going to have to add that functionality one title at a time. Also added in the update is an in-game camera, in-store item previewing, new categories of clothing, new emotes, new spaces and whole lot more. Check out PlayStation.Blog for the full scoop on the update.

Denerim, the capital of Ferelden, originally began as an outpost of the ancient Tevinter Imperium.

Australia has a long, sordid history when it comes to banning the sale of mature games. Titles which exceed the limits of the Office of Film and Literature Classification's MA15+ rating are refused classification, preventing them from being sold in the Land Down Under. Following such a ban on Valve's Left 4 Dead 2, the introduction of an R18+ rating has been feverishly debated by the nation's officials -- however, a South Australian attorney general named Michael Atkinson is holding up the proceedings by vehemently opposing the adoption of the mature rating. Atkinson told Australian news outlet News.com.au that he's uncomfortable with the interactive nature of the medium. "People are participating and 'acting-out' violence and criminal behaviour when they are playing a video game," he explained, later adding, "it certainly does restrict choice to a small degree, but that is the price of keeping this material from children and vulnerable adults. In my view, the small sacrifice is worth it." Rarely can governmental actions be attributed to just one person, but the OFLC's refusal to rate mature titles is a direct result of Atkinson's opposition. Remember, this is the same guy who tried to censor a public document which canvassed Australians on the issue in an attempt to better advise the nation's ratings officials. He censored the study on censorship. Consider our mind truly boggled. [Via GamesIndustry]

A hands-on preview of Crackdown 2 at TGS last week came with a catch: deathmatch only. No matter how much potential for greatness a game might possess, it's hard to gauge it's true character when limited to a boring multiplayer mode. That's not to say that my time with Crackdown 2 was entirely boring -- it wasn't -- but simply playing the most generic mode of all didn't raise my enthusiasm beyond a mild passing interest.While I wasn't able to play the game's single-player campaign, I was shown a rough portion of it in action. Ruffian lead designer Steve Iannetta and producer James Cope showcased the game's new weapons and enemies (the mutated citizens of Pacific City that were simply referred to as "The Freaks"). Unlike the deathmatch portion of the preview session, this part was interesting.

“In addition, the guitar controller shipping with Band Hero in Europe will also feature an improved strum bar and the neck slider to help with accuracy when nailing those tricky solos. The guitar controller is finished off with chrome effect tuning pegs and a sleek red and white faceplate to let Band Hero players strum [...]

Satisfy your ghost-hunting cravings anywhere you go with the PSP version.

This bad boy is hanging around the submerged forest in the latest Monster Hunter 3 quest. You have to have a Hunter Rank of 31 or greater to take on this battle. You might want to make sure you meet up with your party before taking this guy on!

Arm yourself with all the cliche dungeon-hopping weaponry of olde.

An old school gaming veteran makes a comeback!

There is no match for the trusty sword.

Embark on the 3D Dot adventure of a lifetime.

Know thine enemy!

Let's see a pen be mightier than this sword.

Build your block hero from scratch!

Like us, you've probably been wondering what sort of work (apart from directing people in costumes and laying on the special effects) went into Microsoft's now-legendary Halo 3: ODST live-action short, "The Life." Its creators must have anticipated our curiosity because they've put together a short-but-sweet behind the scenes video, which includes a rough cut of a scene that didn't make it into the final production.The micro-documentary also reveals some surprising trivia about the shoot, including the fact that the opening funeral scene was shot inside the cooling tower of an operating nuclear power plant. Oh, and the battle sequence? They filmed it at the bottom of a coal strip-mine. Really? We could have swarn it was New Mombasa.

This is a title heading to Japanese DSiWare, with no word on localization at this time.