All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

We remember a time when every young buck coming out of the MMO development stables would puff up its cheeks and proudly proclaim itself "The World of Warcraft-killer." However, the industry's a bit older and wiser, now, and massive online game devs are at peace with the fact that they'll never catch up to Blizzard's irrationally lucrative MMORPG. A handful of these developers recently spoke to MCV about how it feels to compete with an unstoppable juggernaut. (In short: Not awesome.) Even in an MMO-heavy year which will see the introduction of Star Trek Online, APB, Final Fantasy XIV and others, Jagex COO Rob Smith thinks 2010's online games "are unlikely to topple the likes of World of Warcraft from their throne, at least in the short term." He's probably right -- unless, of course, 2010 is the year that the FarmVille MMO which we all totally know is going to happen actually happens.

Dragonica Online expands with a new server and update including Van Cliff Mansion.

Get acclimated to the story of Shiren the Wanderer before release with this walkthrough.

A portion of the Gamer Road review: In conclusion, No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle seems to be a game made by gamers: it’s fun, frenetic, and fascinatingly hypnotic. For every Wii owner who complains about the lack of ‘core’ game, there’s no excuse for not picking it up. The action is intense, the [...]

A piece of the Examiner’s interview with Nintendo’s Seth McMahill: What would you say are the top 5 enhancements that these two games deliver? Seth: I would say the completely upgraded remastered game itself: the new graphics and the touchscreen features. I’d consider those to be one enhancement. There’s also the new experience, the revisiting of the Johto [...]

4Pockets Sudoku gets ready to come to the Nintendo DS via DSiWare.

Just in time for tomorrow's DLC update, Uncharted 2 is receiving another title update. Patch 1.04 only addresses one issue, but it's a crucial one. Players affected by a rare "error syncing player data" issue will be able to connect online after downloading this patch. Unfortunately, the fix comes at a huge price: all multiplayer stats will be wiped for those affected by this glitch. "This is going to happen ONLY to the accounts who couldn't connect because of the "error syncing player data" message. Everyone else who has been able to connect and play normally will be entirely unaffected," Naughty Dog's Arne Myer told the community. For those that have yet to see the error message, the patch will come as just a minor step to take before jumping online. However, there are a select few that will lose a great deal of time and effort. "This was not an easy decision for us to make. Over time it became clear to us that there was absolutely no other option remaining to eliminate this issue for all affected." "If there was an alternative that didn't require rolling back the affected accounts, we would have implemented that in a second." Hopefully, you weren't unlucky enough to be stricken by such an unfortunate situation.

What's ahead for the PS3 and PSP this year? Only everything.

Were you up in the wee hours of the morning this past weekend, waiting in line for your chance to pick up Tatsunoko vs. Capcom a bit early at the Nintendo World store in New York City? Yeah, neither were we, but Nintendo World Report was there and they asked producer Ryota Niitsuma a whole mess of questions about the game. Notably, when Niitsuma was asked what other franchises he might like to work with in future "vs." titles, the producer openly stated his desire to work with not just "a whole lot of" game developers in the US, but also that he'd "love to" work with Nintendo or Square Enix. As for us, we'd love the chance to shoryuken the hell out of Cloud Strife. But hey, who wouldn't?

RMC posted this info up earlier and now we have the boxart to go with it! Link (Thanks BenMully!)

A few screens to command around.

It's been a while since Gravity Crash landed on the PS3. But what ever happened to the PSP version? It's still in the works, and it's gotten much bigger since we last heard of it. Not only will the PSP version of Gravity Crash feature the same retro-inspired gameplay as the PS3 game, it'll add a brand new "Survivor" mode, exclusive to the handheld version. In addition, the previously-canceled level editor has found its way back on the PSP. Looks like LittleBigPlanet PSP isn't the only Play, Create, Share game on the system! Additionally, a new patch is hitting the PS3 version of the game. For more details, visit the PlayStation.Blog. Check out a trailer of the PSP game after the break.

Game Panic Arcades are the newest members of an elite club that offers Nintendo Zone DS Download stations. DS users can bring their DS’ to the arcade and download Nintendo DS Demos as well as unique Game Panic content. The service can be accessed from the Game Panic shops in Tokyo, Omiya, Shin [...]

Are you ready for some footba...soccer?

Direct Link Zangeki no Reginleiv - Commercial, Tatsunoko VS Capcom Ultimate All-Stars - Preview Match 3, Dragon Ball DS 2: Totsugeki! Red Ribbon Gun - Trailer, Dragon Ball DS 2: Totsugeki! Red Ribbon Gun - Commercial, Ogre Battle 64 - VC Trailer, Quiz Magic Academy DS: Futatsu no Jikuu Koku - Trailer, Minna no Conveni - [...]

We're having a blast and it's winter!!

In an interview conducted last summer with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow producer David Cox, we found out that the much loved Castlevania: Symphony of the Night music composer Michiru Yamane wouldn't be joining the team at Konami to compose the upcoming game. What was unclear at the time, however, was who exactly would be assigned the task of creating the game's score. David Cox explained to Joystiq this morning that Oscar Araujo, a Spanish symphonist, has been granted that burden. "Our composer for this game is Oscar Araujo who is a Spanish composer. He is creating a very epic yet sad and melancholy score that perfectly suits the game and emotion that we are aiming for." While Cox added that he's "a big fan of Yamane-san's work," he admitted that her music wouldn't have been a great fit for Mercury Steam's take on the Castlevania series. It certainly doesn't hurt that, according to Cox, she's no longer an employee of Konami. "Yamane-san left Konami quite some time ago as I understand it. She is currently working freelance, though I am not 100% sure. "Yamane-san has a style that fits perfectly to the previous Castlevania games but this game is very different to those more recent 'vania's in style and direction. I don't think I would be doing her any favours by including her music in the game." He also pointed out that we'll understand his point more clearly when we "eventually get to see the game." With any luck, that'll be sooner rather than later.

Bomb down the mountain.

Won't you be my pal?

Make the track go Boom.

Tired of “Games of the Decade” lists yet? Well, I’m not! In fact, here’s another one and it’s from GameBrit. Don’t try to find any Nintendo games in the Top 10 though. Galaxy is as close as Nintendo gets at lucky #13. I must say that I think this list needs a little bit [...]

For what it's worth, every bit of Resonance of Fate we've seen so far looks mighty enticing. From gorgeous screenshots, to long dramatic CG trailers, to those full of bullets (and even some gameplay), Tri-Ace's upcoming RPG certainly gives us the impression it'll be a blast to play -- heck, we even enjoyed our first hands-on with the game back at TGS 2009. All that said, even in light of the four-minute-long opening we've dropped above (from the Japanese Xbox 360 version, titled End of Eternity), we're about as worried as can be for any game set to release alongside Final Fantasy XIII. Will the intensity of the opening scene's suicide jump entice you enough to snag a copy over the much ballyhoo'd Square Enix release? We're not quite sure, but it certainly got our zipper-clad boots all in a tussy.

Today, a major hardware company with wide appeal outside the usual hardcore gaming space announced a new device, which is basically exactly like a popular existing device but bigger. Sound familiar? It reminded us of the day in late October when Nintendo announced a new version of the DSi, called the DSi LL (DSi XL outside of Japan). Like the iPad, it's a version of a current device (in this case, the Nintendo DSi) that is distinguished by its size. So how does Apple's inflated iPod Touch stack up against Nintendo's luxury sedan of a DSi? We've compared the two in several totally crucial vectors, based mostly on the changes from the previous model.

While previous Shiren the Wanderer video releases from Atlus have focused on the story, this walkthrough spends more time discussing the basic gameplay of the roguelike -- perfect for those of you who have no idea what we're talking about when we refer to Shiren as a "roguelike" game. Atlus project lead Scott Strichart also introduces the new difficulty settings -- easy mode allows you to keep your items and levels after dying! -- and the methods of control for AI partners, ranging from fully automated to fully player-controlled. Atlus calls this video a "walkthrough," but it's really more of an overview. In any case, might as well start studying up now in preparation for the February 9 release.

Black Rock Studio Ambassador Jay Green opens the doors on the details to their action racing game Split/Second.

Master the art of using your surroundings to stall and destroy your adversaries in the Downtown Track!