All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Microsoft has announced (translation) that it will release a standalone 250GB hard drive in Japan later this year. The drive - which carries a price tag of ¥15,540 (~$170) - is set to be released on March 11. On the same day, the company will also be releasing the Wireless Controller Game Pack and the Xbox 360 Wireless N adapter. This will mark the first time that Microsoft has released the 250GB hard drive as a standalone product. Thus far, the 250GB model has only been available as part of certain bundles such as the Modern Warfare 2 bundle released in 2009. Previously, Microsoft's Albert Penello noted Microsoft didn't have any specific plans to release the 250GB drive by itself, though he did note the possibility. While this particular drive is currently slated only for Japan, it seems likely that other territories will follow. We've contacted Microsoft regarding any North American or European release plans and will update this post with any new info.

Carefully guide your nation from the era of absolute monarchies in the early 19th century.

Good news, European gamers, Joystiq is about to save you some money. While Playlogic has announced (once again) that the price of Fairytale Fights has been reduced, that isn't how we're going to save you money. No, the way is much simpler: Just play the new Fairytale Fights "White Room" demo that's now available on the European PSN. It's just that easy. After only a few minutes of poorly controlled tedium, you'll never ever have the urge to buy the full game. See, that's money in your pocket right there.

Microsoft has no plans to release one stateside.

Get a taste of Tiberian Twilight.

While Xbox 360 and PC players are gallivanting across the galaxy in BioWare's latest, single-player only adventure, the PlayStation 3 is preparing for its own solitary storytelling in down-to-earth thriller Heavy Rain. Speaking to CVG, Sony product manager Lucy Duncan offered some comforting words to those who'd rather traverse a dialogue tree than a multiplayer map. "... we strive to offer a broad set of experiences and a return to the single player 'adventure' format but with a state of the art graphical presentation, a terrific noir narrative and an hugely innovative interface seems like a compelling proposition for the discerning gamer," she explained. A lack of online play may strike some as an odd move -- even Rapture's making room for more residents -- but Duncan reckons a trust in developer Quantic Dream will pay off. Well, that and being a big player. "Being Sony, I suppose we have a little more luxury to take a gamble on more original and innovative IP -- and Heavy Rain definitely fits that category." With God of War 3, Alan Wake and Final Fantasy XIII also steeped in excitement, the "big single-player adventure" looks to be one of 2010's best bets.

First games based on the 3-D CGI feature scheduled for July 2010.

Winners of more than $350,000 in prizes to be announced Feb. 19 at D.I.C.E. Summit.

There's a new king of Nintendo consoles.

The SEGA zone is jam-packed with classic SEGA games that you can find on the Virtual Console. There’s also a pair of wireless controllers that look a lot like the Wiimote. There’s even a few games packed into the system that allow you to swing the controller around for motion controlled play. [...]

30-second spot introduces 100M viewers to hell in fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIV.

According to a report from Develop citing inside sources, Sony has terminated half of all employees at Studio Liverpool -- the team behind the WipEout franchise. In January 2009, Sony merged Studio Liverpool (formerly Psygnosis) with Evolution Studios and last week announced plans to restructure the new team. In its report of the restructuring, GamesIndustry.biz noted redundancies "may be necessary;" however, Sony has yet to confirm how many positions were affected by the decision. Within the comments of GI's original article, a user registered as SCEE programmer Paul Ripley wrote "I would estimate about at least 50% of Studio Liverpool has [just] been culled (myself included). Hard to work out exact numbers at the moment." Develop's inside source relayed similar information, noting Sony's layoff plans for the studio were "looking heavy." Joystiq has reached out to Sony for comment, but have yet to hear back as of this publishing. If you work/worked for Studio Liverpool and would like to speak to us on or off the record, we're all ears.

An exclusive look at one of the new party members.

This is baseball at its best!

Now this is how you kick off a decade.

Starting February 2, players will have access to tons of special events - with bonus items and premium items available for purchase at a huge discount.

Now this is how you kick off a decade.

Now this is how you kick off a decade.

Now this is how you kick off a decade.

New monsters, weapons and zones await Dragonica players across Europe.

If you're anything like us, you immediately tore into the recently released Capcom Q3 2009 financial report looking for the number of Mario Party Fushigi no Korokoro Catcher arcade machines the company sold in the last nine months of 2009 (80, in case you were wondering) only to find a wealth of information about the publisher's other games. For instance, worldwide sales (sell-in, not sell-through, mind you) of Bionic Commando crept over 700k, while Monster Hunter Tri moved 1.15 million in Japan alone -- we worry deeply for the monsters of Japan, being hunted relentlessly by all of those people. At this point in the post, we'd like to point out that these numbers are for the nine months ending December 31, 2009, and thusly don't reflect January's sales. Also, things are about to get really boring. The Japanese publisher is reporting a 5.9 percent increase in net sales for the nine month period, and boasts an 84.3 percent increase in "operating income compared to the same term in [Fiscal Year 2008]," which is to say sales increased by ¥49,987 million from the same time period last year (netting ¥1,731 million). Whew - glad we got through that! Capcom itself doesn't ruminate on the numbers too much either, saying "only a few flagship software titles were released from our home video game division, while both arcade operations and content expansion were weakening." Unfortunately for us, there's still no word on the US arrival of Mario Party Fushigi No Korokoro Catcher. Source -- Capcom 3rd Quarter Financial Results (warning: PDF) Source -- Capcom 3rd Quarter Financial Results press release

Special edition selling well.

Listen, Kojima knows that he disappointed a lot of people by delaying the release of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker in Japan, and believe us, he feels bad about it. In fact, we'd argue that he's probably being just a bit too hard on himself. Writing on the Kojima Productions blog (as translated by Andriasang) Kojima wrote, "I always preach to the staff, 'You must not have a delay after a release date has been announced. There is no greater crime as a game developer.'" We appreciate the sentiment, but we think Mr. Kojima might have temporarily forgotten some other heinous crimes: box puzzles; not having "Continue" as the first menu option; letting the game timer run while it's paused; horse armor; limited installs; ruining the A.I. director; and being on Facebook.

More strategy love coming to the PSP.

It's time to get your Beta on.