All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

It looks like 360-owning JRPG fans shouldn't get too jealous about the Lightning-clad PS3 Slim which was release in Japan late last year. A recent promotional spot for GamertagRadio's Community Vibes event featured a lengthy look at what appears to be a Final Fantasy XIII-branded 360 faceplate, seen above. We almost didn't notice the accessory the first time we watched the video -- after someone mentioned Major Nelson in a Speedo, our brains went briefly catatonic, which is our reflexive defense mechanism when faced with unsettling mental images. We've contacted the Major to find out if the faceplate is legit, and to see if we'll be getting our hands on it any time soon. [Via Gaming Angels]

Sonic the Hedgehog is a very well known character to those that follow gaming. There seem to be two different generations of Sonic fans, and two different feelings about his career. Newer fans know Sonic mostly from his 3d outings, and old-school fans have been with Sonic right from the start. It’s [...]

[Q3 2009 Presentation (PDF)] Konami announced its financial results for its Q3 and the nine-month period ending December 31, 2009. The publisher's net revenues for the period were ¥190.9 billion, down 18.4% from the same period in 2008 -- despite breakout success in Japan with the DS dating sim Love Plus, "strong sales" of Dance Dance Revolution and "game content for overseas consumption, such as Saw." What was missing from 2009 was, of course, the megahit Metal Gear Solid 4. "Due to the absence of major titles, such as last year's Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, however," the publisher said in its financial results release (PDF), "the overall sales fell this quarter as compared to the same period the previous year." Should Konami succeed in releasing Peace Walker, 2010 should look a bit happier. We're still shocked to see one of the biggest game companies ever become this reliant on a single franchise. Source: Consolidated Financial Results for the Nine Months Ended December 31, 2009 [PDF]

Thursday 4th February/…Square Enix Ltd., the publisher of Square Enix® interactive entertainment products in Europe and other PAL territories, today announces that FINAL FANTASY® CRYSTAL CHRONICLES®: The Crystal Bearers™ will be available exclusively on the Nintendo Wii™ from tomorrow, 5th February 2010. FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: The Crystal Bearers opens up a whole new style of [...]

Activision Publishing today announced that Baxter, an exclusive Zhu Zhu Pets™ hamster baby, will come packaged as a Collector’s Edition with the initial release of the Zhu Zhu Pets™ video game for Nintendo DS™. This Collector’s Edition will be produced in limited quantities and will be available only until they sell out. Available for the regular [...]

As we saw last night, SEGA accidentally left a few details on the official Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Ep. 1 website that the public wasn’t meant to see. Rumor has it that the image seen below was on the site as well, but SEGA has since yanked it. I certainly believe it, since this would [...]

Wait, you're telling us you still haven't played that demo for God of War III which we got our hands on like, eight months ago? What, did you not get one of the download codes that came bundled with District 9 and the God of War Collection? We're trying not to be too condescending, it's just ... look, we're already playing the demo for God of War IV. If you don't make the effort to catch up, then what are we even doing here? Consider this your last chance: According to a recent Playstation.Blog post, the next episode of Qore will land on the PSN alongside a God of War III demo, which will be available to the program's subscribers. Why not pick it up, and attempt to close the ever-widening gap between us, dear readers? We miss you.

Australia's OFLC classification of Mega Man 4 has us wondering if the blue bomber's fourth adventure will become a western Virtual Console offering. Already slated for release in Japan, this would be the first indication that the game is being offered via VC off the island. The android's first three missions are already available on the VC outside of Japan. Mega Man IV is when things started getting campy with the baddies, as we were introduced to that light bulb guy and the one with a vacuum on his head. Of course, instead of picking up this series bit by bit on Virtual Console, if there's any chance of finding the Mega Man Anniversary Collection, you should definitely do that. It includes Mega Man 1-8, but can end up costing a pretty penny now.

New missions are right around the corner.

According to Eurogamer, Microsoft has announced that the Xbox 360 120GB hard drive has now been discounted to €129.99 ($180) in Europe and £79.99 ($125) in the UK. Curiously, the Microsoft representative appended "while supplies last" to the announcement, implying that the 120GB won't be around for much longer. This news comes on the heels of a standalone 250GB hard drive being announced for Japan. When asked whether that drive would release outside of Japan, Microsoft informed Joystiq that it had nothing to announce at the time. If the separate 250GB drive did become available elsewhere and the 120GB were discontinued, consumers would have to choose between 60GB and 250GB add-ons. As Microsoft's typical strategy has been to replace the lowest end of its hardware spectrum, it would make more sense to discontinue the 60GB drive instead. Then again, as we've learned time and again, sometimes that strategy can be typical Microsoft.

New game from the studio behind Let's Catch and Let's Tap.

Leaked magazine cover mentions BlazBlue Continuum Shift and LovePlus sequel.

Considering Xbox Live is currently knee-deep in face huggers and split-chinned alien jerks, you'd be forgiven for not noticing there's another demo available on Marketplace. That demo is for Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce, otherwise known as that Dynasty Warriors game with a mythical twist, including Dragon Ball-esque character transformations. The demo allows players to try out the single-player mode -- the full game supports four. Like other entries in the series, expect hordes of enemies and, of course, plenty of button mashing. Shortcut: Add the Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce demo to your 360 download queue [Via Xbox.com]

A few more thoughts on this post-apocalyptic shooter.

Leaked magazine cover mentions BlazBlue Continuum Shift and LovePlus sequel.

Hey, look at you, Europe! You finally got your hands on Final Fantasy VIII! Try not to get too jealous about the fact that we've been playing that jam for a couple of months now -- after all, you guys already got Vagrant Story. You jerks. There are tons of other noteworthy items in this week's update, including a demo for Alien Vs. Predator and Battlefield Bad Company 2. You'll also find a few packs of downloadable souls for Dante's Inferno, some of which require real-life money to obtain. Basically, you purchase souls without having to actually play the game. As far as we're concerned, that's straight-up sloth. Choose your platform to view the corresponding release list: (Note: Continue past the break to view both release lists.)

It seems the marketing team behind Dante's Inferno hasn't burnt out yet, with several ASCII art campaigns popping up in the source code for several popular websites. All direct to the same Dante's Inferno site. The first image (above) appeared in digg's code, as noted by brentcsutoras, and other sites like IGN, GameSpot and Kotaku also had their source code altered to display Dante-relatedl images. It's one of the cuter, somewhat classier approaches to this title's marketing, and that makes it oddly noteworthy. If you're wondering why there's nothing in our source code (we're checking now just to make sure) ... we don't let anyone touch that. We consider it to be at least third base and you really have to get to know Joystiq before it's prepared to take the relationship to that level.

Are you the master of NPD data? A brainiac with data? Test your knowledge in our simple, but effective challenge.

Are you the master of NPD data? A brainiac with data? Test your knowledge in our simple, but effective challenge.

Are you the master of NPD numbers? A brainiac with data? Test your knowledge in our simple, but effective challenge.

Here's some data from Sony's fiscal Q3 earnings and, as predicted, the electronics giant had some positives things to report out of its gaming division. However, like always, with the good comes the bad (and sometimes the ugly). The good: "Due to the launch of a new model, approximately 6.5 million units of PlayStation 3 ... hardware were sold in the current quarter, compared to approximately 4.5 million units in the prior year's third quarter," reports Sony's Q3 earnings report. The PS3 Slim continues to drive hardware sales, with its slim new form factor and, more importantly, slim new price tag. Now the bad: "Approximately 4.2 million PSP units were sold in the current quarter, compared to approximately 5.1 million units in the prior year's third quarter." And the ugly: "Approximately 2.1 million PS2 units were sold in the current quarter, compared to approximately 2.5 million units in the prior year's third quarter." It's when you get to the PS2 software sales that things really get ugly. Sony sold 11.2 million PS2 software units, a 62% drop from the same period last year. The bad: The PSP sold 15 million units, a tiny 3% drop from the same period last year. Just like the hardware numbers, the PS3 software numbers are the good: Sony sold over 47.6 million pieces of PS3 software, a lovely 17% jump from the same period last year. But things aren't so bad for the beleaguered division. "Despite a decrease in PS2 hardware and software unit sales, as well as PSP hardware unit sales, profitability was relatively unchanged mainly due to an improvement in the cost of PS3 hardware," Sony reported. Sony's Q4 forecast predicts more of the same: a "decrease in PS2 hardware and software sales" and "an improvement in PS3 hardware and software profitability." And that's how console generations work, boys and girls!

In Just Cause 2, the world is your oyster, and you have the freedom to decide when and where the chaos Rico Rodriguez ensues next.

The children of the Awakening Expansion are one babysitting job you will never want to take.

Learn how to make your kingdom's economy thrive.

Dominate your enemies and raise a kingdom.

A quick note for anyone out there still clinging to the first iteration of EA's Skate: It's time to move on. EA has updated the page for Skate's Reel service, which allows users to upload and share videos of their in-game exploits. The update reads, quite simply, "Servers for the skate.Reel feature will be shut down on March 1st, 2010." It also notes that the game itself will still function properly, but users will no longer be able to upload videos to share either in-game or via the Skate website. As tipster Cal points out, there are some Achievements related to uploading videos, so you'd better start capturing those sweet runs and massive bails before it's too late.

We were filled with a mix of two emotions upon seeing that House of the Dead: Overkill is now $12.99 on Amazon. The first emotion was, of course, joy, because now more people can experience the total, unabashed radicool that drenches this funny, smartly designed on-rails shooter. The other emotion? Disgust that it had to come to this. This should be a collector's item that's impossible to find, not fodder for the bargain bin! All we're saying is this: We bought our copies here at Joystiq HQ. Did you buy yours, America? ... Well? Did you?