All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

This one hit DSiWare in Japan back in August, and I never thought we’d see the title make the jump outside of its homeland. Glad to see that an OFLC rating has popped up, which means very good things for both Europe and North America. I could do with a little more shmup [...]

Niche Japanese publisher Nippon Ichi hasn't had a very good year. With an expected loss of 299 million yen ($3.33 million) for the fiscal year, it's clear NIS must make drastic changes to turn things around. According to a report by Andriasang, the company blames its poor performance for relying too much on externally-developed games, something that will be rectified in the coming fiscal year. 2010 will feature a more focused title catalog, with only eight game releases.

With 1.6 million Disgaea games sold so far, the franchise is unquestionably Nippon Ichi's most valued asset. Going forward, the company plans on releasing yet another Disgaea title for the PS3. The new release is part of a new initiative at the company to focus on potential growth areas: PS3 software, and the North American market.

However, the off-the-radar release of their last PS3 game, Last Rebellion, proves Nippon Ichi may not be properly equipped to exploit the current generation. Disgaea may be well known in the hardcore gaming community, but will another game be enough to turn Nippon Ichi's fortunes around?

I’m thinking this is a temporary boxart. I certainly like the idea behind it, but it just doesn’t look finished yet. Thanks to Supa_S for the heads up!

I am really a huge fan of the No More Heroes series. I think the games are ridiculously fun, but there’s so much more to the series than just fun. If you’ve listened in to our latest podcasts, you’ll know that we have quite a bit to say about the game. We’re [...]

One of many strange videos that our friends at TC have linked to.

- takes place after Sands of Time - visit a neighboring kingdom ruled by the Prince’s brother, Malik - Razia is a companion character that controls elements/magic - numerous enemies on screen at the same time - powers to be earned: Rewind, Fire, Air (use gusts to reach new platforms, swirl air around enemies to move them), Earth (fix [...]

Be on the lookout for the new uncommon common in this bloody walkthrough from X10.

Shove them back in this brutal walkthrough from X10.

Slay the undead in the first part of this Dead Rising 2 walkthrough from X10.

Make a mess in the second part of this Dead Rising 2 walkthrough from X10.

Check out Lumber Mill from the Deniable Ops mode at X10!

Is this an uninspired sequel or is it packing enough heat for redeployment? Find out in the official GameTrailers SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 3 review!

There is a lot to digest in the above developer diary for Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight. Not only does it show the benefits of each class in the game, but it also reveals the new mission and player progression system. This time around, players will not only unlock things as they go along (utilizing a level-based system), but also given a choice during the campaign early on: stick with GDI or align yourself with series bad boy Kane and his NOD forces.

Either way you choose to go, one thing is certain: this is the end of the Tiberium storyline. Bass says that doesn't necessarily mean the door to the universe is shut forever, but that this particular story thread will conclude with C&C4.Choose GDI or NOD in this Command & Conquer 4 trailer

This 2D racer is coming soon for PS3 and PSP.

I know there’s been a lot of fan calls this time for Vectorman and Ristar too, but they should have shouted more at the end of SST! By the time they were being requested heavily, we’d locked the character roster! I can’t say just yet who I would have like to included either – then [...]

[Image credit: Negative Gamer] Allow me to break from the usual third-person writing style we employ at Joystiq to address my personal stake in writing this post -- I'm part of the approximately 10 percent of human males with colorblindness. I had to return Super Puzzle Fighter for GBA and turn on the symbols in Hexic (the price I pay for the love of puzzle games). Like Russ at MTV Multiplayer, I (quite likely) have the most common form of colorblindness: Deuteranopia.

Personal info aside, Negative Gamer put together a bit of an analysis of BioShock 2's hacking system -- a system which applies color matching to various rewards/punishments (green = hack, blue = reward, red = alarm, white = electric shock) and one which could be problematic for those suffering from colorblindnesses many forms. The piece takes a program called "Colour Contrast Analyser" (yes, it's a British-born application) and runs an example image of the hacking program through it, pointing out how the colors would appear to people with a variety of types of colorblindness -- the image you see above is but one example.

So! If you've ever wondered what it's like to deal with the frustration of being colorblind and not being able to play a game because of it, now's your big chance. If you want to start a petition to "fix" the situation like these folks did for Modern Warfare 2, I'd really appreciate it.

[Via MTV Multiplayer]

One apprentice stands in the way of the armies of darkness. Will s/he prevail?

New training modes and more revealed in this interview with Senior Designer Eddy Cramm.

We might normally start a post on a regional game launch event (or events, in this case) by questioning if you live in or around the geographic location in question (San Francisco), but with a game like Final Fantasy XIII, we're not entirely sure if that kinda thing matters -- we hear that FF fans can be a bit ... dedicated. That said, Square Enix is holding two separate parties celebrating the March 9 release of its next in the Final Fantasy series.

Both are limited to Square Enix Members, with the launch party on the evening of March 8 limited even further to just 50 Bronze (and up) Members while the day event is limited to "200 Members and their guests." In order to snag yourself an invite, you've gotta have one of those snazzy Square Enix Member IDs and enter the sweepstakes right here before February 23. After you hurriedly enter the contest, come right back here and check out the 20 new screenshots of FFXIII that we've dropped into a gallery below. We command you.

Early copies of Darksiders contained an insert (see above) that quite explicitly asked buyers to not to throw it away -- that's what "do not discard" means. Today it was revealed that the code will net the bearer a free copy of Red Faction Guerrilla for PS3 or Xbox 360. The code will also grant them "a digital Hellbook disc featuring Darksiders art, videos, and other awesome stuff." Yeah, that's great but let's get back to that whole "free game" thing.

The offer is only available in the US and ends March 7, 2010. We've got a call in to THQ about whether recent Darksiders printings still have the card. Of course there's a catch: there's a $5 shipping charge; however, we can guarantee (because it was all over our "Best of the Rest" for 2009) that $5 is an incredibly small price to pay for hours of joyous Martian destruction.

[Thanks Salvador and Stephen McB]

Cloak and kill aliens and Marines as a sporting Predator in this dark and bloody gameplay.

Toshihiro Nagoshi discusses early influences on Yakuza 3.

We can't be gaming all the time, despite our best efforts, and from time to time we'll actually take advantage of the movie-playing abilities on our gaming systems. JBO features our top picks for XBL, PSN, Netflix's Watch Instantly and Blu-ray each week.

Recommendation of the Week:

District 13: Ultimatum (800($10) HD, 480($6) SD, to rent)
It's Mirror's Edge, the movie! Well, sort of. There's a hell of a lot of Parkour in both, but District 13: Ultimatum has much more plot, explosions and general ass-kickery. Written and produced by Luc Besson, D13:U is set several years after the original District 13 (and no, you don't have to have seen that to enjoy this one), and takes place within the same walled-off Parisian ghetto. This time around, some of the residents of D13 are falsely accused of murdering some cops, which sets up a race against time to contain the situation before the rival gangs blow it out of hand and mass hysteria reigns. Which wouldn't be so bad, would it? Everyone is so anti-mass hysteria. I say bring it on. Especially when there's a ton of Parkour involved, even though the word itself sounds so pretentious. Let's just agree to call it crazy running and jumping.

Also, just a reminder that today is the day that The Dungeon Masters is available on Amazon VOD. Go find your lucky 20-sided die, plunk down the $3.99 to rent this (or $14.99 to buy it) and enjoy.
Read on after the break for the rest of our recommendations, and let us know what you're watching!