All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

I always thought that The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening was something special. Not only was I amazed that Nintendo could cram down a true Zelda game onto the Game Boy, this title felt like it was taking its own path to gamers’ hearts. To this day, Link’s Awakening sticks out as a [...]

A portion of an Aussie-Nintendo review… Jake Hunter is a bit of a rarity on the DS. Dealing with adult themes, it takes itself seriously, but nothing’s forced to the point that might evoke a serious case of eye rolling. Sarcastic banter here and there helps, as does a brief moment to simply break up the [...]

Looks like the next true numbered MGS game is coming in a few months.

This boxart is funny at first, scary right after that, and downright freaky the longer you look at it. I know what I’ll be thinking of when I nod off tonight…no matter how hard I try not to.

This time last year, the crazy kids at SEGA Australia pulled out a whiteboard, wrote some words on it, head-butted some brick walls, wrote some more words… and came up with The Bang Bang Box!!! To mark the anniversary of this epic day, those same special minds have created a new box-o-fun. A trigger-tapping triple-barrel terrorfest, [...]

PlayStation Home has expanded quite a bit in 2009, with 50 spaces and over 100 games now available within Sony's virtual world. It has been a modest success, but perhaps it's fallen shy of the lofty expectations placed on it when it was initially unveiled at GDC nearly three years ago. Since then, Sony's online service has managed to cut advertising deals with Red Bull, the US Army and Fox -- but has Home been able to maintain interest?

According to a report by Brandweek, advertisers are largely ignoring PlayStation Home, opting to pursue opportunities on Xbox Live instead. Ad agency Publicis Denuo's John Rafferty told the site that "from moment one, it kind of felt clunky. And once you got through that, there wasn't much there." Regardless of the robotic nature of the service, the high cost of entry is proving to be a huge barrier against Home, with "labor-intensive six-figure deals" required to create content for the community.

Jack Buser, director of PlayStation Home, argues that it offers "a chance to cut through the noise and actively engage directly with a large, targeted, and highly desirable consumer base." However, it appears that advertisers that want to work with Sony are interested in pursuing a different relationship -- one with the PlayStation Network itself. "Sony is a little more conservative in embracing their system as an ad platform," the report notes. However, the addition of the What's New screen, and advertising on the PlayStation Store, show that the Sony team is adapting, slowly transforming the PS3 into a system that advertisers can genuinely pursue.

[Thanks, ugotmesij]

Whether it's through its potent pixel combinations or the fact that the game regularly gives you purple nurples (not really ... we hope), Heavy Rain is bound to make you cry. Don't believe us? Well, would you believe the talented and scholarly chaps at Mega64? Yeah, we thought so!

The troupe's latest contribution posits that Heavy Rain is so sad, you won't even crack a smile if you go to Disneyland after playing it. Certainly, one must keep in mind that this is simply one man's experience, but it doesn't necessarily rule out Heavy Rain as a tear-inducing descent into a bottomless well of sadness. Figure out the case of The Crying Amusement Park Attendee for yourself by watching the video past the break.

The battle rages through the night in this cinematic trailer for Rise of the Sky Clan.

Entire forces can barely contain the heroes of Twelve Sky 2.

Remember when this was the only way to try out the latest games? Now there’s all sorts of events, demo downloads and other ways of getting the first taste of a game. Sure, getting demos is much easier in today’s day and age, but I miss the thrill of the hunt!

It is a dark time for the Rebellion. Hit the slopes of Hoth in this mission pack gameplay.

The Hoth missions from the Sith Edition make their way into their own mission pack.

Vader's former apprentice storms Echo Base and encounters a familiar hero in The Force Unleashed alternate storyline in the Star Wars Universe.

Hit the hookah and a little rolled-up brugleweed for a relaxing effect, then visit busty Gwen.

IGN reports that Nintendo of Australia released some big news about two upcoming Wii titles at its media summit. Metroid: Other M and Super Mario Galaxy 2 will be released between June and August. Other M was previously named as a summer release by Nintendo of Japan, but Galaxy has only ever been specified as "2010."

Those dates are presumably for Australia, but at least set a rough time frame for the rest of the world. We'll find out more tomorrow during Nintendo's US media summit.

Nintendo Australia also dated the black Wii console (March 11) and the DSi XL (April 15, in burgundy and bronze).


[Thanks, Caleb Schowalter!]

Wii games here DS games here (thanks Whitelighter!)

Take command of various ships and join the struggle for galactic domination.

Is Frobot gonna have to choke a bot?!

Last Ninja 3 might have been a fun game in its original release form, but the Virtual Console version was plagued with a bug that froze the game after completing the first level. Looks like Nintendo has finally gotten around to solving the issue…by yanking the game. …we have today received confirmation that “Last Ninja [...]