All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Tetsuya Nomura second hand Tweets about his upcoming projects, and even hints at a Dissidia Final Fantasy sequel.

Every Thursday sees a deluge of new content publish on the PlayStation Home platform, and this week, of course, is no exception. From Resistance, inFAMOUS, and Twisted Metal items to beachside bungalows with built-in mini-games to personal concert venues (complete with all you’ll need to jam with your friends) to 100% exclusive community events, there is something going on in PlayStation Home this week for every kind of gamer – hardcore, casual, and any type in-between.

Our official forums (available at boardsus.playstation.com) have been buzzing with speculation as to when nDreams’ wildly-popular Musicality personal space was going to hit stateside. We here on the PlayStation Home Community Management have been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to announce that this highly-interactive personal space will be available in the Estates store come Thursday, March 18. Why? Because not only are we all bona fide music nerds, but because this is easily one of the most unique personal spaces to ever grace the platform. A veritable cornucopia of creativity, the Musicality personal spaces allows up to four people at a time to take control of an array of keyboards, drums, guitar, and a DJ console and perform music live in front of their friends. With hundreds of different loops at your disposal, the possibilities are endless in terms of the songs you and your friends can create and perform. Check out the video below for a taste of what to expect when this revolutionary new personal space releases this week.

Also available this week is a new addition in our line of luxurious personal spaces – a tropical retreat plucked straight out of the south Pacific and hand-delivered to your Home. Whether you are a straight up beach bunny or just taking a break from your latest surfari, this seaside abode is the perfect place to lay back and relax (or jump into the sand and kick a ball around). Watch this video for an overview of this hot (no pun intended) personal space, which promises to offer as much fun as it does sun.

Months back we asked you, the loyal PlayStation Home community, what kind of virtual items you would most like us to release. We all anticipated the answers we would receive (hello Star Wars!), but nonetheless I love to be the bearer of good news; the one that gets to say “boo-yah” in this here Blog. So, without further ado, we present new Resistance, inFAMOUS, and Twisted Metal ornaments and costumes galore! We’re talking everything from a Sweet Tooth costume to a Daedalus statue to a full Alden get-up. Don’t believe me? The evidence is below…

This week plays hosts to a ton of community events that can only be experienced in PlayStation Home. For instance, tonight from 6:00pm – 7:00pm PT (9:00pm-10:00pm EST) in PlayStation Home’s Theater 8, there will be a special meet-and-greet with Doc and Luge from the exclusive PlayStation Network reality show The Tester. Come prepared with your most burning questions, and stay tuned to the Blog for details regarding additional guest appearances from The Tester cast in PlayStation Home.

And, as with any week, be sure to visit the Theater each Thursday to watch the newest episode of The Tester, pick up free rewards, and grab commemorative items from the kiosks in the Theater and Central plaza (pictured below). This week we are airing Episode 5 as well as hosting a marathon screening of Episodes 1-4 in Theater 7 over the weekend!

Also scheduled for this week is a special PlayStation.Blog Meetup in the PlayStation Home Theater. Come out on Thursday night from 5:00pm – 7:00pm PT (8:00pm – 10:00pm EST) to watch an exclusive PlayStation Move video with the PlayStation Home and Blog community, get some face time with the players that bring you a never-ending stream of news on the Blog, and pick up free – and exclusive – virtual items. I grabbed a quick shot of my fellow HCM team member, GlassWalls, sporting the exclusive PS Blog belt buckle to post below. Be sure to come out tomorrow night and participate in the festivities or you will lose out on the opportunity to add these limited items to your collection.

Speaking of my buddy GlassWalls – As many of you hardcore Home-people know, he is heading up the Home Community Volunteer program, which is now accepting new candidates. He sent me this message just a few moments ago and asked that I pass along the good word…

Hey everyone!

Over the past year, the PlayStation Home community has expanded its population exponentially. With this growth comes a need for more friendly and knowledgeable power users to help the throngs of newcomers that may need a little help getting oriented. That’s why I want YOU to apply to be a member of the PlayStation Home Community Volunteer program!

From serving as a guide for new users to helping out with community events, the PlayStation Home Community Volunteer program offers a great outlet to the most passionate Home users to help give back to the community that enriches their online gaming experience. So if you want to contribute to the growth of this vibrant social gaming community, I urge to you to follow THIS LINK and apply to become a member of this quickly-growing, and highly-popular, volunteer program!

Looking forward to hearing from you!

–GlassWalls

Spectral Force Genesis for the Nintendo DS has officially commenced its march toward retail stores nationwide. A tactical RPG set to the backdrop of warring nations, the latest installment in the popular Spectral Force Genesis series offers an all-new, character-driven experience. Choosing to become the leader of one of 40 countries, each with its [...]

The PS3 has changed a lot since it first debuted in 2006. Trophies, movies and TV shows on the PlayStation Store, in-game XMB and more have enhanced your experience – and some of you readers have let us know what else you’d like to see us do.

Unfortunately, this frequently manifests itself as an off-topic comment in an unrelated Blog post.

We know that many readers find such digressions annoying, but we’ve been reluctant to crack down on them as readers didn’t have a good place to formally make requests. Starting today, you do: I’m happy to announce the launch of PlayStation.Blog Share.

Share is a subset of the PlayStation.Blog where readers can submit ideas to us about anything PlayStation-related as well as vote on the ideas of others. Many of you are already making suggestions to us, and we’ve always been listening (that’s the whole idea of the Blog), but now these ideas have an official place to call home. You can find the entrance to Share right at the top of this page.

Share uses a lot of the same Blog features you should already be quite familiar with, with the notable addition of a voting system. If you’ve ever visited Digg (or Reddit, etc.) you already know how this works: if you like an idea, you vote it up. If you hate an idea, vote it down. We’ll be keeping track of the popularity of an idea (the +/-) and also the volume (total number of votes). Authors that submit the most popular ideas will find themselves ranking on our leaderboard (which is really just for fun/bragging rights). It’s also important to note that we’re restricting idea submissions to one per person per day at launch, as we don’t want just a handful of people to “run the site.” We’d like to see ideas from as diverse a group of people as possible, and we think this rule will help.

You’ve probably got a few questions about how this all works, and for that we’ve made a pretty comprehensive FAQ that you’ll want to take a glance at before you get started. One thing I want to point out ahead of time is that yes, we’ll be reading these ideas. That said, we ask for your patience in advance; don’t expect Share to lead to overnight changes or actions. Moreover, if we can’t or don’t plan to enact certain ideas, we may jump in and tell you why not.

One final note – now that we’re providing a forum for suggestions (in addition to our long-established traditional Forums), it’s time to crack down on Blog comments. Starting today, moderation for off-topic comments will be much more strict.

That about does it – the PlayStation Social Media team has been working on Share for some time, and we hope you take the time to explore it. We’re quite excited to see what you have to say.

#metroidotherm While Metroid: Other M may feel like a departure for the series in the way it plays and the influences brought in by fabled designers Team Ninja, at its heart it is meant to be a unifying game for the series. More »

#rumor With BioWare hard at work on Star Wars: The Old Republic and Star Wars Galaxies hanging onto life, is Sony Online Entertainment working on a browser-based Clone Wars MMO for kids? Rumors say yes. More »

Based on all the movies and old shows we've seen, we feel like we know how it was in the old west: people sat around all day, drank whiskey from unmarked bottles, hit up the brothel when they had some spare cash and did their best not to get in Clint Eastwood's way. Pretty cut and dry, right?

Well, Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption paints a different picture of the west, one filled with picturesque landscapes and small towns, where clusters of folk tried to earn a living and make a life. A place in the grip of the Industrial Revolution, an uncertain time of transition from the old lawless ways of the west to the modern comforts and progress enjoyed by Americans in the east.

This recreation of life back then isn't just for show, however -- players will be able to go all Ted Nugent on it and hunt and skin animals, selling their hides to merchants for valuable goods or services. There's also the job of ranch protector, should you wish to guard the land from potential night-time rustlers. You can even herd cattle and fight a mountain lion or two, if the idea of mowing down countless NPCs puts a hitch in your giddy-up.

#preview The best thing one can write about the kind of game the upcoming Wii title Sin & Punishment 2 is that it is busy, maybe hyperactive. More »

Shrunken down dinosaurs for your DSi.

this video features a look at both the Power Gig booth and the very first live demonstration of the game's revolutionary new guitar peripheral.

Nothing derails the excitement of playing games online with your friends quite like finding out that you don't have a certain piece of DLC required to join their game. The USPTO recently approved a Microsoft patent application (filed way back in August 2008) for a system that would enable users to seamlessly purchase and download game add-ons from the Xbox Live Marketplace when alerted by an in-game prompt that they're missing said content (which would be required for a particular online game they're attempting to launch).

The process would allow you to make purchases without being forced out of a game lobby you might be sharing with friends -- though, really, what kind of "friends" wouldn't warn you about your game's newfound incompatibility before inviting you in? Inconsiderate friends, that's who.

[Via Eurogamer; BrokeMyController]

An A.D.D. design, though that's not necessarily bad.

A capable clone of Grand Theft Auto.

3D mini-golf hits DSiWare.

Ubisoft's running gag of a video game is getting stale.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Remember to wear green and all that, or else Blanka’s team (made up of Capcom’s own marketing duo, Andrew and Jared) will pinch you…excessively.

#gallery It's Saint Patrick's Day, and before we get around to drinking ourselves into a stupor and starting fights with inanimate objects, we're taking a moment to celebrate our favorite fightin' Irish video game characters. More »

A portion of a Nintendo Life review… Even if there were no issues with this game locking up and becoming unplayable, it’s still more hassle than it’s worth. If you really want to play some golf on your DSi, try one of the other available games instead and save yourself the headache.

EA Play Marketing VP to discuss marketing and launching 2009's best-selling PC Game and showcase The Sims 3 ambitions expansion pack.