All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

#igaming Street Fighter IV, despite my love/hate relationship with the game, remains in the top spot of the charts this week. More »

That's right -- Cave Story.

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Last updated: Monday, 1:00 PM

I guess it makes more sense than Monkey Ball.

Hi there, BUZZ! fans! I have excellent news for all of you Facebook fanatics. You’ll be able to experience the PS3’s first true in-game Facebook publishing features by posting cool stats from your BUZZ! Quiz World PS3 games to your Facebook wall!

To get in on the fun, just sync your PSN account to your Facebook account by signing into PSN via the XMB, opening the account management menu, selecting the Facebook option and choosing to share game event information.

Once your accounts have been synced, you’ll be offered the option of posting stats like what place you finished in and what buzzer noises your friends used, once you’ve completed a BUZZ! Quiz World PS3 game. All you have to do is hit the red button on your BUZZ! Buzzer to accept and these fun stats from your game will be added to your Facebook wall. So fire up your PS3, hop into a game of BUZZ! Quiz World and get ready to tout your triumphs to all of your Facebook friends!

If you’re a BUZZ! Quiz World PSP buff, I’ve got great news for you as well. We’ve been busy publishing PSP-optimized versions of your favorite downloadable Quiz Packs. Check out the PSP-optimized Rock Idols, Comedy and Sci-Fi Quiz Packs, now available on the PlayStation Store. Test your trivia skills with fun questions like these:

Rock Idols PSP-Optimized Quiz Pack

WHICH BAND TOOK ITS FANS BY SURPRISE WITH ‘BLACK ICE’ IN 2008?

• BLACK SABBATH
• AC/DC
• MEGADETH
• NINE INCH NAILS

Comedy PSP-Optimized Quiz Pack

IN WHICH 2006 CAPER DOES JACK BLACK GET IN THE RING WITH SATAN’S CAVEMEN?

• NACHO LIBRE
• NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM
• THE BREAK-UP
• TENACIOUS D IN THE PICK OF DESTINY

Sci-Fi PSP-Optimized Quiz Pack

WHAT SPECIES IS THE ‘STAR TREK’ CHARACTER WORF?

• FERENGI
• ROMULAN
• KLINGON
• VULCAN

With the addition of these recently released Quiz Packs, the PlayStation Store now offers well over 1,000 additional questions for BUZZ! Quiz World PSP, so you’ll never run out of questions while you’re on-the-go!

Thanks for checking in! Stay tuned to the PlayStation.Blog for the latest and greatest BUZZ! news.

#mods If you were as impressed as we were by Dylan 'Steaky' Loney's Team Fortress 2 mod The Great Class Dash, which turned Valve's first-person shooter into a side-scrolling platformer, then you'll be glad to hear it's now available for download. More »

We're sure a lot of you missed Dragon Ball Origins the first time around -- after all, licensed games are a dime a dozen on DS, and it's hard to devote your attention to any one, especially if the license isn't something you care about. However, we thought it was something that deserved attention, as the sequel is likely to be.

These brief clips of Dragon Ball Origins 2 will pretty much get you up to speed: it's top-down, stylus (or button) controlled fighting, much like the DS Zeldas but faster and with more combat. If knocking a bunch of dudes off of snowmobiles with a giant, magical staff sounds like your kind of fun, you're in for a treat.

#deals Dante's Inferno at $38.99 might not be that great of a PlayStation 3 game deal, but if you hurry you can score Tekken 6 for $17.99 as part of a day filled with PS3 deals on Amazon.com. More »

True to its name, news on Dark Energy Digital's episodic XBLA (puzzle? horror? action?) game, Hydrophobia, has been the very definition of a trickle. Every few months, the thing emerges Loch Ness-style to reassert its existence, then promptly dives below again. If the game's official site is to be believed, though, the peek-a-boo routine may be ending.

Visitors to the page are now greeted with a timer counting down to 12 AM ET Friday, and the developer's Twitter feed promises, "All will be revealed very shortly," adding, "something big is coming." This whole countdown page thing is a little "mid-to-late 2008" for our tastes, but we'll be willing to forgive, if the reveal leads to some promising details about the game.

[Via CVG]

#cheating An argument between Counter-Strike players at a Chinese net café over suspected use of a 'wallhack' cheat led to a 17-year-old boy being stabbed through the head with a foot-long knife - and living to tell the tale. More »

TikGames is launching yet another game on PS3 this week via the PlayStation Network: Hamsterball, a self-described, hamster-themed mix of "Marble Madness and Super Monkey Ball." As with other games featuring plastic-trapped mammals, Hamsterball looks to be a race through suspended mazes, with the goal of achieving faster and faster completion times.

In addition to the requisite single-player campaign, Hamsterball also features a two-player split-screen mode and a seven-player "sumo" mode. We're not entirely sure what "sumo" is supposed to mean, but it's true that the PS3 can support up to 7 controllers locally -- so will Hamsterball be one of the few games to actually support this feature?

Hamsterball will be available for $9.99 on the North American PlayStation Store this Thursday, March 25.

#ripper Late last year two unearthed trademark applications seemed to lend credence to rumors that Electronic Arts was working on a game based on Jack the Ripper, but we haven't heard anything new about the game since... until now. More »

Jump for joy.

The intergalactic bowling fun for the whole family on Wii with realistic physics and diversified game modes.

Filed under: Mac, PC, Meta (about Joystiq) As you might've expected, we had a few surprises come our way just before PAX East touches down (for its first year!) in Boston next weekend. Let's hope you already snagged tickets, 'cause the event is now officially sold out -- you wouldn't wanna miss the first ever live Joystiq Podcast, now would you? And not too far after (less than 90 days) we'll be heading westward for E3 -- can you believe it? But hey, for now, you've got time. Why not review the last week on Big Download with us:

Exclusive Features

• Reviews: We give our final verdict for two RTS games: Command and Conquer 4 and Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II Chaos Rising.
• Boot Disk: Our retro games feature this week concerns the WWII flight simulator IL-2 Sturmovik.
• All You Need To Know: We give you the 411 on the upcoming action-driving game Split/Second.
• Freeware Friday: Our look at free PC games checks out the flash game Redder.

Six new battles, some new documentation, and more with this first official update.

#clips The characters from the movie based off of Mark Millar's comic book Kick-Ass completely kick ass in this trailer for WHA Entertainment's video game adaptation for the iPhone and PlayStation Network, and somehow that doesn't seem right. More »

Nearly everything about Kick-Ass: The Game is bewildering. Like its movie and comic counterpart, it features young, everyday kids killing bad guys in graphically violent ways. It's a bit startling to see a game with such vulgar language appear on Apple's iPhone platform, and how bizarrely random is a simultaneous release on iPhone and PS3 (via PSN)?

Less unexpected is the apparent "budget" quality of Kick-Ass: The Game, as featured in the trailer. Predictably, the game looks to be a rather standard beat-em-up, with the kind of low production values we've come to expect from simple, movie tie-in games. We do see mention of Facebook connectivity in this trailer, but it's hard to gauge the precise functionality of the feature.

Still, if both the PS3 and iPhone versions of the game are priced right, Kick Ass may be worth checking out, especially for fans of the franchise. Kick-Ass: The Game will launch simultaneously on PSN and iPhone on April 15.

The prince of the Dungeon Bandit community has arrived.

This week's Xbox Live deal ain't too shabby, if you haven't got yourself a copy of Fallout 3: GOTY Edition or already downloaded all of the game's DLC onto your hard drive. Each of the five episodes continuing the adventures of our strong, silent hero (or villain, if you prefer to play the meanie) are half-off this week, just as anticipated.

That means the whole lot (usually setting back would-be Wasteland travelers $50 total) can be yours for $25 up until March 29 -- or 400 ($5) each. War never changes, but the cost of doing battle just got a bit cheaper.

Shortcut: Add Fallout 3's Operation Anchorage DLC to your Xbox 360 download queue [Xbox.com]
Shortcut: Add Fallout 3's The Pitt DLC to your Xbox 360 download queue [Xbox.com]
Shortcut: Add Fallout 3's Broken Steel DLC to your Xbox 360 download queue [Xbox.com]
Shortcut: Add Fallout 3's Point Lookout DLC to your Xbox 360 download queue [Xbox.com]
Shortcut: Add Fallout 3's Mothership Zeta DLC to your Xbox 360 download queue [Xbox.com]

#electronicarts Electronic Arts plans to grow its digital game business to become one-third of their total revenue over the next few years and that includes starting to charge for what one analyst described as very long game demos. More »

Game based on the elite CIA Special Activities Division officers.

Hi PlayStation world! This is Howard Lehr from TikGames, here to reveal our little secret. (Eep!) We’ve been in stealth mode on this one, having a great time playing against our co-workers, friends, family, the guy we saw out the window waiting for the bus who was wearing a RUSH T-shirt (we lured him into our office on the premise that we had a fresh supply of donuts). Hamsterball is a blast and it’s time now to share it with the world. We hope you will love it as much as we do!

What is Hamsterball? Well, imagine if both Marble Madness and Super Monkey Ball were to meet a cute and unsuspecting hamster who’s out for a leisurely roll in his ball. This is the most frenzied race to the finish line he’ll ever run, guaranteed!

Hamsterball offers a ton of great game modes, including 2 player split screen, 7 player sumo and a whole bunch of single player levels. Oh yeah….we’ve got many unlockables, and Trophies too! (We just looooove Trophies.)

No more worries about cleaning the cage or middle-of-the-night escapes, only to find your hamster hiding under your laundry pile. Hamsterball offers all the fun of hamster racing, without the bummer of hearing your mom (GF, SO, BF, wife, roommate, etc.) bark at you to tidy up Mr. Stinky’s cage!

Hamsterball will be available for $9.99 on the PlayStation Store on March 25.

Everyone at TikGames really appreciates your support. Please do let us know what you think of the game after you’ve played it.

Cave Story Makes a Momentous WiiWare Debut

While confirming that Six Days in Fallujah - the inspired-by-real-events military FPS hot potato that Konami tossed aside last year - was "still going to be coming out," developer Atomic Games also told Joystiq that it has "a game coming out first," which the dev will "be working on ... before Six Days in Fallujah." Over the wire just now comes news of Atomic's latest: Breach, a "multiplayer" FPS "based on the elite CIA Special Activities Division officers."

Much of the press release is cleverly "redacted" -- highlighting the black areas reveals hidden text: "so you've managed to decode this section to reveal the classified information. Come on! Did you really think it was going to be that easy? Yes, we do work for military and intelligence organizations. Yes, we are creating a game that will blow your mind. Yes, some of it was actually redacted. Yes, many of us have security clearances. So what that all means is I can't tell you anything more than is in this release until it's okay. Until then, we are high-speed, low-drag and ready to work. Molon Labe!"

Wikipedia tells us that "molon labe" is the motto of the United States Special Operations Command Central (that's SOCCENT for you military buffs), so expect some adherence to real-world events, military jargon and other things that suggest authenticity. That is Atomic Games forte, after all. Breach is in development for "consoles and personal computers."

While confirming that Six Days in Fallujah - the inspired-by-real-events military FPS hot potato that Konami tossed aside last year - was "still going to be coming out," developer Atomic Games also told Joystiq that it has "a game coming out first," which the dev will "be working on ... before Six Days in Fallujah." Over the wire just now comes news of Atomic's latest: Breach, a "multiplayer" FPS "based on the elite CIA Special Activities Division officers."

Much of the press release is cleverly "redacted" -- highlighting the black areas reveals hidden text: "so you've managed to decode this section to reveal the classified information. Come on! Did you really think it was going to be that easy? Yes, we do work for military and intelligence organizations. Yes, we are creating a game that will blow your mind. Yes, some of it was actually redacted. Yes, many of us have security clearances. So what that all means is I can't tell you anything more than is in this release until it's okay. Until then, we are high-speed, low-drag and ready to work. Molon Labe!"

Wikipedia tells us that "molon labe" is the motto of the United States Special Operations Command Central (that's SOCCENT for you military buffs), so expect some adherence to real-world events, military jargon and other things that suggest authenticity. That is Atomic Games forte, after all. Breach is in development for "consoles and personal computers."

#wellplayed Two weeks ago the inseparable duo behind popular game-themed web comic Penny Arcade received an award for their work as "video game ambassadors", this weekend they'll be earning it... again. More »

You know what you're downloading on Wii today without having to look at the full list. In fact, we'll save you some time: Cave Story is the full list. In what we still regard as a pleasant surprise, Nicalis's remake is actually, for real, being released today! The only thing better than actually getting to play Cave Story today would be getting to download it for free -- which you just might be able to do, if you follow @nicalis on Twitter and take part in the dev's daily giveaway.

DSiWare is also home to pleasant surprises today, in the form of three DSiWare versions of Game & Watch minigames.

You know what you're downloading on Wii today without having to look at the full list. In fact, we'll save you some time: Cave Story is the full list. In what we still regard as a pleasant surprise, Nicalis's remake is actually, for real, being released today! The only thing better than actually getting to play Cave Story today would be getting to download it for free -- which you might just be able to do, if you follow @nicalis on Twitter and take part in their daily giveaway.

DSiWare is also home to pleasant surprises, in the form of three DSiWare versions of Game & Watch minigames.

Amazon's Gold Box is offering PS3 savings all day, but the only deal we know for sure is Dante's Inferno for $38.99. All we have for the remaining items are hints, but we'll give you our best educated guess.

9AM (All Times ET): Batman: Arkham Asylumm: $39.99
12PM: "This storied fighting franchise returns for another bout" -- Tekken? Street Fighter? Fight Night? Tough to say.
4PM: "You might have played this RPG on your 360" -- No clue, but that's not a super great pitch is it?
7PM: "Help Lego Dr. Jones through your favorite cinematic moments" -- Lego Indiana Jones 1 or 2
9PM: "Wave around your PS3" -- Maybe Nyko's Blue Wave Remote? Either way, it doesn't sound like a very safe thing to do.
10PM: "Don't 'tapout' on this great MMA deal" -- UFC 2009 Undisputed

Again, those are our seventh grade-educated (thanks for nothing, overly-abundant fall harvest on our parent's farm) guesses, but we feel pretty confident you'll read the actual item listing rather than just purchasing sight-unseen. Right guys? Right?

[Thanks, Kenny]

#gallery Girls in stockings. Girls in wigs. Girls in frilly dresses. Over the weekend, the cosplaying hoard took to the streets of Osaka's Den-Den Town in the annual Nipponbashi Street Festival. More »