All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Square Enix ports over popular arcade card game.

The doctors will speak.

The doctors will speak.

With the DSi XL arriving April 15, Nintendo's Australian branch announced a move none of the other regional branches have: it's dropped the price of the original DSi. It's still pretty expensive, though: the system will now sell for $249.95 (US $233.35) instead of $299.95 (US $280).

The DSi XL will now occupy that $299.95 slot -- which explains why Nintendo chose to drop the price of the smaller model. Still, if you're in Australia and you want to be even remotely pleased with these prices, try not to look into how much this stuff costs anywhere else.

The doctors will speak.

Square Enix ports over popular arcade card game.

Ubisoft has announced an ongoing DLC strategy for Splinter Cell: Conviction. Through an initiative we've dubbed "Project Trend Buck," starting now, a new downloadable item will be available from Conviction's "Extras" menu for free and every Thursday to follow for an unspecified time.

This week, it's the MP7A1 Machine Pistol (pictured above). Future content will include more weapons, character skins and even a new Deniable Ops multiplayer map. Additionally, through the built-in Uplay service, players can unlock tokens to spend on more free content for use in the game.

Okay, Ubisoft, we forgive you now.

Early in the history of PlayStation Home, leading developers embraced the platform as a means to expand players’ gaming experiences via content that unlocked in-world after certain performance milestones were reached in-game. The PlayStation 3 community reacted very positively to this type of game integration, rushing into PlayStation Home to gather rewards from games such as Batman: Arkham Asylum, Street Fighter IV, Mega Man 10, White Knight Chronicles, Tekken 6, Resident Evil 5, PixelJunk Shooter, and many more.

Tomorrow, April 15th, we take the next step in the evolution of the platform with the release of the SOCOM OPFOR game space, which will allow fans of the franchise to assemble an assault weapon in a PlayStation Home mini-game and then load out into SOCOM: Confrontation with a fully-playable Golden AK-47 – an exclusive weapon only available to the most skilled players who can successfully complete the aforementioned mini-game in 12 seconds or less. Associate Producer KC Coleman had this to say about this landmark event in PlayStation Home history:

The ability [for PlayStation Home users] to unlock the Golden AK-47 in SOCOM: Confrontation is a huge step forward for Home as a platform and for the fans of the PS3 in general. We’ve long prided ourselves on being able to expand the experience of favorite PS3 titles by creating complementary content in Home, but this is the first time we’ve brought that experience back around to the disc game.

It’s truly a win-win-win situation. It’s a win for Home because we have opened up a huge door that will allow developers to continue to blur the line between PlayStation Home and PS3 games. It’s a win for SOCOM: Confrontation as a title because it allows them to continue to offer great content to players. And, of course, it’s a win for the millions of fans of Home and SOCOM: Confrontation because they get exclusive, meaningful, and 100% free content that is unlocked not from merely downloading an expansion pack, but by playing a fun game.

In addition to the Golden AK-47 Assembly game, the SOCOM OPFOR space boasts the highly-addictive 5-Finger Fillet mini-game and leaderboards. Check out this video for a fly-through of this new space and some of the thrilling content that resides within.

Our friends over at LucasArts continue to bring tons of awesome content to their throngs of fans in PlayStation Home. This week will see the introduction of the hugely-popular Monkey Island franchise into the ever-growing world of PlayStation Home. Show your affinity for our hapless hero Guybrush Peepwood…err, I mean Threepwillow…err, I mean, Threepwood, by heading to the PlayStation Home Mall this Thursday and picking up the has-to-be-seen-to-be-believed Ghost Pirate Ship personal space (complete with rewards), the tons of associated furniture items (available in massive bundles at reduced prices), and the array of Monkey Island costumes (LeChuck, Elaine Marley, Stan the Salesman, and, of course, Mr. Fancy Pants himself).

Also releasing (or should I say, re-releasing) this week is the new and improved Gamer’s Lounge. Named by the PlayStation Home community, for the PlayStation Home community, the Gamer’s Lounge has been redesigned completely at the behest and request of our most loyal users. We’ve added music, a Liar’s Dice mini-game, a ticker that pulls directly from the official PlayStation Twitter account (so you can stay up to date with all of the official PlayStation news without having to log out of PlayStation Home), and a survey that rewards participants with a special virtual item.

The Gamer’s Lounge will now host our daily Featured Game parties, which have previously been held at the Listen@Home kiosk in Central Plaza. These daily events serve as a rallying point for the PlayStation Home community to meet up with friends new and old and launch into the latest and greatest PS3 and PSN titles. For the unveiling of the new and improved Gamer’s Lounge, we will be challenging one another to multiplayer matches of UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves. Come out on launch night between the hours of 4:00pm and 8:00pm PT (7:00pm and 11:00pm EST) to take part in some UNCHARTED 2 action, and then come back over the weekend to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, MLB 10: The Show, and Aliens vs. Predator.

See you in Home!

Upcoming game from 428 director Jiro Ishii to feature time traveling theme.

Ubisoft has announced an ongoing DLC strategy for Splinter Cell: Conviction. Through an initiative we've dubbed "Project Trend Buck," starting tomorrow, a new downloadable item will be available from Conviction's "Extras" menu for free and every Thursday for an unspecified time.

This week, it's the MP7A1 Machine Pistol (pictured above). Future content will include more weapons, character skins and even a new Deniable Ops multiplayer map. Additionally, through the built-in Uplay service, players can unlock tokens to spend on more free content for use in the game. Okay, Ubisoft, we forgive you now.

Challenge friends to win big prizes with the new game that Nintendo Power awarded a review score of 8.5 out of 10.

#realmusic First it was World War II, then zombies, and now 19th century Polish composer Frederic Chopin, with an upcoming rhythm game by Polish studio Bloober Team dedicated to the star of Namco Bandai's Eternal Sonata. More »

Challenge friends to win big prizes with the new game that Nintendo Power awarded a review score of 8.5 out of 10.

#new Apparently a lot of you are sick of playing video games in the city I live in. More »

Even with James Cameron's name attached to it, the Avatar video game simply wasn't good. While a few games (Goldeneye, Chronicles of Riddick) manage to escape the "movie game curse," most licensed games are plagued by mediocrity. Jerry Bruckheimer, producer of the upcoming Prince of Persia movie, explained to Gamasutra that studios have "this business model where they know they'll sell X amount of games on that opening couple of weeks, and a lot of them do that, rather than take their time and create a wonderful game."
While such a conclusion is probably obvious to the average Joystiq reader, it's vindicating to hear a high-profile producer admit to such industry shortcomings. Bruckheimer does offer a reasonable solution: release licensed games alongside their movie counterparts' home video releases to give them more development time. "As long as it's a good game, people will play it," concluded Bruckheimer.

"The problem is, to really make a good game, it really takes a long time," explained Bruckheimer, whose game studio is taking its sweet time (to even announce a title). "So by the time you green-light a movie, it's a year to a year-and-a-half until it's out. That's too short a period for a video game to be made. It's a three-year process to get a really good game made, and that's where they fail." Incidentally, Ubisoft's Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, which is tangentially related to Bruckheimer's film, will release ten days before the movie, following just under two years of development time.

Has your brotainment been at an all-time low with Army of Two: The 40th Day's campaign DLC, Chapters of Deceit? Well, according to Eurogamer, EA is well aware of the issue regarding faulty Achievement and Trophy unlocks and is currently working on a fix.

"There is a known issue affecting Achievements in an Army of Two DLC pack," an EA spokesperson said. "We are looking into a solution and hope to provide an update soon." In the meantime, we suggest you enjoy one of those other games that inspired The 40th Day. It's not a bad way to pass the time until you wait for "soon" to come around.

Upcoming game from 428 director Jiro Ishii to feature time traveling theme.

The 1st annual Pangya Rally and Chrono Challenge offer tons of prizes including a $100 Amazon gift card, an iPod Touch and more.

First screens of Ubisoft's new Prince of Persia for PSP.

The bewildering movie-to-game adaptation of Kick-Ass has been re-dated and priced. Now scheduled for a worldwide April 29 release, the beat-'em-up will cost $14.99 on PSN. Presumably, the iPhone version will cost a bit less than that.

In addition to Facebook connectivity, the PS3 version of Kick-Ass will feature couch co-op play, bonus levels, arena mode, extreme mode, an unlockable comic, and clips from the movie. However, all the fluff in the world isn't going to make up for quality gameplay (or lack thereof). Let's see if Kick-Ass can deliver.

#learninggames University of Guelph professor Barbara Morrongiello doesn't want your children to be eaten by dogs, so she's created a video game that will teach kids how to avoid catastrophic canine confrontations. More »

Players can earn in-game currency by opting to watch demos and completing surveys for new offers; no purchases required.

#animals Evey game has a Horde Mode these days. EVERY game. I mean, Bass Pro Shops The Hunt has one, except it's no stand-off against aliens. It's man against attacking forest animals. More »

#clips After months of teaser trailers and bizarre dream sequences, we finally get a chance to see Naughty Bear practicing his murderous ways. It's like Friday the 13th, only with teddy bears. More »

The budget deficit had better run Erskine Bowles, co-chair of President Obama's fiscal commission, is turning to games to educate the public about the difficulty of reducing the U.S. budget deficit. Specifically, he's turning to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, USA Today reports.

Bowles has reportedly been communicating with Ballmer about creating a video game that allows anyone to attempt to balance the budget. Bob Kerrey, co-chair of a 1994 fiscal commission, spoke of the need to gain the public's understanding: "What you could get is support among the populace for the exceptionally unpopular things you need to do to solve this problem," adding that a budget-balancing game could "go viral ," though it would be hard to imagine anything created by Microsoft and distributed by the U.S. government as "viral."

As bizarre an idea as this seems, Bowles is not the first to try it. in 1989 the National Economic Commission distributed Hard Choices on floppies for $20 a copy (which in itself might have helped). Kerrey's own 1994 commission also released a game with the thrilling title Budget Shadows.
[Thanks, Gerry]

Hi all you ZEN Pinball fans!

ZEN Studios has locked down this Thursday, April 15, 2010 as the official release date for Excalibur, the latest expansion table for ZEN Pinball! Fans can pick up the awesome new table on the PlayStation Store for $2.49. Check out the exclusive sneak peek of the new Excalibur table with the trailer below!

This trailer is only a taste of what the Excalibur table will deliver. Earn your seat as a respected knight of the Round Table of Camelot as you duel the other knights in effort to retain the “King Champion” title. Hit swinging targets, utilize Merlin’s tips and suggestions to start up the Magical Multiball, and participate in jousting tournaments to earn extra points! Check out the exciting new Excalibur table tomorrow, and for more information, you can always check out previous ZEN pinball posts on this blog or visit the official ZEN Pinball website at www.zenpinball.com.

#preview Even though its color palette and design practically scream, "Ico," Hudson Soft's Lost in Shadow for the Wii is inspired just as much by clever platform-jumping games like Paper Mario, Braid and Cloning Clyde. More »

Has your brotainment been at an all-time low with Army of Two: The 40th Day's campaign DLC, Chapters of Deceit? Well, according to Eurogamer, EA is well aware of the issue regarding faulty Achievement and Trophy unlocks and is currently working on a fix.

"There is a known issue affecting Achievements in an Army of Two DLC pack," an EA spokesperson said. "We are looking into a solution and hope to provide an update soon." In the meantime, we suggest you enjoy one of those other games that inspired The 40th Day. It's not a bad way to pass the time until you wait for "soon" to come around.

In the five years since the Bleach: Heat the Soul franchise began, Sony has managed to create seven games, all exclusively for the PSP. Considering Bleach is a relatively popular anime series in America, we're dumbfounded by Sony's continued refusal to bring a single one of these games over to America.

The seventh iteration of the popular fighting game franchise will add four-player battles, according to a report by Siliconera. Perhaps taking a page from Monster Hunter's tremendous success, you'll be able to fight "giant enemies," something that will most likely require the use of the newly added four-player mode.