All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

- due out July 8th - manage a farm - choose from two neighboring villages as your base of operations - one village is full of animals, while another is full of crops - the two villages are now rivals, but were once friends - advertising cross-promotion planned with restaurant Sweet Paradise - restaurant promo to kick off in July, with [...]

Hi everyone, in our continued effort to provide the best, most comprehensive entertainment experience possible, we’ll be adding a few new features to PlayStation 3 (PS3) via the latest system software update, which is a mandatory update and will be available shortly. Most notably, you’ll see some new sorting options within Trophies that make it easier to claim bragging rights among your friends on PlayStation Network.

• Trophy enhancements –- Now you can more easily sort trophies in the [Trophy Collection] and [Comparing Trophy] sections. Sorting can be done with [Trophy Collection] in the [Game Category] and also when comparing trophies with your friends in the [Friend Category]

• Trophy Folder (Title List) can be sorted by game name/ by title according to the date in which you earned your last trophy (ascending/descending)
• Add-on list (Group list) can be sorted by original/the date in which you earned your last trophy (ascending/descending)
• Trophy list can be sorted by original/trophy name/grade/date of obtaining the trophy (ascending/descending)

In addition, this update preps the PS3 system for some upcoming new features, including 3D stereoscopic gaming, which is coming soon to PS3, in time for the launch of Sony’s 3D BRAVIA TVs.

Let us know your thoughts and as always, we look forward to your feedback.

It would appear that some people are able to taste Valve's Steam service on Mac, as evidenced by the video after the break from MacStories. And as one of the most anticipated things ever, we're sure you're probably moving your cursor to the bottom of this post right about now so you can click through. Just know that you may be a bit disappointed.

We're not talking about a letdown in the functionality department, just that it pretty much looks exactly like Steam on Windows. No special bells or whistles, just the new, already slick Steam UI. Good thing that's definitely enough, right?

[Thanks, Federico]

Retailer lists unannounced game from Activision

#clips Remember your old gym teacher, with the pedo moustache and the too-tight shorts, who'd always prop up one leg on things, giving you an uncomfortably good view of his crotch? PlayStation spokesman Kevin Butler will never forget. More »

#music When the concert ticket, the downloaded album and the official t-shirt aren't enough, there is the official video game of the band. Why play Linkin Park's video game? It is for the fans. More »

Comrades: though we can hardly believe it after so many delays, all signs still indicate Alpha Protocol is on track for a June 1 release -- so let us celebrate with some trailers featuring former communists. One focuses on a hormonal East German mercenary named Sie, while the other spotlights an old Russian information broker, who likely remembers a time when information sold him.

The German is above, the Russian is after the break and a martini is stirred, not shaken.

Microsoft confirms players could be waiting just a bit longer.

You’ve been asking us for weeks in the official PlayStation Home forums, in the comments section of this Blog, and on fan sites and podcasts…and we’re coming through for you like you knew we would! That’s right, Home people – this Thursday, April 22nd the long-requested FINAL FANTASY XIII costumes (along with some additional FFXIII furniture) will be released into the ever-expanding world PlayStation Home. For the guys, our friends at Square Enix have made Sazh and Snow costumes, while all you gals out there will be able to pick up the gorgeous wares of Lightning and Vanille. These clothing items will be sold as bundles in the Costumes store and include composite clothing sets, gloves, and wigs (an extra chocobo wig for Sazh will be sold separately). Peep the below visual evidence for an idea of what to expect when this truly awesome FFXIII content releases later this week.

Speaking of highly-requested content, we’ll be partying like its 1968 in Central Plaza come this Thursday when Big Daddy and Big Sister costumes (along with some other BioShock 2 virtual items) are released in PlayStation Home. We’ve snagged a few pics to give you a taste of what to expect when you add these creepy items to your collection (fun fact: Mr. Magnus Keynes – Home’s resident business guru – is too scared by BioShock 2 to even review these new items whereas our very own CydoniaX regularly schools the rest of the team in multiplayer mode and is sporting the Big Sister armor as I type).

In other news, Sodium will be receiving an update this week which will result in faster loading, new objectives being doled out by VICKIE (with new rewards, of course), and a new interactive map. As with all things in PlayStation Home, these updates come at the request of our loyal community members who regularly contribute great ideas on the official PlayStation Home Sodium forum. So, please, keep the good thoughts coming!

Ever since we released the new and improved Gamer’s Lounge last week, our nightly Featured Game parties have been hopping. And while you can always count on at least one official event being staged every single day in PlayStation Home (like this upcoming Saturday night’s Battlefield: Bad Company 2 game launching party), you can also bet that we’ll regularly break the mold and offer additional, 100% exclusive giveaways complete with the best prizes we can get our hands on. Starting this Friday, April 23rd and running to next Friday, April 30th, we’ll be giving away Wireless Keypads to 10 lucky contestants who participate in our Wireless Keypad sweepstakes. Want to learn how you can enter to win? Read the official Rules and Regulations, tacked on below for your convenience.

See you in Home!

The following promotion is intended for viewing in the 50 United States and the District of Columbia (“D.C.”) only and shall only be construed and evaluated according to United States law. Do not enter this sweepstakes if you are not a legal resident of, and located in the 50 United States or District of Columbia at the time of entry.

PLAYSTATION®HOME WIRELESS KEYPAD SWEEPSTAKES
OFFICIAL RULES
Void outside the 50 United States and D.C. and where prohibited.

1. ELIGIBILITY. The PlayStation®Home Wireless KeyPad Sweepstakes (“Promotion”) is open only to legal residents of the fifty United States and the D.C. who are 13 years of age or older at the time of entry and hold a PlayStation Network account in good standing as determined by Sponsor. Employees of the Sponsor and its parent, subsidiaries and affiliated companies and their immediate families are not eligible to participate in this Promotion.

2. SPONSOR. Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC, 919 E. Hillsdale Blvd., Foster City, CA 94404.

3. TIMING. Promotion begins April 23, 2010 at 12:00pm (noon) PST and ends April 30, 2010 at 12:00pm (noon) PST.

4. HOW TO ENTER. No purchase necessary. Internet access, a valid PlayStation®Network account, a PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system with a copy of PlayStation®Home installed on your system required. Log into your PlayStation Network account and launch PlayStation Home application The following question will be posted on a billboard in one of the core Home spaces: How would owning a wireless keypad improve your PlayStation®3 experience? To enter, send an e-mail to HomeContests@playstation.sony.com. Enter “Keypad” in the subject line and in the body of the email include your PSN ID and your answer to the question. To be valid, entries must be received no later than April 30, 2010 at 11:59pm PST.

2. PRIZES. Each prize winner will receive one (1) Wireless Keypad compatible with the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system (ARV $49.00). Sponsor reserves the right to substitute prize of equal value if prize is unavailable. Prizes are non-transferable and no substitutions allowed.

3. WINNER SELECTION. Ten (10) prize winners will be selected following the Promotion Period. Winners will be determined by a single random drawing of all valid entries received by Sponsor, whose decisions are final. Selection will be held on or about May 1, 2010. Sponsor will send a notification email to each winner’s registered PSN e-mail address. If any winner does not respond to Sponsor’s notification email within 7 days of the date of the notification email, he/she will be disqualified and a new winner will be selected based on the original selection criteria. Winners may be required to sign and return an Affidavit of Eligibility and Release (“Affidavit”) within seven (7) days of the date indicated on the correspondence sent by Sponsor. Failure to execute and return Affidavit within the stated time period will result in forfeiture of prize and an alternate winner will be selected. If a winning entrant is a minor, then Sponsor will award the prize to that winning entrant’s parent or legal guardian. If the potential winning entrant is a minor, then the Affidavit must be signed by potential winner’s parent or legal guardian and returned within the stated time period or prize may be forfeited and an alternate winner will be selected. Please allow four to six weeks for receipt of prizes.

4. ODDS OF WINNING. The odds of winning depend on number of valid entries received.

5. ENTRY CONDITIONS AND RELEASE. Limit one entry per person and e-mail address. Subsequent entries will be disqualified. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, mutilated, illegible, incomplete or misdirected entries. Sponsor is not responsible for technical, hardware or software failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections or failed, incomplete, garbled or delayed computer transmissions which may limit an entrant’s ability to participate in the Promotion. Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to cancel or suspend this Promotion should virus, bugs or other causes corrupt the administration, security or proper play of this Promotion. Entries not satisfying these Official Rules will be automatically disqualified. Return of any prize/prize notification as undeliverable will result in disqualification and an alternate winner will be selected. Sponsor’s decisions are final and binding in all matters related to the Promotion. Potential winners must comply with the Official Rules’ terms and conditions, and receipt of prizes is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements.

6. PUBLICITY. By attempting to enter, entering or accepting a Promotion prize, an entrant or prize winner agrees to the use of their statements, name and/or likenesses for purposes of advertising, trade, or promotion without further compensation, unless prohibited by law.

7. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY. By attempting to enter, entering or accepting a Promotion prize, an entrant or prize winner agrees to release Sponsor and its parent, subsidiaries, agencies, divisions and affiliates from liability, claims or actions or any kind for injuries, damages or losses to persons and property that may be sustained in connection with the receipt, ownership or use of the prize or while preparing for, participating in or traveling to or from the Promotion or any Promotion or prize-related activity. Neither the Sponsor nor its parent, affiliates, subsidiaries, agencies, divisions or related companies are responsible for any damages, taxes or expenses that winners might incur as a result of this Promotion or receipt of prize.

8. WINNER LIST. To obtain names of winners, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Wireless Key Pad Sweepstakes, Attention: PS Home-Annabelle Garcia, 4th Floor, 919 E. Hillsdale Blvd., Foster City, CA 94404. Prize winners’ name request will be fulfilled within four weeks. Request a copy of the winner list must be received by May 15, 2010.

9. COLLECTION OF INFORMATION. Sponsor will collect information in connection with the Promotion in accordance with Sponsor’s privacy policy, available at http://www.us.playstation.com/Support/PrivacyPolicy.

10. RESTRICTIONS. Void where prohibited or restricted by law.

If you've yet to snag an invitation to the StarCraft 2 beta, then this news post is for you! A tipster has alerted us to the StarCraft 2 product page on GameStop, which notes that pre-ordering the game will net players their own invitations to join the Zerg-stomping fun. The offer applies to both the $60 regular edition and the $100 collector's edition and can be redeemed either in-store or online. One quick note to the sneaky types out there: The product page states that orders cannot be canceled once your beta code has been received.

But hey, you were going to buy it anyway, and It's not like anyone would game the system just for a free beta ticket, right? Of course not.

[Thanks, Chris]

More classic Transformers will be playable.

#kotakutalkradio Our latest podcast heroically takes to the internet, its team of downloadable links leading you directly towards an extensive chat with Marvel's Chris Baker regarding Marvel Vs. Capcom 2. More »

If the above video is any indication, UFC Undisputed 2010 is really looking to provide a comprehensive career experience akin to what you see fighters go through in those MMA reality shows, sans the camera confessionals.

In THQ's sequel, you'll get to follow your virtual brawler through almost every facet of the sport -- from weigh-ins to training and even the WFA, to eventual UFC stardom -- picking up a rivalry or two along the way. We'll see if UFC Undisputed 2010 can pull off this ambitious career simulation when it hits the retail mat on May 25.

The first songs from the Rock Band Network to be available on PS3 will be released tomorrow, April 22, 2010. The five selected songs are "some of the most popular tracks" from the full selection:

Individual Tracks (with expected prices based on Xbox 360 RBN pricing)

• Flogging Molly - "Drunken Lullabies" (Live) ($1)
• Jonathan Coulton - "Code Monkey" ($2)
• The Shins - "Australia" ($2)
• The Slip - "Even Rats" ($2)
• Steve Vai - "For the Love of God" (Live) ($2)

Harmonix explained that, due to the way submissions work on PSN, the company is "currently capped at 5 songs per week." The developer explains that despite "practical realities that aren't in [its] immediate control," it is trying to bring out as much music as possible.

[Thanks, Benji B]

It looks like the construction is finally complete, and Nintendo is getting ready to make the move into their new headquarters! This newly revamped structure in Redmond, Washington is any Nintendo fan’s dream. Make sure to hit up the link to check out all sorts of awesome areas that the building hides within. More [...]

#speakup In today's action-packed episode of Speak-Up on Kotaku, Jayntampa, Rear Admiral Meatwad, T-DoggIsTheLick, and Doomsaber talk dirty Pokémon jokes, Donkey Kong's unfeeling nature, Capcom's PC games, and the buffest president ever. More »

Blizzard, in preparation for the launch of StarCraft 2 and the new Battle.net framework, recently banned over 320,000 Diablo 2 and Warcraft 3 players that violated the company's Terms of Use by using hacks and third-party tools. According to a census taken earlier this year, there are currently 317,630 people living in Iceland. Let's take a moment to appreciate the fact that so many people play Blizzard's games, its moderators can ban more people than the entire population of the 175th largest country on the planet.

Folks from all corners of the world -- not just Icelanders -- who were found to be using illicit means of self-improvement while playing the two games had the CD key tied to the cheated game in question revoked for 30 days, while repeat offenders were banned permanently. It's not worth it, our dear readers! Keep it legit!

[Via WoW.com]

The day is nearly here for our UNCHARTED fans and the multitudes who have been awaiting a new co-op game type — The UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves Siege Expansion Pack will be on sale when the PlayStation Network Store updates on Thursday, April 22nd, and will set you back only $5.99.

Look for the PlayStation Store Update blog post on Thursday to know when The Siege Expansion Pack is available for purchase.

As we announced just two weeks ago, the Siege Expansion Pack is our biggest DLC release to date: two new maps, six new multiplayer skins, one new co-op game type and 11 new online-only Trophies.

Do yourself a favor and read the full rundown of what’s included in the pack, check out the screenshots, and watch the gameplay and map fly-through videos. You won’t be disappointed.

The most significant portion to the Siege Expansion Pack is the new Siege co-op game type. You can read impressions of Siege from these IGN and GameSpot reviews of the Siege Expansion Pack. Since we started testing Siege internally, up through last week’s sessions with reviewers, I’ve really enjoyed the complexities of Siege. It’s not as simple as defending pre-defined locations against waves of NPCs: Between the different vulnerabilities of each new location and the lack (or abundance) of weapon pickups, you’ll find yourself testing out interesting new strategies to maximize your points and cash.

Apart from the Siege co-op game type, I’m really excited for the two new maps. We’ve spent our time post-release wisely and learned a lot about how to build multiplayer maps that not only offer more verticality, but make it an essential part of the navigation and domination of a particular map. I love both maps, but it is the massive verticality and need to use your traversal skills that make The Highrise one of my favorite maps. Ever. Of course, the potentially lethal helicopter assault and very real danger of jumping off the buildings to your doom takes the awesome to new heights. See what I did there?

We also revealed the contents of Title Update 1.07 this morning, prior to the release of the update worldwide. Title Update 1.07 includes the following:

• Players can now choose between Hero skins for Co-op Arena matches only
• Additional spawn system changes to enhance spawn point update effectiveness
• Gameplay changes to prevent “airwalk” exploit
• Updates to map geometry collision detection to improve prevention of players attempting to leave normal multiplayer map boundaries

And now, I’ll leave you with this announcement:

To celebrate the release of the Siege Expansion Pack, this weekend marks the return of Double Cash Weekend!

Starts: Friday, April 23, 10:00 AM PDT (what time is that in my city?)
Ends: Monday, April 26, 10:00 AM PDT (what time is that in my city?)

#zynga Getting a little tired of simply gunning down your enemies in Mafia Wars? More »

Are you prepared for battle?

Here's a brain-teaser for you: What do Shrek the Third, Far Cry 2 and Kane & Lynch all have in common? If you said "they all feature cartoon donkeys voiced by the stars of the Beverly Hills Cop series," you'd be correct. It's a little known fact that all three games contain flippant burros voiced by Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold and Bronson Pinchot, respectively.

Oh, also? They're all coming to the Xbox Live Games on Demand storefront on April 27. The price of each game hasn't been announced -- we've contacted Microsoft to see if we can figure out how much each game will cost. Also, we'll double-check about the donkeys, although we're pretty certain we're right about that one.Shrek the Third, Far Cry 2 and Kane & Lynch coming to Games on Demand

That’s exactly what video game magazine EXP is trying to convey. Video game art magazine from illustrator and designed Cory Schmitz is the brain behind EXP, and as you can see, it focuses heavily on art and developer interviews. Hit up the link below to learn more about this new, bold magazine.

Do you find yourself pining for the portable Nintendo gaming of days past, but not pining for its pea green hues? If so, then this modded Game Boy -- as in the large, boxy "released in 1989" Game Boy -- should really fit the bill. Flickr user CRTdrone has modded an original Game Boy to play every flavor of Game Boy title, including Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance and, of course, original Game Boy. According to the description, the mod relies on the guts of a Game Boy Advance SP and all the buttons, the rechargeable battery and even the headphone jack are in working order. The shoulder buttons, if you're wondering, have been relegated to tiny buttons on either side of unit.

The creator will be making "a couple more" and possibly documenting the process. So stay tuned if you want to make one of these bad boys for yourself.

[Via Tiny Cartridge]

Commercial 2 here Commercial 3 here Thanks to Cadaver for the heads up!

click to zoom in on the Viper blades After promising the addition of fancy day-night cycles to its dignified open-world driving game, Eden Games has delivered the cold, moonlit proof in a new batch of Test Drive Unlimited 2 screenshots. You see that shot above? There's the night cycle, clear as day. And all it took was for one of the designers to double-click on the sun and press "delete."

This just in: Test Drive Unlimited 2's VP of Global Illumination Aseel Houette has contacted us, castigating us for our "gross oversimplification" of the changes made to the game's lighting techniques. "Dear Joystiq," he or she wrote, "I am extremely disappointed by your recent article on our upcoming Xbox 360, PS3 and PC game. Implementing day-night cycles is not, as your gross oversimplification implies, as simple as deleting the in-game sun. That's not how game design works at all. If you delete the sun, the in-game earth is completely destroyed, as are all the beautiful vehicles we've spent months modeling."

When asked how the new effect was really achieved, Houette simply insisted that "it's all done with mirrors."

#valve Here's the original poster for Left 4 Dead 2's new downloadable content, The Passing. Below you'll find the new version Valve has just released, which is missing one key element. Potential spoilers ahead! More »

#clips See out the recently-revealed Cloud Mario in action, check out the cosmic version of New Super Mario Bros. hand-holding Super Guide, and see who you'll be controlling as player two in this latest trailer for Super Mario Galaxy 2. More »

This weekend, while you were working on the wizard outfit that will finally complete your cosplay group's Trine collective, Steam was busy updating the PC version of the game with free content. According to the Steam news page, Trine received a free DLC level named "Path to New Dawn" as a post-completion bonus this past Sunday. Additionally, a handful of minor updates were made to the game itself, ranging from new information on "experience and secrets in the inventory menu" to fixing a "respawn bug in [the] Iron Forge level (in co-op) near the first gate."

Unfortunately, it appears that the release of this new content in the PS3 version isn't a sure thing. "At the moment we're not sure if the free DLC is going to get released on PSN," developer Frozenbyte told Joystiq. "It's not in our direct control but we'd love to get it released and are trying to make that happen -- but at this point it's hard to say how it will play out. Same goes for the price as well." When we pushed for info about any additional DLC in the pipeline, we were told, "There's no immediate plans on any platform. That said, if you have completed Trine on your PC, then I'd suggest completing this extra level as well, collecting all the 10 purple potions ..." You should probably do that if you're in a position to go potion-hunting.