All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Happy Aquarium maker sues competitor for copying

Monkey Band makes monkeys sing the songs that you make.

Everyone can make the move to 250 Gigs of freedom -- at a cost.

You've seen videos of TikGames' Wakeboarding HD, but it's hard to shell out $10 for a new game that you haven't played. Tomorrow, a free demo of the game will be available on the PlayStation Store in both Europe and North America. "Creat Studios has already received great response to Wakeboarding HD, and we are excited to offer PSN players a demo version of the game," Creat Studio CEO Vladimir Starzhevsky said in a press release. "After performing a couple of tricks and riding the realistic waves, we are confident that players will love Wakeboarding HD."

Since its release, the PSN exclusive has suffered from a critical panning on Metacritic, earning a 58. However, user reviews seem much more positive (78). Playing the demo should give you a better idea of who's right.

Though "mum" is still the word on the stateside release plans of Taito's renovated shoot-em-up Raystorm HD, Japanese scrolling aerial warfare enthusiasts will be pleased to know the game's recently announced, completely imminent release date. According to Japanese gaming news site Game Watch, Taito has confirmed the game will arrive in Japan on XBLA May 5 for 1,200 and PSN May 6 for 1,500 yen.

Just like every other time we've written about Raystorm HD, we'll contact Taito to see if we can find out anything about the game's North American release. Should we hear anything back, we'll travel directly to Vegas, because we've obviously been stricken with an impossible amount of good fortune.

So many bullets.

#republished This post contains spoilers for Heavy Rain. Although Heavy Rain is set in a nameless American city, David Cage has been forthright about Philadelphia's strong influence on game. When members of the development team visited the city, it inspired the dark, gritty world players would ultimately explore: More »

A portion of a Nintendo Life review… If your Wii gaming is stuck in 2006 and you’re trying to amass a collection of all the mini-game releases on the Wii then by all means indulge yourself, but for everyone else we’d suggest some real arcade gems instead.

New York— April 28, 2010—Atari Inc, one of the world’s most recognized videogame publishers, announced today its all-star line-up of partners to support the launch of the all-new Backyard Sports™: Sandlot Sluggers video game for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ shipping out May 25, [...]

Today Team6 announced that they’ve been asked to start work on the third and best version of the popular car shooter “Glacier”. Ronnie Nelis, CEO Team6 game studios: “Our team is delighted to have the opportunity to make a Glacier game as we intended to do from the beginning: It’s gameplay and graphics will be far [...]

#innovation Motion-sensing, camera control, thought control; it's all been done before, or has it? A team from Queen's University in Ontario has created a new way to play games using a bendable projection screen and a shoulder-mounted projector. More »

#feature A galpal and I are discussing video games over cocktails at a bar. Well, kind of. She's trying to tell me why she plays FarmVille, and in the course of the discussion I find out her life is a mess. More »

Sometimes, we wonder what it would be like if versions of ourselves from the past could be magically transported to today and have their minds blown by all the technological advances in video gaming technology. We have a feeling that they'd be disinterested in our "movement controllers" and "big definition graphicals," and would instead become entranced by a new Flash game by Exploding Rabbit that's sweeping the nation at terrifying velocities: Super Mario Crossover.

The premise of the game is simple: It is the original Super Mario Bros., only your choice of playable characters isn't just limited to squat, Italian plumbers. You can also wreck Goombas while playing as Link, Mega Man, Samus, Simon Belmont or Bill (you know, from Contra). You could also just be Mario, but why would you do that, when you could be Bill from Contra? Stop being so silly.

[Thanks, Eric]

Direct link and videos for Hobo Nichi no Kenkō Techō, Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2, Sengoku Basara 3, Mario Kart Wii, Oshiete Darling, Atelier Deco la Doll Gothic, Metal Max 3, Samurai Spirits Zankurō Musōken, Waku Waku 7 and Mr. Do! here

Nintendo of Australia is dropping prices left and right! That is, if you imagine a DSi on the left and a Wii on the right. The company announced a substantial price drop for the Wii console today, from its original AU $399.95 (US $369) down to AU $299.95 (US $277). The new price is still painfully expensive compared to other regions, but it's better. And EBGames is sweetening the deal by throwing in The Bigs 2 and Overlord: Dark Legend.

The price drop is taking place concurrently with the release of Monster Hunter Tri, making Capcom's ARPG essentially the unofficial "launch" game for the new, cheaper Wii. If you buy that and the black Wii, it's sort of like you bought a bundle!

[Thanks, Alejandro]

SingStar may have trained you to become a better singer by keeping you on pitch, but don't expect to make a successful run on American Idol just yet. Talented vocalists can add some flourishes to their performances through the use of vibrato. (For examples, listen to any Mariah Carey song from the 90s.) However, games like SingStar and Rock Band have traditionally penalized players for straying from the exact pitch notated on the screen.

Thankfully, the upcoming June update will modify the SingStar game engine to account for vibrato. "We suggest honing your vibrato skill on Gold by Spandau Ballet, Street Spirit by Radiohead or one of the tracks from the Il Divo SongPack," London Studios' Chris Bruce told PlayStation.Blog readers.

Another update included in the June patch is the ability to use your PSP as a "SingStar Remote." By connecting your PSP to the game, you'll be able to browse and queue up songs to play while others are singing -- essentially recreating the functionality of a high-end karaoke bar. This is definitely a feature that will help make our drunken SingStar parties go much smoother.

David Jaffe skipping this year's show.

Two mediocre add-ons for the price of two mediocre add-ons.

#nintendo GameStop stores' monthly poster shipment includes this lovely advertisement for the rumored black Nintendo Wii, bundled with Wii Sports, Wii MotionPlus, and Wii Sports Resort. More »

#podcast With Crackdown 2 just months away, now might be a good time to get up to speed on everything about the upcoming open-world, building-leaping, mass destruction game. Good thing the team behind the title is on our podcast right now to take your calls. More »

Of the perils one encounters when writing about games, the most painful is arguably following the games that almost were; games that were canceled just shy of release. Some are simply vaporware, announced one day and then were never heard from again, and others are in the spotlight for years, before being banished to a dusty hard drive in a closet somewhere. Duke Nukem Forever will stand ... well, forever as the most prominent example of the latter, but the Obsidian-developed Aliens RPG that Sega canceled could very well hold the second-place trophy.

At a press event last week, we asked Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart some followup questions about the axed title, which he'd previously asked us to do; however, it still hasn't been the required year since we first talked to him, so we're still missing the details as to why the title got the guillotine. But we did learn that the game looked and felt nearly complete before its cancellation. "Oh, if you had come in and played any of the last builds we were working on, you would have said it was a finished game," Urquhart told Joystiq. "That's how close we were. It looked and felt like it was ready to ship."

He went on to explain that you only played as the Colonial Marines in the game (not to be confused with these Colonial Marines), and that missions would have involved tasks like protecting the robot sentry guns that were featured in a deleted scene in Aliens. One of the biggest challenges, Urquhart said, was, "How do you make a 15-foot long Alien turn around at the end of a hallway?" Besides terrifying turn-based hallway combat, there also would have been multiple types of Marines, lots of gear to play with and ... wait. This is just like pouring salt in a freshly reopened wound. Thanks, Feargus!

- announced by Broadcaster Tokyo MX - due out in Spring - titled “Koi no Kaitou!? Tomokore Ni-Se,” or roughly “The Answer to Love!? Friend Collection 2nd Generation.” - cast: Rima Nishizaki, Maaya Morinaga and Mari Sekinu. - the ’second generation’ aspect refers to the starts as being second generation actors - the three women will talk about love and [...]

Buckle your seat belts, Home-people! ModNation Racers — the upcoming kart racing extravaganza that allows you near-endless options in terms of designing and customizing your own characters, vehicles, and tracks — is barreling into PlayStation Home’s Media and Events space this week. Packed with interactive content, including the ModSpot Challenge game (and some truly awesome rewards), this special event space will only be live for a limited time. Be sure to log in to PlayStation Home this Thursday, April 29th, and check out this exclusive event before it disappears from the Navigator forever.

By popular demand, Ubisoft will be releasing another installment in the long line of Assassin’s Creed content in PlayStation Home this week. Finally you’ll be able to add an Assassin’s Creed II personal space (along with an assortment of ornate furniture items) to your collection. This gorgeous personal space transports its inhabitants to the water-lined “streets” of 15th Century Venice, and will be available in the Estates store come this Thursday, April 29th.

Attn: Anime fans. We will be airing a full-length episode of Fullmetal Alchemist this week. Head to the PlayStation Home Theater this weekend and watch as Edward and Alphonse search for a rumored stone that could amplify their alchemy and restore their broken bodies.

In other news, when you visit the Central Plaza kiosk this Thursday to pick up some of the latest and greatest goods for sale in PlayStation Home, you’ll notice three new icons that denote the category of content available for purchase. First is the “New” tile, which contains new virtual items published in any given week. Second is the “Featured” tile, which includes a diverse array of some of our most popular items. Lastly, we’ve created a “Community” tile, which includes some of the items we’ve created for you based upon direct feedback from our users over at the official PlayStation Home forums. This “Community” tile will be populated over the course of the coming months with new and legacy content — we appreciate your patience as we wade through the thousands of items created over the course of the last 15 months at the best of our most loyal and vocal community members (there are a LOT of items to choose from, that’s for sure!)

See you in Home!

Once upon a time in New Austin: playing through the first chapter of Red Dead Redemption's story.

Filed under: X3F TV There's a decent chance many gamers out there have passed judgment on Tecmo Bowl Throwback. If you've played any of the original titles, the decision has likely been made. For the rest of us, allow us to present the latest XBLA in Brief, where we take a look at the revamped classic. In short, Tecmo Bowl Throwback boils video game football and boils it down to the absolute basics. Pick a play, run it and hope for the best.

Check out the video above and see if it deserves your 800 ($10).

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Xbox.com: Add Tecmo Bowl Throwback trial version to your Xbox 360 download queue