All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Home alone.

If you're in Europe and can somehow tear yourself away from Sin & Punishment: Successor of the Skies today (we're very jealous) you can play the very first Final Fantasy on Virtual Console. And ... Pub Darts!

On DSiWare, the standout title is Rytmik, a music creation utility sort of like Korg DS-10, but downloadable. It's joined by another Breakout-style game (with a zen theme!), Nintendo/Arika's shmup Metal Torrent, and another Flips e-book.

• Final Fantasy (NES, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)
• Pub Darts (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 600 Wii Points)
• Rytmik (DSiWare, players, 800 DSi Points)
• Metal Torrent (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
• Bounce & Break (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
• Flips: Silent but Deadly (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)

Home alone.

“Nintendo has not launched a marquee party game since Mario Party 8, launched in summer 2007. However, since Wii is usually being played by several people at once and the global sales of Mario Party have reached 7.6 million units, a party title has great potential. [Wii Party] is one of the titles which, [...]

Home alone.

Taking it to the streets.

Home alone.

Maybe you don't need another World War II shooter, but how about three? If recently spotted listings on GameStop and Amazon are accurate, a new Call of Duty compilation, dubbed Call of Duty: The War Collection, will be released next month.

The collection bundles together the three WWII-based games in the series available on Xbox 360: Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 3 and Call of Duty: World at War -- all for $60. Given that Call of Duty 2 was never released on PS3, it seems unlikely that Sony's platform will receive this particular collection.

That's three (old) Call of Duty games for the price of one standard Xbox 360 game. Not a bad deal, especially for Modern Warfare players in need of a history lesson. According to GameStop and Amazon, The War Collection will be released this June.

[Thanks, Iain]

Source - Call of Duty: The War Collection at Amazon
Source - Call of Duty: The War Collection at GameStop

#clips Earlier this year, Will Wright spoke to a gathering of military and Department of Defense personnel about the intersection of commercial gaming and military gaming at Gametech 2010. More »

If you've been waiting to lay waste to some split-jawed Elites -- or, conversely, to some uppity Spartans -- then today is your lucky day. Bungie has tweetted that Invasion mode will be added to the Halo: Reach beta at "around 11am PDT" today.

Lest you forgot how Invasion mode works, it's a 6-on-6, Spartan vs. Elite gametype that sees the Elites on the offensive, trying to take objectives and unlock new sections of the map. The Spartans, obviously, have to defend said objectives. Also, unlike most other modes in Reach, Invasion allows players to respawn next to a designated teammate (out of combat), adding to the strategic possibilities. On paper, it sounds a bit like Bad Company 2's Rush mode. In the beta, Invasion takes place solely on a new map, Boneyard, a huge map with lots of vehicles and progressively deadlier weaponry.

In other words, clear your schedule. You have plans tonight.

Ever wanted to be in a video game trailer? How about a zombie video game trailer?

On May 15th and 16th, we will be shooting a trailer for an upcoming zombie video game in San Francisco, CA. We want to give 20 of you the chance to appear in the trailer… as a zombie!

So how do you enter to be a participant in this trailer?

Send an e-mail to zombies@playstation.sony.com with the following info:

• Name
• Date of birth (MUST BE 18 years of age or older)
• Phone number
• Zip code of your residence
• Height
• Two Photos:

Face (Close-up) Full body

Send your email between May 7th at 9:00am Pacific and May 12th at 11:00pm Pacific. If you’re selected, we’ll contact you on Thursday, May 13th.

Our wardrobe department will tell you what to take with you to the shoot.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

• Participants will have to make their own way to the video shoot on May 15th and 16th.
• Participants will not be compensated for their time or appearance.
• Participants will be required to be on set for approximately 10 hours per day.
• Not all Participants selected will be used in the video shoot. Final selection will be determined on site.
• Participants will be required to have make-up done by SCEA.

Now is your chance to be a zombie! E-mail zombies@playstation.sony.com to achieve immortality…the easy way.

Good luck!

As football madness grips the world, Blitz 1UP and Stir Fry Games release SFC Soccer: Football Fever on PC.

#eaplay Yesterday I wondered if EA's new 3D board game Monopoly Streets might be the Grand Theft Auto III of Monopoly games. As these first two screens show, there's at least one car and some pedestrians. Now we need guns. More »

We want everyone to be in the right frame of mind when watching this new Red Dead Redemption trailer, so first we'd ask that you to watch this gameplay clip from Mad Dog McCree. Now, had you told us back in 1990 that this is where we'd be in 20 years, we're not sure we could have handled it. A Western-themed game with digital characters, and not real FMV actors? Are you insane, sir?

Alas, here we are, as the digital John Marston somehow finds himself embroiled in revolution. The trailer doesn't explain exactly who is revolting from what (it sounds a bit like the Mexican Revolution, which began around the time Red Dead takes place), but it does look like train heists will be involved, so we're completely down.

Available for download.

British Steel live tracks ready to rock.

#facebook Are you tired of constant FarmVille updates on your Facebook feed? Strike back against the mystery eggs and wandering stallions with zombie Jesus and surface-to-stork missiles in FarmVillain. More »

Clearly, it'd been way too long since we last used our Rob Halford tag here at Joystiq, so it was convenient when Harmonix announced today Judas Priest's "British Steel 30th Anniversary" album as next week's Rock Band DLC. This collection is taken from the 2009 30th anniversary tour when the band played the entirety of its nine-song 1980 thrasher, British Steel, for the first time live.

"Breakin' the Law" live? Sold. Hit the break for all the details.

#gamedesign Based upon part three of the Mimesis as Make-Believe serial. More »

Recons! Medics! Assaults! Lend us your Engineers! If you're still adhering to your nightly routine of playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2 until your eyes refuse to stay open any longer, you'll be pleased to hear about some upcoming changes coming to console versions of the game. Unless, of course, you actually like the game's unkillable, super overpowered deathcopters. In that case, you're about to be sorely disappointed.

Changes coming in the update -- due out May 11 via Xbox Live and PSN -- include a few balance tweaks of most weapons, a slight nerfing of the attack helicopter and an increase in the velocity of tracer darts, making it easier to stick 'em to that aforementioned helicopter. Joy!

Check out the full list of changes after the jump.

#pc Many video games have been, and still are, sexist. So what's to do? Level the playing field, tone everything down? No, no, that's boring. It's more fun when ladies make games for ladies. Warning: Naked man butts ahead. More »

Plus a new free DLC area.

Screenshot party in the gallery!During his financial results briefing to investors, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed the next game in the company's flagship "Wii" series: Wii Party. The game, Iwata said, is designed to be a "marquee party game for Wii" -- akin to Mario Party minus some of the frills, like the board game framing or the Waluigi. You could also think of it like any of the dozens of minigame collections already available for the Wii, but with the potential to be good.

Wii Party which has included Wii Sports and its sequel, Wii Play, the Wii Fits, and (cough) Wii Music. The game stars player-created Miis (instead of Mario characters) and includes a "Living Party" mode that uses just the Wiimote. 1-4-player games shown in screenshots include sugoroku (the Japanese board game that's also the basis for WiiWare's Family Pirate Party), "International Vacation Game," "Mii Jyan," roulette, and bingo; and 1-2-player games, filed in the "Pair Party" category, include Mii compatibility check, "Balance Ship" and Mii Match.

"Nintendo has not launched a marquee party game since Mario Party 8, launched in summer 2007," Iwata told investors (through translation). "However, since Wii is usually being played by several people at once and the global sales of Mario Party have reached 7.6 million units, a party title has great potential. This is one of the titles which, we hope, will play an important role for this fiscal year." In other words, Wii Party will be released, at least in Japan, before the end of March 2011.

The best thing about Wii Party? It'll allow Nyko to bring back the canceled Party Station as a game-specific accessory.

[Via Kotaku]

Sequel to award-winning game hits retail.

#clips Footloose Dracula slayer Nick Hagman and his stuffed anipals have done it again. The man who bravely defeated Castlevania using nothing but his feet and a DDR dance mat has danced his way to another victory, defeating Super Mario Bros. More »

Click to Barbarian-size Curious about the variety of artistic and thematic comic book styles you'll experience once you get your hot little hands on Twisted Pixel's action-platformer, Comic Jumper? The game's second overworld was recently revealed in screenshots and concept art, and ... well, we sure hope the estate of Robert E. Howard never sees this particular stage, as it clearly parodies his beefy, Cimmerian brainchild. Heck, the comic's named Nanoc: The Obliviator -- flip it around, and you get Conan. (Actually, you get Rotaivilbo Eht: Conan, but ... well, two of those words aren't words.)

Check out both galleries below to get a sense of what the world of Nanoc is going to look like, then check out Twisted Pixel's in-depth preview on the game's official website.

Following up to the fan favorite release of FFVII and FFVIII, PS3 and PSP owners will have a new and exciting opportunity to immerse themselves, once again, into the world of Final Fantasy.

Considered by many gamers to be a must-play title for any RPG fan, FFIX will soon to be available for North American fans via the PlayStation Network. If you missed Final Fantasy IX during the early PlayStation era, or are dreaming of reliving the time-tested FFIX adventure, your chance is coming soon.

Sit tight and keep your eye on the PlayStation.Blog for important announcement information, including the release date, coming soon!

#screengrab As seen on EPICponyz. More »

#nintendo Console wars decided. A rival comes into view. Time to buckle down, because things seem poised for a shake up. More »