All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

#science An article at Cracked.com explores the fact that every human being on the planet is born with super powers, from telepathy to heightened senses - we just grow out of them. More »

Tor Books has announced plans to reissue the original Halo novel trilogy this year, beginning with Eric Nylund's Halo: The Fall of Reach this August. The novels -- also including William C. Dietz's Halo: The Flood and Nylund's Halo: First Strike -- will be reissued as trade paperbacks, which will serve as "definitive editions with updates and all-new original content." It's unclear exactly what the new content will be, though the press release does mention new edits, art and, as you can see on the right, new covers. You can check out a high res version of the Fall of Reach cover in the gallery below.

In related news, Tor has announced that the first of a new Halo novel trilogy -- the Forerunner series by Greg Bear -- will launch sometime this year.

#review For a game that had awesome as one of its defining traits, Konami's Rocket Knight Adventures isn't exactly one of the Genesis' most well-remembered games. Shame. Maybe you'll remember this modern-day successor in its stead. More »

Well, hello again, PlayStation.Blog patrons. I come bearing gifts, and by “gifts” I of course mean the official full trailer for Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable, Atlus’s upcoming handheld RPG epic.

What’s it full of? Why, WIN, of course, and lots of it! What other portable roleplaying game gives you dozens upon dozens upon dozens of hours of satisfying combat, character interaction, side-quests, and a riveting story? Moreover, few handheld RPGs, if any, deliver the aural and visual impact of Persona 3 Portable, with its stunning world and character design, and a soundtrack courtesy of master composer Shoji Meguro. I could go on and on, PlayStation Bloggerists, and not just because they’re paying me to, but I digress:

For those of you who’ve never been properly exposed to Persona 3, allow me to pull back its long black trench coat to reveal a bit more about the concept of the Dark Hour. In the world of Persona 3 Portable, there is a hidden hour between the end of one day and the start of another. It is imperceptible to most, save a select few. You’re one of this gifted minority (of course you are) and in fact, you’re even more special than the others: you have the ability to not only summon your own inner-power — an alter ego of sorts called your Persona — but also the ability to collect and summon other Personas as well. The fact that most of the populace is catatonic during this Dark Hour means that it’s up to you to stop the Shadows that come out of the great dungeon Tartarus (more on that in a future post). That also means you’re high on the Shadows’ “kill them all” list… Fun!

And when it comes to the whole Persona swapping thing, if you’ve yet to play a Persona game, or any of the Shin Megami Tensei titles, you’re missing out. The level of addictiveness found in acquiring, managing, and fusing Personas is tremendous. It’s on par with a very popular RPG franchise that rhymes with… Moke-a-pon.

*stares expressionlessly at PlayStation.Blog audience*

We hope you enjoy the trailer, so much so that you decide to pre-order immediately. And we’re not just saying that to look out for ourselves (well, we are, granted), but also because if you happen to reserve a copy at a participating retailer (GameStop or Amazon in the United States and Canada, and ONLY while limited supplies last), you’ll snag a rather awesome pre-order bonus baseball cap modeled after the one worn by the popular character Junpei Iori, Gekkoukan High School’s bantering, jabbering class clown.

Look for Persona 3 Portable on retail shelves and on the PSN Store on July 6, 2010! For more info about P3P, visit the game’s official website.

[Engadget]
Former Joystiqer Ross Miller is currently on the ground for Engadget at Google's annual dev conference "I/O" in San Francisco, where the company just revealed its web-based app store for Chrome and Chrome OS. Aside from a handful of regular ol' apps and an interactive version of Sports Illustrated (paper? what's that?), Google debuted games for purchase, playable in-browser.

Plants vs. Zombies and Lego Star Wars are explicitly mentioned in the piece, but we can also spot Bejeweled 2 (also by PopCap), as well as Poker Rivals, Scrabble, FIFA World Cup 2010, and Who Has the Biggest Brain? (all by EA). We're not sure how much the games will be going for or even exactly how it'll work just yet, but we'll let you know just as soon as we do (there's a bit more info on the FAQ page). The web store is set to go live for developers "soon," but hasn't been dated for the general public just yet.

Cross-platform multiplayer titles available now.

No more teaser site for Mario and friends. The official Super Mario Galaxy 2 website has opened up, revealing the full site instead of just a hub for transmission videos. There are a bunch of new videos, and I’m currently yanking them for one, big embed. As far as other content, there’s [...]

Game publisher makes some changes.

#disneyguiltyparty I'm a fan of Disney Guilty Party and its "mystery machine". More »

The "Point Man" trailer

The second tournament sees our first female finalist!

It's safe to assume that, when it was announced last March that upstart Gazillion Entertainment would be making a Marvel Comics-based MMO, something Microsoft and Cryptic Studios had tried but eventually abandoned, most people weren't expecting the result to be so ... cute. Having released some CG images from Marvel Super Hero Squad Online last week, its publisher today debuted what the game actually looks like.

As it turns out, the visuals seen in the gallery below aren't much different than those of the previously released images or the (entirely CGI) trailer we've posted above -- which itself has the look of the toy line down pat. Pitched as "family friendly" by its publisher, Marvel Super Hero Squad Online will launch in 2011.

Includes dramatic fixes and improvements to Gears of War 2 multiplayer.

#republished You could say that video game music is becoming much more epic as the years go by. More »

May 19, 2010 – Launching in the Europe on July 23rd, DRAGON QUEST® IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies™ for the Nintendo DS family of systems delivers a unique experience that lets players enjoy an adventure that is entirely their own, yet can be shared with others anywhere, anytime. Developed by Square Enix Co., Ltd., [...]

Super heroes finally using their abilities for something useful: lunch.

Speaking at a recent EA showcase in London, Dead Space executive producer Steve Papoutsis explained that while Visceral Games has plenty of ideas for the deep space horror series, the studio doesn't intend to run the franchise into the ground. According to Videogamer.com, Papoutsis told attendees, "we've mapped out plenty of games worth of stuff. But there has to be an interest, right?" He added, "we don't want to cheapen what we're doing. We're really focused on quality with it. Hopefully if people like this one, we get to make another one."

Papoutsis then told the crowd, "it would be great to just keep making more and more of them. We're thinking kart racer, a fitness game... joke!" Yeah, we're not sure a Dead Space fitness game would go over so well. You know, considering Isaac Clarke's main technique for weight loss is to forcibly remove excess appendages with the aid of futuristic power tools.

This image comes from Shaun White’s official Facebook page… Looks like we’re going to have some more Shuan White on the Wii, but this game is going to be a little bit different. What in the world is Shaun White doing with a skating game? I honestly don’t know if Mr. White skates, or [...]

Relive the first great war of the 20th Century.

Perez Hilton and friends to gather in Los Angeles to test their trivia knowledge.