All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Though there are few things we love more than our annual excursion to E3, there are some inherent downsides to the trip which we could do without. Namely, the ever-present threat of apocalyptic earthquakes.

Next year, we might just follow the example of the quarter of a million people who PlayStation Blog claims stopped by Sony's virtual booth in PlayStation Home. Sure, our coverage might be a little one-sided given the absence of every other company, but seriously, guys, earthquakes are terrifying.

#first4figures Why spent $140 on a regular 15-inch-tall Super Sonic the Hedgehog statue when you can spend $160 on one that glows? First4Figures extends their Sonic license with the powered-up version of Sega's mascot. More »

Press gather in Tokyo for release date announcements, demos and more! The full word on Level-5's big tie-up with Studio Ghibli.

#clips Who could possibly want to hurt something as glorious as a cross between a unicorn and a plush teddy bear? Oh yeah, that guy. More »

The Warhammer 40K MMO, Dark Millennium, may still be another two years away, but the trailer after the break gives us a small glimpse of the in-development title's graphics and user interface. Of course, being two years away, almost all of that can (and likely will) change.

In every Metroid game, from the NES original through Metroid Prime, there's been a certain weight to Samus. She can run faster than someone in a giant suit of armor should be able to, yes, and she can triangle jump to ridiculous heights, but Samus has always felt slow to start and build up speed, as would be expected of someone covered in metal.

More than the perspective changes, the ability to walk toward and away from the screen, the auto-aiming or any of the other new elements in Metroid: Other M, Samus's "weight" feels the most different. She is faster than she's ever been in Team Ninja's take on Metroid and accelerates to full speed instantaneously. The faster movements naturally lend the game a faster pace, and the way Samus zips across the screen makes the Team Ninja influence apparent.

While Sid and I conducted a video interview on Marvel vs Capcom 3 (post coming soon!), SCEE’s James Gallagher traveled across the cavernous Capcom booth to the Dead Rising 2 area. The game has progressed significantly on PS3 since we saw it a couple months back, so he held a chat with Producer Mike Schmitt. And because James is English, he didn’t even realize that the man hit over 500 home runs! Facepalm!

Fortunately, the fact that he wasn’t starstruck allowed him to focus on the game itself. Have at it, James:

Dead Rising 2 is a zombie game with its tongue hanging out of its cheek. You control Chuck Greene, a motorcross champion trapped in a zombie apocalypse in the fictional Fortune City, which is loosely based on Las Vegas. After tearing through a few hundred zombies with a pair of chainsaws attached to a canoe paddle, I lurched over to Capcom’s Mike Schmitt and asked a few questions.

What kind of story is there in Dead Rising 2?

“Chuck is competing in a gameshow called Terror is Reality in order to earn some money and cure his daughter, who has been bitten by a zombie. That’s his main motivation but there’s also a conspiracy against him, with people blaming him for the zombie outbreak at the beginning of the game.”

Given that the story allows for multiple paths and endings, how many unique playthroughs are possible?

“I don’t know the final count but there are multiple endings and we definitely want people to go back and keep playing, because levelling Chuck up opens up new areas and things to do.”

I’ve had some fun here combining weapons; how many combinations are there?

“Again, we haven’t given out an exact number but it’s a lot – dozens and dozens. We want people to search for combo cards and just try putting stuff together at random. Combining weapons is some of the most fun that can be had in the game, as far as we’re concerned, and combination weapons give you double PP, allowing you to level up much quicker.”

What’s your favourite combination?

“My favourite is the Freedom Bear. If you take a jumbo teddy bear and combine it with a machine gun, it turns into a sentry with a Rambo headband that you can place in congested areas, and it will mow down zombies with machine gun fire for what seems like hours.”

Is the co-operative gameplay integrated into the story?

“Your friends can jump into your game at any point and if you want to play co-operatively from start to finish, then you can do that. The host player controls things like saving but whoever jumps in can carry PP and Combo Cards over to their own game. Playing with friends is particularly useful for things like boss fights and it is fun to just mess around.”

Do you also have competitive multiplayer?

“Yes, we have a four player versus mode which plays off the Terror is Reality theme. There are ten different events to play, including one where you’re all riding motorcycles with chainsaws attached to the handlebars and it’s a race to see who can kill the most zombies before the time runs out.”

Finally, what do you want people to feel when they play Dead Rising 2?

“Excitement… the feeling that you want to keep playing because you don’t know what to expect. I really want people to pick up on the humour. A lot of zombie games are so serious but Dead Rising 2 is about the ridiculous predicament Chuck finds himself in and the way that you’re able to humiliate zombies and use anything as a weapon makes it comical.”

Also, James, Group C champions! USA! USA!

#e3 Dead Space 2 is more of what you loved in the first game: More dismembering bodies, more freakishly frightening creatures, more zero-G. More »

#iphone As promised, FarmVille is now available for the iPhone and iPod Touch, dooming millions to endless mobile toil on virtual farms, unless the app's slow speed and crashing save the day. More »

We've devised a fool-proof plan for getting games at zero cost on Steam: just wait for the next game in the series to come out, and pre-order said sequel. It's an offer Steam users have no doubt become familiar with in the past and one that's being extended yet again -- anyone who pre-orders Monkey Island 2: Special Edition: LeChuck's Revenge before its July 7 launch will get Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition for free.

Already own the remake of the first game? Well, you could take that complimentary download and gift it to a friend's Steam account. Or, you could just wait for The Curse of Monkey Island: Special Edition to come out, and then get Monkey Island 2 for free, provided you've got supernatural reserves of patience.

Press gather in Tokyo for release date announcements, demos and more! The full word on Level-5's big tie-up with Studio Ghibli.

#clips Next year we're just going to wait until the week after E3 and let the publishers bring the games to us, like Jimmy Fallon has done with Kinect, Call of Duty: Black Ops, and now Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. More »

Level-5 and Studio Ghibli's tie-up project goes HD. Get set for some quality cell shading in these first ever PS3 screens straight from Japan.

We know our dream of playing a video game adaptation of the greatest television show ever will probably never be realized. Still, judging by this trailer for the spiritual successor to the Parasite Eve series, The 3rd Birthday might just be the closest we'll ever get to Quantum Leap: The Game.

During E3, we bent the ear of Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds producer Ryota Niitsuma, who in turn gabbed about the new game and previous Vs titles, as well as the possibility of a new arcade stick partnership with Mad Catz. The full interview follows.

Joystiq: We've heard different stories about the origin of Marvel vs Capcom 3 -- both that development started as a result of strong sales of the HD re-release of Marvel vs Capcom 2 and that it was in development long before that. Which is it?

Ryota Niitsuma: Both games were being developed independently -- one didn't lead to the other, as it were. While we were getting the ball rolling on MvC3, the downloadable version of Marvel vs Capcom 2 was being repackaged and distributed. And then that was really successful, as you know, and because of that, it had kind of an impact on Marvel vs Capcom 3. We thought then that the game would be really big and people would be excited about it, so then we were more hopeful and expectant of what would happen with Marvel vs Capcom 3.

As promised, Level-5 announced a PS3 Ni no Kuni game during a press conference today. Rather than being simply a PS3 version of the DS game, Ni no Kuni for PS3 bears a new subtitle: "Queen of the Holy White Ash," as Siliconera translates it. And it looks, well, like a Studio Ghibli movie in polygons. A comparison image on the game's website places a scene done in the game's engine alongside a scene from the animation, and they look shockingly similar! See the trailer after the break.

Queen of the Holy White Ash won't be out until 2011, but the DS game will precede it. Level-5 also announced a Japanese release date for Ni no Kuni on DS: December 9, 2010. That version still comes with a hardcover book full of magic spells and information about the various creatures inhabiting the world.

#e3 Last week's Electronic Entertainment Expo wasn't just about video games. There were also cars there! Sure not lots of cars, but what the show lacked in quantity it made up for in quality... and cost. More »

During E3, we bent the ear of Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds producer Ryota Niitsuma, who in turn gabbed about the new game and previous Vs titles, as well as the possibility of a new arcade stick partnership with Mad Catz. The full interview follows.

Joystiq: We've heard different stories about the origin of Marvel vs Capcom 3 -- both that development started as a result of strong sales of the HD re-release of Marvel vs Capcom 2 and that it was in development long before that. Which is it?

Ryota Niitsuma: Both games were being developed independently -- one didn't lead to the other, as it were. While we were getting the ball rolling on MvC3, the downloadable version of Marvel vs Capcom 2 was being repackaged and distributed. And then that was really successful, as you know, and because of that, it had kind of an impact on Marvel vs Capcom 3. We thought then that the game would be really big and people would be excited about it, so then we were more hopeful and expectant of what would happen with Marvel vs Capcom 3.

Wait, why are you reading this? You know that the Medal of Honor multiplayer beta is live for the PS3 right now – don’t you?

Beta access is reserved for those who pre-order the full version of Medal of Honor, EA and DICE’s modern-day war shooter that hits the PS3 this October. Luckily, we’ve got 18 beta code vouchers* to hand out to loyal PlayStation.Blog readers – keep an eye on the official PlayStation Twitter feed to find out how to win later today. To get a head start on the giveaway, watch the following video (very) carefully.

**Note: If you do win a beta voucher, you must redeem it on the official Medal of Honor site and specify PS3 to get a code you can redeem on the PSN Store.

At the 2010 E3 Expo last week, Medal of Honor executive producer Greg Goodrich and creative director Richard Farrelly give us a primer on what’s new (modern-day Afghanistan with modern-day weapons), what’s unlockable (Tier 1 Operator status and…beards?!), and what’s planned for the final release of Medal of Honor this fall. At a high level, our E3 multiplayer session highlighted Medal of Honor’s class customization. You can choose between the long-range Rifleman class, which excels at distance-based fighting; the Sniper class, which focuses on long-range marksmanship; and the Special Ops class, which packs grenades and faster-firing weapons for close-range domination.

The weapon modification system also stands out for its modular, ultra-customizable nature. For instance, the Rail slot can be equipped with a red dot sight, iron sights, or a combat scope; the Barrel slot can take a suppressor or muzzle brake. Each mod offers its own advantages and disadvantages, and when you factor in Medal of Honor’s variable ammunition types (hollowpoint rounds, shotgun slugs, extra mags), you’re looking at a highly personalized multiplayer shooter.

Peep the interview video, follow us on Twitter, and prepare to take a shot for a slice of Honor. Salud!

A year after its release, you may have thought there wasn't a ghost of a chance of any fixes being made to Ghostbusters. But Terminal Reality is going to give Xbox 360 players a reason to start busting ghosts in multiplayer again, with a patch that fixes glitches in the multiplayer Achievements. That means that, following the update, you should be able to get the "Egon's Guinea Pig" Achievement! Tell your mood slime -- it'll be thrilled!

You'll just ... have to wait a little longer. According to the announcement on TR's Facebook page, the patch is "currently awaiting approval for distribution, which is likely to coincide with the Xbox 360 firmware update this Fall."

#capcom When Capcom showed survival horror game Resident Evil 5 being playing with PS3 Move motion controls at last year's Tokyo Game Show, I quietly snickered to myself. No, actually, it may have been audible. Boy, was I ever wrong. More »

#screengrab If only more cosplay involved characters and a user interface. As seen on DeviantArt. Thanks Alexis! More »

#psn Sony Europe has an effective way to convince people to sign up for its new PlayStation Plus service: give away free copies of one of the PS3's best titles, LittleBigPlanet. More »

While we did get to see (and be impressed by) Fable 3 at E3 last week, there was no sign of Peter Molyneux's other big project, the demo now known as Milo & Kate for the hardware now known as Kinect. Molyneux tells CVG that it is now fully playable, and "ten times more amazing" than it was when we saw it at last year's E3. The game was shown off to celebrities, presumably at the closed-doors hands-on session held during the bizarre Cirque du Soleil event last week.

So why didn't we get to see it? "There's a very interesting reason why," says Molyneux, "but I can't tell you why." Really, Peter? Didn't we mature past this random, vague hype? Fable 2 was great, and Fable 3 looks good, so we'll be patient. But the reason why Microsoft didn't show off what sounds like one of its most enticing Kinect titles had better be "interesting" indeed.Molyneux: 'Milo & Kate' fully playable, 'ten times more amazing' than before

#sports ! While a lot of people - most of them casual observers of football at best - insist on complaining endlessly about the vuvuzelas at the World Cup, they're not that bad. At least those ones can't make you explode. More »

#bethesda I have a confession. I have always been put off by one thing: faces in Bethesda games. But that may change. More »

#clips Famed animation company Studio Ghibli is collaborating with Fukoka-based game developer Level-5 on the upcoming Ni no Kuni. It is now coming to the PS3. We've posted screens of the game. Would you like to see it in motion? More »

Peripheral manufacturer Power A had a major presence at E3 this year, residing in a massive booth taking up a fair amount of real estate on the main show floor. The company's product showcase was highlighted by three controllers which are due out later this fall for the PS3 and Wii. If you're a visual learner, you can check out a few images of each of these controllers in the gallery posted below. Otherwise, click past the jump to read our thoughts on these devices.