All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Experience precise, natural control of your shots with PlayStation Move.

If you’ve missed out on picking up a copy of Phantom Hourglass, you might want to check out your local Target. Some locations have put the game on clearance, and you’ll be able to take a copy home for just $18. Thanks to Kolma for the heads up!

#clips Shot in Brooklyn, New York, this television commercial for Def Jam RapStar was produced by Anthony Mandler, late of Jay Z, Drake and John Mayer video fame, and includes cameos by hip-hop artists Maino and Nipsey Hu$$le. More »

The Legend of Zelda series has always had some sort of musical element tied to it, even since the very early days. Music may not have had as prominent a role as it does now, but there’s no denying that songs always played a special part in the series. I’m sure Skyward Sword [...]

#pmstudios About 1,000 of the 6,000 physical copies of DJ Max Portable 3 for the PSP hitting North America will be the Special Bundle Edition, and this is what it looks like. More »

"I think we're taking a poorly implemented feature in Fable 2 and really making it shine in Fable 3." Peter Molyneux's enthusiasm, equally infamous and infectious, doesn't necessarily extend into the past. The creative director of Microsoft Game Studios Europe guided us through Fable 3's improved co-op design during a Friday morning TGS session, eagerly contrasting new features with some earnest recollection of the previous game's shortcomings.

"Well, to be honest, the problem we had -- it was a bizarre problem -- is that every time you do something different, and this will sound horribly mechanical but it comes down to this at all times ... When you create a different version, then that needs a complete test pass," Molyneux explained. "So we had in Fable 2, because co-op came in quite late, couch co-op and we had [Xbox] Live co-op. We hadn't really planned for the fact that we were going to have to do a test pass. An entire test pass for the single player; an entire test pass for the couch co-op; an entire test pass for the Live co-op."

Intent on adding online co-op to Fable 2 within a limited time frame, Lionhead Studios essentially went for a prudent two-for-one deal: take the working couch co-op online. "We could save a whole test pass if we made Live and couch co-op almost identical in Fable 2, and we were kind of running low on time so we had to do that," said Molyneux. Since the game essentially believed it was running on one screen, both players had to relinquish control of the camera -- and one had to settle for playing as a generic impostor in place of a true hero.

In Fable 3, you're allowed to take your hero into someone else's game, along with your upgradeable weapons, abilities and fluffy, canine companions. You can marry your co-op partner, divorce them, go into a business partnership and even play Pat-a-Cake with them. And -- finally -- both players have a fully controllable camera. This is how the best internet romances start.

#tgs Our past day's coverage of the Tokyo Game Show includes chatting with Peter Molyneux about a potential Fable Movie, chatting with American McGee about the Alice movie and an examination of PixelJunk Lifelike. More »

TGS: Body & Brain Connection Screenshots

My Fellow Rockers:

John Drake from Harmonix here. We’re hard at work finishing up Rock Band 3 for its release in just a few short weeks (October 26th! Pre-order Now!). RB3 has an amazing 83 song setlist that runs the musical gamut, including tracks from Queen, Hendrix, Paramore, Slipknot, the Beach Boys, Huey Lewis and the News… it’s a crazy group of awesome songs.

The only thing more impressive than the setlist of Rock Band 3 is the fact that it supports the entirety of your existing DLC catalog. So what better time than now to add to your song collection from our 1500+ track catalog?

But what to buy? Well how about some tracks that are on sale exclusively for the PlayStation Community? That’s right, we’re offering amazing singles, packs and full albums for sale just for you guys! Whether you’re looking for metal, classic rock, pop or punk, any or all of these songs make great additions to your library, just in time for RB3! See below for the full list and see you rocking on PSN!

And, of course, stay tuned to RockBand.com to catch the latest announcements about weekly Rock Band DLC!

ROCK,

HMXJohnD

• R.E.M – Losing My Religion (now $0.99, original price $1.99)
• Flyleaf – Again (now $0.99, original price $1.99)
• Avenged Sevenfold – Bat Country (now $0.99, original price $1.99)
• The Runaways – Cherry Bomb (now $0.99, original price $1.99)
• Anberlin – Feel Good Drag (now $0.99, original price $1.99)
• Stone Temple Pilots – Interstate Love Song (now $0.99, original price $1.99)
• Jane’s Addiction Nothing’s Shocking Album (now $7.99, original price $15.99)
• Megadeth Rust in Peace (now $7.49, original price $14.99)
• Pantera The Great Southern Trendkill Album (now $7.99, original price $15.99)
• Rush Moving Pictures Album (now $5.49, original price $10.99)
• Slipknot 01 Track Pack (now $2.99, original price $5.49)
• Night Ranger 01 Track Pack (now $2.99, original price $5.49)
• Foreigner 01 Track Pack (now $2.99, original price $5.49)
• Rise Against 01 Track Pack (now $2.99, original price $5.49)
• The Offspring 01 Track Pack (now $2.99, original price $5.49)
• The White Stripes 02 Track Pack (now $2.99, original price $5.49)
• Nine Inch Nails 01 Track Pack (now $2.99, original price $5.49)
• Foo Fighters 03 Track Pack (now $3.49, original price $6.99)
• REO Speedwagon/Styx Tour ’09 Track Pack (now $5.49, original price $10.99)
• Creedence Clearwater Revival 01 Track Pack (now $9.99, original price $19.99)

Though reports last week seemed to indicate that a buyer would swoop in at the last second and save the faltering APB developer Realtime Worlds, the studio has revealed that its remaining 50 employees have been terminated. Sixteen temporary positions are still active to finish shutting down the Dundee studio. The company's US branch, based out of Boulder, Colo., is facing a similar fate, letting go of 33 of its staff, leaving behind a skeleton crew to bring the branch to a close. A Realtime spokesperson told Develop that the studio is "now likely to apply for Chapter 7 Protection."

Begbies Traynor, the firm responsible for the company's administration, is also under fire from a handful of sources both internal and otherwise. Develop reports that a number of ex-Realtime employees claim they've been denied their redundancy pay -- a claim which a Begbies Traynor spokesperson responded to by saying, "redundancy payment will be made in accordance with current UK legislation."

Never played Firaxis' strategy franchise? Here's what is it and why it's popular.

The following information comes from producer Motohide Eshiro, Character designer Tatsuo Iwamoto and director Takeshi Yamazaki… - Logic Chess: use for interrogation of tough suspects, throw a series of questions at the suspect, pick one question from two options, utilizes chess visuals in the background - the following new characters were announced: Mikiko Hayami: a reporter Taro Tanaka: a [...]

#tgs After a decade of Phantasy Star Online Sega finally gets around to making a sequel, with Phantasy Star Online 2 ushering in the second decade of PSO next year. More »

We're finally getting a sequel to one of our favorite budget games.

We have no earthly way of knowing who YouTube user TheFinalBurst is, but we're pretty sure the mystery creator's series of videos from the LittleBigPlanet 2 beta could serve as more effective marketing for the game than any ad campaign Sony could put together. Over the past week, TheFinalBurst's managed to create some mind-bogglingly intricate games using LBP 2's tool set -- games like Pac-Man, Micro Machines, an air hockey mini-game and even a first-person shooter, which we're still trying to wrap our heads around.

Check out a few of our favorite selections after the jump, or visit TheFinalBurst's YouTube page to check out all of this homebrew designer's brilliant creations. Those beta invites can't arrive soon enough.

We're finally getting a sequel to one of our favorite budget games.

#law Booksellers, publishers, and authors along with the recording, advertising, arcade, and comic book industries rally against the California violent video game law in the name of all media. More »

Yakuza: Of The End was ... unexpected. Not in that it's another Yakuza sequel -- we can pretty much count on those being at least annual -- but in that it's a zombie shooting game. Why would Sega take a series built around realistic criminal organizations, known for its accurate (if fictionalized) representation of Tokyo, and fill its latest entry with zombies? Where do people even find all those guns in Japan?

At TGS, we asked producer Masayoshi Kikuchi about this seemingly inexplicable decision. "We want to essentially use the Yakuza universe to try our hand at different genres of games," he said. "In that effort, one of the games that hasn't been released [outside of Japan] yet, but that we've done, is a samurai-based game called Kenzan. That is our foray into utilizing the mythology and universe of Yakuza to branch out into different gameplay. The other one, obviously, is Of The End."

"For us, it's a way to hopefully attract more fans to the Yakuza franchise by widening the gameplay styles that we create," Kikuchi added. In other words, Of The End hopes to attract people who love zombie shooters, and who might then discover there are other Yakuza games; albeit ones about punching street punks and running orphanages. But what about the people who already love Yakuza? Are they to simply stare at this spinoff in disbelief?

"From my point of view," Kikuchi told us, "I feel that -- if you have 100 Yakuza fans, it's not going to be the case where all 100 of them will be receptive to the new direction. But however, we feel that by making something that is very enjoyable, we will be able to capture as many of the existing fan base who enjoy the games we create."

[Pictured: Yakuza: Of The End TGS booth models]

#tgs Hey. It's been a while. Let's check in with NeverDead, the shoot 'em up that's chock full of self-inflicted dismemberment and decapitation. I think Konami's shoot-and-slice fest is looking rather promising. What do you think? More »