All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Man, there are all sorts of hidden gems in this game! I need to go through once again just to hunt down these hidden references! Thanks to Mazzle for the heads up!

Australian gamers who are also grown-ass adults are now one huge step closer to getting their hands on mature games currently deemed too perverse to be released in their homeland. Australia's federal cabinet recently approved the R18+ rating for video games which has eluded the country for many years, resulting in the outright banning of games like Aliens vs. Predator or the censoring of titles like Left 4 Dead 2.

Members of the cabinet explained to News.com.au that the new rating was actually created in response to the too-mature games that slipped under the MA15+ rating, exposing 15-year-olds to content that they really need three extra years under their belt to digest. Whatever the reason, we certainly hope the long-overdue measure will be approved by the nation's Attorneys General when the delegates meet later this week.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

If this week’s reading list looks a bit longer than usual, it is – this overstuffed edition contains links from the long Thanksgiving weekend.

As we’ve brought up earlier this week, the Video Game Awards are coming up pretty soon, and with PlayStation nominees and cool reveals in store, we’re once again going to hold an LA viewing party near the live broadcast of the show. Look for more details this week, but Californians: mark your calendars for next Saturday!

The PS.Blog weekly reading list (Week of November 29, 2010)

• Jaffe to Destructoid: Can’t I have an opinion!? – Destructoid
• How A Big Video Game Was Killed – Kotaku
• PlayStation 3 Holiday Gift Guide: 10 Titles You Have to Play – Joystick Division
• AdHoc Party Gets a Monster Hunter Version – Capcom-Unity
• Netflix executive reveals the method behind its multiple PS3 UI madness – Engadget
• Review: Dead Nation | Spawn Kill | Video Game News & Reviews
• U.S.A. Leads Lucky Part Of The World In Slaying Zombies – Kotaku
• Dead Nation review: It’s dangerous to go alone – Joystiq
• Explodemon delayed until January | Joystiq
• David Jaffe gives 360 owner a PS3 so they can play new Twisted Metal – National Video Game – Examiner.com
• PlayStation Move sales top 4.1 million – USATODAY.com
• Top 2010 PSP Games – Article – G4tv.com
• Who’s That Flying?! Review – PlayStation Portable Review at IGN
• Defense Department discusses new Sony PlayStation supercomputer – cleveland.com
• Developer Interview: Funky Lab Rat – PSNStores
• Sony’s Tretton on Smart Phones and the Future of Gaming – CNBC
• Gran Turismo 5 – The PS3 Attitude Review (part 1) – PS3 Attitude
• Feature: The man who earned a job playing LittleBigPlanet – ComputerAndVideoGames.com
• The Low-Down on Gran Turismo 5′s Damage Modeling – PlayStation LifeStyle
• Free Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood Multiplayer DLC Inbound – G4tv.com
• Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together for PlayStation Portable – Preview – G4tv.com
• Top Gear talks to Kazunori Yamauchi – BBC Top Gear
• Tweetbeat wants you to know, what is the most talked about gaming console? – Kosmix Blog
• Every Kratos Kill Ever: God of War 1 – Spawn Kill
• GT5 Week; PSP users are GO! – PS3 Attitude
• 50+ PS3 games going 3D – Report – News at GameSpot
• Which Ones Are Photos And Which Ones Are Gran Turismo 5? – Kotaku
• PS3 Review – Gran Turismo 5 – PlayStation LifeStyle
• Review: Gran Turismo 5- Destructoid
• 10 Facts About ‘Gran Turismo’ You Might Not Have Known – Asylum.com
• Sony: The world still loves Gran Turismo – Eurogamer.net
• The Best of What’s New 2010: Sony PlayStation Move – Popular Science
• Sly Collection Review – Strength Gamer
• Review – Beat Sketcher – PSNStores
• Nike Training x Sony PlayStation Move Pack – Sole Collector
• My Chemical Romance tracks ‘Gran Turismo 5′ – USATODAY.com
• Hands-on: Spelunker HD – PSNStores
• What is Sony’s Exclusive PS3 Reveal? – PS3 Feature at IGN

I don’t know what it was about this show, but I really enjoyed it. It seemed like it had a nice flow to it. I’m not saying it’s the greatest show we’ve ever done, but it felt good to me! I hope some of that feeling comes through to you guys when you listen. Download the [...]

December has, once again, snuck up on us, bringing along its unwelcome guests, Mr. Sub-Freezing Temperatures and Mrs. Five Inches of Overnight Snow Accumulation. We're going the whole nine yards to prevent winter's grasp from entering our abodes this year: We've got extra insulation for the walls, plastic wrap for all the windows, caulk for all the cracks between the windows and doors, steel plating to cover the windows and doors, and ... oh. Oh, wow. We're going to starve, now, aren't we? Yep. Didn't really think this one through.

Luckily, we've got enough strength saved up to bring you our seven favorite gaming-centric webcomics from this past week. Check them out in the list below, and vote for your favorite in the poll posted after the jump!

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Another Video Game Webcomic)
Fundamentally Accurate (Penny Arcade)
Frog Suit (Brawl in the Family)
Gran Iperbole (Virtual Shackles)
There Will Be Blood (Nerf NOW)
Death of a Cover Artist (Of Noobs and Men)
One for the Road (No Cash Value)

Rumored device seen in the wild.

Nintendo offered a strange promotional deal for Donkey Kong Country Returns at UK video game stores recently. All fans were asked to do is bring in real bananas; the first 20 who did would get a copy of Retro Studios' brilliantly tough platformer. And, sure enough, it worked -- fans handing over bananas got a copy of the game, as well as a photo opportunity with ... the store employees.

The promotion worked so well, according to Nintendo, that the company is planning some similar giveaways in the future. Soon, by bringing in real-life psychadelic mushrooms, you'll be able to get a copy of the trippy Super Mario Galaxy 2. A fully knitted sweater will net you a copy of Kirby's Epic Yarn and 20 lucky game store shoppers will be able to get a copy of Metroid: Other M by bringing in a real extraterrestrial being. Good luck with that one.

The mobile, multiplayer-equipped White Knight Chronicles Episode.Portable: Dogma Wars recently received a debut Japanese trailer to go along with its release date announcement. Check out a few clips of the battle system, character customization and infrastructure mode posted below.

New title likely to be revealed at the VGAs next week.

New title likely to be revealed at the VGAs next week.

New title likely to be revealed at the VGAs next week.

If you've never experienced any of Monty Python's PC games, you missed out on King Arthur's adventures, the meaning of life and (quite literally) a complete waste of time. Now the troupe is returning to the computer box courtesy of a new Facebook game entitled The Ministry of Silly Games. Developed by Zattikka, the game is essentially a collection of mini-games bound together in a simple RPG structure.

Players are given quests that lead to mini-games, which Rock, Paper, Shotgun describes as unabashed clones of popular games like Angry Birds, Galaga and match-three puzzlers. And, of course, there are opportunities to spend real cash on in-game stuff, should you decide to do so. Still, the game is packed with Monty Python references and even includes lots of original art work by Terry Gilliam himself.

The Ministry of Silly Games is currently in closed beta. Interested Python fans can sign up to participate right here.

#shopfinal Widely praised for its exacting standards of realism, our most recent 'Shop Contest took Gran Turismo to the opposite extreme, with extremely hilarious results. More »

#tv The Red Faction movie to air on SyFi will begin shooting in January and air in May, concurrent with the release of Red Faction: Armageddon, says the publisher. More »

#clips Gametrailers got a three-minute look at Bionic Commando: Rearmed 2 due early next year from Capcom. Packed with gameplay, fans should get a good idea of the game's innovative new features which, of course, include jumping. More »

#dlc Originally slated for removal a year ago, Activision postponed the takedown of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2's Character & Sim Mission Pack when the community threw a fit. Now it's serious; the DLC's getting yanked at the end of the year. More »

Last week, Activision uploaded a teaser site featuring the tagline "Murder Your Maker," which we hypothesized was hinting at the reveal of a new installment in the Prototype series during the Spike VGAs. A brief video which was recently added to the site appears to confirm our suspicions.

Sony and Media Molecule have remained relatively tight-lipped on whether their even-more-customizable platformer, LittleBigPlanet 2, would feature the kind of 3D support that's quickly becoming a mainstay for major PS3 releases. Though we've heard a few reports to the contrary from Sony in the past, SCEA marketing manager Mark Valledor recently responded to a PlayStation.Blog commenter who asked whether LBP 2 would feature the eye-popping tech, explaining, "Sorry, no 3D this time around."

We've contacted Sony and Media Molecule to find out if Valledor's statement is on the level, and to see what he meant by "this time around." Is he hinting at the limited, future release of LittleBigPlanet 2: This Time For People With Really Expensive Televisions Edition? Hopefully, we'll find out soon enough.

#mobile Angry Birds Halloween has morphed to a new holidays-themed offering - Angry Birds Seasons - whose latest pack unlocks a new level every day until Christmas, Advent-calendar style. More »

The Games for Windows platform understands how mercurial our mood can be from day-to-day. Today, the storefront's offering the charming, friendly Viva Piñata for a dollar. According to its RSS feed, it's applying the same discount to the somewhat angrier, shootier Blacklight: Tango Down tomorrow.

#assassinscreed Ubisoft is considering cooperative online multiplayer, a crafting system for bombs, and improved Eagle Vision in the next Assassin's Creed sequel, according to a U.K. marketing survey currently being taken. More »