Most Recent: PSP

Moon Diver, Free Realms, Rush ‘N Attack on PlayStation Store this week

Posted on March 30, 2011 by John Scalzo

It’s another huge week for PlayStation Store updates.

Yesterday, Sony added seven PlayStation 3 games to the store including Split/Secend, the reality TV racer; Rush’N Attack: Ex-Patriot, a new take on Konami’s other side-scrolling shooter series; Chime Super Deluxe, an enhanced version of the popular puzzle game; Sonic The Hedgehog, the first game from Sega’s signature speedster; Free Realms, the free-to-play MMORPG; Moon Diver, a new sword-swinging side-scroller from the creator of Strider; and Episode 2, “Get Tannen!”, of Back To The Future: The Game. Wow. That’s quite a list.

The portable PlayStation Store also got a big update this week as four PSP games were added. They include new releases WWE All-Stars, The 3rd Birthday and Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky as well as a PSP release of Dragon’s Lair.

More information on all of these games can be found after the break or at the PlayStation.Blog. (more…)

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New Releases: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12, 3rd Birthday, WWE All-Stars, More

Posted on March 26, 2011 by John Scalzo

While the impending release of the 3DS still dominates the coming soon lists, there will be plenty of new games available when the calendar skips to the week ahead.

Fresh off Tiger Woods’ victory on Morning Drive, his namesake game, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters, will be available in stores this week for the PS3, Wii and Xbox 360. It’ll be joined by Square Enix’s long-awaited PSP sequel to Parasite Eve, The 3rd Birthday.

More sports action dominates this week’s new releases including the arcade wrestling title WWE All-Stars (PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 and PS2!) as well as a pair of racing games: Shift 2: Unleashed (PC, PS3, Xbox 360) and NASCAR 2011 (PS3, Wii, Xbox 360).

Finally, everyone’s favorite hack and slash series returns for another round of ancient Chinese warfare. I refer, of course, to Koei’s Dynasty Warriors 7 (PS3, Xbox 360).

The full list of the rest of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in DS, News, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tagged , , , ,

Weinstein Company gets into the game business

Posted on March 25, 2011 by John Scalzo

Famous film brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein have announced that their company, the creatively named The Weinstein Company, has started a video game division. The equally creatively named TWC Games will tap into the back catalog of The Weinstein Company and Dimension Films to develop and publish video games for mobile, social, and console platforms. Among the Weinstein/Dimension films that could get the game treatment are Scream, Hellraiser, Halloween and Children of the Corn.

Wouldn’t it be awesome if TWC Games teamed up with Freddy and Jason rightsholder Warner Bros. to create the ultimate slasher movie fighting game of Ghostface vs Pinhead vs Michael Myers vs “He Who Walks Behind the Rows” vs Freddy Kruegger vs Jason Voorhees? Considering the fact that Warner Bros. also owns Mortal Kombat maker NetherRealm Studios, it’s practically fate.

TWC Games will be working with Beefy Media, who has worked with Capcom in the past on a ton of projects, to bring their video game dreams to fruition. The consulting company will work with TWC Games to “foster relationships with publishers and create high quality games.”

Bob Weinstein, The Weinstein Company’s co-chairman, is thrilled about the announcement: “The video game marketplace is changing at such a rapid rate. With all of the digital platforms, there are so many opportunities to broaden our audience with compelling, high quality, cost-efficient, video game entertainment.”

Seriously, someone needs to convince Bob and Harvey to make that monster crossover happen.

Posted in 3DS, DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, PSP, Vita, Wii, Xbox 360 |

Final Fantasy IV: Interlude is around 15 hours, maturity returns to original FFIV

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

The Super Nintendo. The PlayStation. The Game Boy Advance. The Nintendo DS. Going on its fifth platform, Square Enix is still giving you reasons to buy Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection. One such reason is Final Fantasy IV: Interlude, an all new game set to connect the original IV with its WiiWare sequel, The After Years. The PlayStation Blog revealed that this new connected story will be “weighing in at 15-odd hours of new gameplay.” I’d be happy if a downloadable game gave me 15 hours, so it’s excellent for this episode to be more like a full game.

Another feature may be of more note to RPG purists: the PSBlog portrays this version of the game as its “pure, uncensored form,” specifically denoting skimpy outfits and mature references. This is actually a big deal. For example, Final Fantasy VI directly translated is almost a completely different game than American players were used to, dealing with issues of prostitution, teen pregnancy, and suicide. No word if “Spoony Bard” will return (it did), but expect a nice package when FFIV: The Complete Collection releases for PSP on April 19.

Posted in News, PSP | Tagged

Ghostbusters, PlayStation Move Heroes answer the call on PlayStation Store

Posted on March 23, 2011 by John Scalzo

Welcome to one of the biggest PlayStation Store updates ever!

It’s possible you’re too busy playing the newly released SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy Seals beta to notice, but Sony added seven games to the store yesterday and another two to the PSP store. But first things first, the Spring Fever 2011 sale continues this week with discounts on Tetris (now $4.99, regular price $9.99) and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (now $9.99, regular price $19.99).

As for the new releases, check ’em out:

  • Ghostbusters: Sanctum Of Slime – A top-down twin-stick shooter starring the Ghostbusters and this week’s “spotlight update” to boot.
  • Swarm – An action platformer from HotHead Games.
  • Battle: Los Angeles – A first person shooter based on the hugely popular new movie.
  • Premier Manager – A front office simulation of Europe’s numbe one soccer league.
  • DC Universe Online – The superhero MMO is now downloadable.
  • PlayStation Move Heroes – Everyone’s favorite Sony mascots (except for Kratos) go head-to-head-to-head in this Move-powered crossover.
  • Legend of Mana – It’s not as cool as Secret of Mana, but it’s definitely a PSone Classic.

As I said, the PSP store also received two updates: Hoard, a dragon-powered “action strategy” title; and the increasingly illnamed Dissidia 012 [duodecim]: Final Fantasy.

Hit the jump for more details on all of this week’s releases or visit the PlayStation.Blog for a full rundown of all the new game add-ons. (more…)

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New Releases: 3DS, Crysis 2, Lego Star Wars III, More

Posted on March 19, 2011 by John Scalzo

The wait for Nintendo’s handheld is almost over as the Nintendo 3DS arrives in stores this week. Available in both Cosmo Black and the awesomely two-tone Aqua Blue, the system will be available on Sunday, March 27 along with a launch lineup of 18 titles.

However, if you prefer to do your gaming on a big screen, one of the biggest first person shooters of the year, Crysis 2, will be released for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. More aliens can be had in the latest Lego Star Wars, which is also available this week. Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars will be coming to the 3DS, DS, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii and Xbox 360.

Other new releases this week include Square Enix’s Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy (PSP), Sony’s Ratchet, Jak and Sly crossover PlayStation Move Heroes (PS3) and the medieval people management of The Sims Medieval (PC)

The full list of the rest of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, DS, News, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tagged ,

The 2010-2011 Video Game Awards Season

Posted on March 17, 2011 by John Scalzo

Beginning with the Spike TV Video Game Awards in early December and culminating with last night’s BAFTA Games Awards, the 2010-2011 “video game awards season” has come to a close. And after four months of awards, acceptance speeches and arguments, we have a clearer picture of what really were the best games of the year.

The snobbier segments of the game community love to decry the Spike TV Video Game Awards as an embarrassment and not representative of the feelings of “real” gamers. Typically, the show’s world premiere trailers overshadow the actual awards themselves. But the event is spearheaded by Geoff Keighley of GameTrailers TV and the winners are voted on by a well-respected contingent of game journalists, so I guess it could be worse.

That said, this year’s Spike TV Video Game Awards “Game of the Year” was awarded to Rockstar’s epic western Red Dead Redemption. Keighley and company spread the love as the remaining major awards all went to other games: “Best PC Game” StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty; “Best PS3 Game” God of War III; “Best Wii Game” Super Mario Galaxy 2; “Best Xbox 360 Game” Halo: Reach; “Best Handheld Game” God of War: Ghost of Sparta; and “Best Downloadable Game” Costume Quest.

If Spike TV’s annual awards attempt to reach the mainstream, Time Magazine‘s top ten is the polar opposite, reaching into corners of the gaming world that are often ignored. This year’s selections are no different, including Alan Wake being awarded the #1 spot with iOS phenomenon Angry Birds at #2. The rest of the list was pretty typical, but the lack of Alan Wake’s spiritual twin, Heavy Rain, was the baffling part. Also, Limbo received its first love of the year-end awards with a sixth-place selection. (more…)

Posted in DS, Features, Mobile, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Crysis 2 demo, Hard Corps: Uprising, Parasite Eve on PlayStation Store this week

Posted on March 14, 2011 by John Scalzo

A PlayStation.Blog weekly feature, “The Drop,” has given us a sneak peek at what games will be available to download tomorrow from the PlayStation Store.

While not a full game, the biggest addition to this week’s PSN update is the PS3 version of the Crysis 2 multiplayer demo. Another huge demo available this week is Mortal Kombat. The sample was made available to download for PlayStation Plus users last week, but now every PS3 owner will have a chance to test out the Mature-rated fighter. Finally, a demo of the minigame crossover PlayStation Move Heroes is also in the works for the Tuesday update.

If you’re more interested in full games, you can find three in this week’s PSN update. PS3 owners will be able to download the Contra prequel Hard Corps: Uprising along with the “building and brawling mash up” Slam Bolt Scrappers. And PSone Classics collectors will be thrilled to learn that Parasite Eve will be added to the service this week ahead of The 3rd Birthday‘s March 29 release.

And speaking of PSP games, this week’s PlayStation Store update sees the release of five of them: Shooter Gods Eater Burst, RPG Jikandia: The Timeless Land, sports sim Major League Baseball 2K11, puzzle racer Vertigo and the fighting game Dissidia 012 Prologus: Final Fantasy.

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