To try and entice a few more people to purchase the PlayStation Vita at launch, Sony has announced what they call a “First Edition” bundle for both the United States as well as Canada. Those who purchase this bundle, or rather pre-purchase it, will receive their purchase on February 15th, a whole week before the individual device itself.
The bundles are different for Canada and the US, with the Canadian bundle costing $300. It will contain the PlayStation Vita Wi-Fi model, a 4GB memory card and the Little Deviants game. For those in the US we can expect to pay $350 for the PlayStation Vita 3G + Wi-Fi model, a 4GB memory card, a Limited Edition case and the Little Deviants game as well. The North American version would certainly be quite appealing, unfortunately the bundle only contains the 3G version, which is more or less a waste of money considering they are using AT&T.
Today is the release date for Final Fantasy: Type-0 in Japan, which means that Square Enix may as well release the opening cinematic for the game. The video can be seen below, but it is best to make sure you have plenty of time to sit and watch it, as it is ten minutes long. If there is anything that can be said about the PSP and Square Enix, it is the fact that they have mastered making games look great on it, especially cutscenes.
Be warned, this is probably the most brutal opening I believe I have ever seen for a Final Fantasy title, including plenty of blood and even a poor Chocobo meeting it’s end. It is certainly a shame that, at the moment, Square Enix has made no plans to bring this title to Western shores.
When it was announced a few months ago that director Takashi Miike would be working on a live action adaptation of Capcom’s Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, many people were right to be a bit concerned. This is usually due ot the fact that most game to movie adaptations end up being truly terrible, but the above image released today seems to put those concerns to rest.
The image above looks like a mirror image of what players see in Phoenix Wright, which is a great sign because the movie is going to be released in Japan on February 11th thanks the teaser site launched today as well. Currently there are no plans for a localization of the movie, though some sort of Western DVD release could still be in the cards.
In less than two months, the Japanese will get their hands on the Playstation Vita. As the hype trains chuggs along, Famitsu has published a FAQ detailing several features and limitations at launch. Some of it is no surprise, while others are questionable. So, what details emerged from the FAQ? Here are a few important ones.
There will be no Game Archive support at launch. Game Archives usually includes Playstation One games or both Playstation One and TurboGrafx/PC Engine games. Famitsu’s wording suggests that both type of software will no be supported at launch.
There will be no flash support at launch. This means that it may be added at a later date. What the internet browser supports include Java, HTML5 and cookies.
There may be a method to transfer save data of PSP games to the Vita.
A Wi-Fi connection will be established first. If that fails, then the 3G will try to establish a connection. There will be no automatic switch from 3G to Wi-Fi if a Wi-Fi spot is found.
Upscaled visuals will be available for Playstation Portable downloadable titles.
GPS capabilities will be available for both connections, but a 3G connection will be preferred.
As we’ve gone into before nintendogs + cats is the king of high popularity spokespeople, with the RSPCA and Jessica Mauboy on their side. Jessica Mauboy has thrown her support behind the interactive pets game, suggesting it as the best alternative for those of us who live in pet-unfriendly apartments and schedules.
As well as supporting them in speech and video, there has also been a Jessica Mauboy Mii released of her donning Gold Pants. For those of you who are keen to get your Mauboy download on, here it is.
For more information on nintendogs and cats on Nintendo 3DS go HERE.
Sucker Punch Productions have presented their own little present to the public, inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood, available now for download from the PlayStation Store for $15.95 AU.
Cole MacGrath is back, and this time it’s for an awesome, bloody stand. New Marais’ most powerful vampire, the aptly named, Bloody Mary has bitten Cole and infected the masses of New Marais. Cole has to work against the clock to save himself and New Marais, having only one night to do so. He seems to have his work cut out for him, and personally, I’m keen to see how he deals with it.
The city of New Marais is recreated with the vampire infection, both the population and the city itself. But don’t worry Cole isn’t going in empty-handed, he’s got a great array of new superpowers to help him out.
inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood is PlayStation Move compatible and doesn’t actually require you to own a copy of inFAMOUS 2.
Check out the kickass trailer below. What do you guys think? Is it an awesome new addition or are vampires taking over way too many things?
Nikoli’s Pencil Puzzle has been released by Konami Digital for the Nintendo 3DS. Nikoli’s Pencil Puzzle comes from the same world famous puzzle maker who also gave us the lifetime gift of Sudoku. The game includes 600 brain teasers, bound to exercise and challenge your mind. They fall under four different game play types, Sudoku, Hashi, Shikaku and Akari.
For those of you who don’t know these games off the top of your head; Sudoku is the great numbers game utilizing three-by-three squares, Hashi required you to quickly link all the islands on screen with bridges, matching on screen numbers with the islands with connected together, Shikaku where you divide the board into rectangles where each piece has to be included with the digit that will be the size of the boxes, and Akari where you light up an entire hall without overlapping the lighting with the number of lights given and the light illuminating until it hits a wall.
Nikoli’s Pencil Puzzle will certainly give Brain Training a run for it’s money, so it’s perfect for those of you who love to challenge yourselves.
For more information, and to buy the game go HERE.
If roster size is your thing, WWE ’12 is certainly set to deliver this year as new additions have been pooring in. WWE Magazine recently let the cat out of the bag about two legends that would be in the game, which are none other than Mick Foley and the late Macho Man Randy Savage.
The article reads:
“WWE ’12 boasts a WrestleMania-sized roster of icons that, for the first time ever, can be used by gamers right off the bat. Superstars such as Demolition, Ricky Steamboat, Kevin Nash and others are available initially: future downloadable greats will include the likes of Shawn Michaels, Randy Savage and Mick Foley. Oh yeah, and they’ll also offer alternate attire for Edge and Christian, a throwback to their late-’90s tag team heyday, just for the benefit of those with flash photography.”
These two are both nice additions for the future DLC pack, and if history serves correct, this is just the beginning of announcements for future downloads for the ever-popular wrestling sim. Also, retro Edge and Christian! Yes, it looks like I will have to save back a few points this year.
While Zumba Fitness 2 is set to launch on the Nintendo Wii in less than a month, Majesco are ready to get their fanbase into shape via the Kinect and have now announced “Zumba Fitness Rush” for the Xbox 360. This new version will of course feature full body Kinect motion controls along with 42 new tracks and a huge variety of new dance styles and arenas for users to enjoy.
“Our Zumba Fitness games combine both dance and fitness with fun, high-energy choreography, contagious music and multiplayer functionality that lets friends and family join the party,” said Jesse Sutton, Chief Executive Officer, Majesco Entertainment. “Zumba Fitness Rush is packed with features and improvements that Kinect fans have asked for—from licensed music to a calorie tracker, 40+ all new routines with more than twice the dance styles of the original, a custom playlist feature and online connectivity. This is an incredibly robust experience that fans will love.”
Rush will also feature six instructors get you moving to the beat, including celebrity instructors Beto Perez, Tanya Beardsley and Gina Grant, plus new stars exclusive to the Kinect game: Kass Martin, Jason Thompson and Erica Pierce. Each personality will instruct in choreography ranging from Merengue and Samba to Bollywood and Latin Pop.
If that wasn’t enough, a newly added Progress Tracker has been included, which will add up calories burned, grade dance styles, and display ranks, trophies and stats.
A full list of features can be found below.
Additional Zumba® Fitness Rush Features:
Hot Dance Music – 42 new routines and music tracks including hits from chart-topping artists Pitbull, Nicole Scherzinger and Yolanda Be Cool & DCup.
Superstar Instructors – Dance and interact with six of Zumba Fitness’ elite instructors: Beto Perez, Tanya Beardsley, Gina Grant, Kass Martin, Jason Thompson and Erica Pierce.
Huge Range of Dance Flavors – Choose from 24 different dance styles, from fan favorites Salsa and Reggaeton to new styles including Bollywood, Axe, Latin Pop and Pasodoble.
Customizable Workouts – Create a Zumba® workout that’s right for you by choosing your favorite playlist and workout length. Low, Medium and High Intensity routines also cater to dancers of all skill levels.
Exotic Party Venues – Dance it up in 10 new, dynamic environments, with 5 venues including Rio Carnival and Las Vegas that are exclusive to the Kinect game.
Master Your Flair – Full tutorial mode offers a breakdown of the basic steps and rhythms by core styles.
Exclusive Access – Earn achievements and unlock behind-the-scenes Zumba videos as you play, only available in Zumba® Fitness Rush for Kinect.
Keep the Dance Party Going – New choreography and licensed music will be released post-launch via add-on content only available on the Xbox LIVE® Marketplace for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. Download the digital content right into your game!
Sound good to you Zumba fanatics? Good. Zumba Fitness Rush isn’t too far off either, as the game is set to launch in February of 2012 and is available for pre-order now at participating retailers.
Namco Bandai have revealed the finalised boxarts for the upcoming weapon-based fighter today, Soulcalibur V for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The packshots make no secret of the the new playable guest character, Auditore da Firenze from Ubisoft’s hit Assassin’s Creed franchise making solid a appearance in the artwork. Ezio is also joined by fan favourite Nightmare and new character Patroklos Alexandra, son of series veteran Sophitia Alexandria locked in combat.
The game is yet to be classified in Australia, but has been given a PEGI: 16 rating in Europe so it is expected to be passed down under. Soulcalibur V has been given a January 31 release date in North America and a February 3 release date in Europe.
