Bite-sized games for PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) and PlayStation®3 (PS3™) prove a hit with gamers
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) has announced that the minis range has passed the one million download milestone across the PAL, Asia and US territories. Launched in October 2009 and purpose built for PSP® (PlayStation®Portable), and PlayStation®3 (PS3™), minis offers a huge selection of bite-size games; all at tiny prices and all quick and easy to download from PlayStation®Store.
With 80 minis currently available on the Australian store, from over 50 developers including favourites like Pinball Fantasies and new classics like Monster (Probably) Stole My Princess from the independent games developer Mediatonic – and with more coming on board every day, including Pacman CE from Namco Bandai Networks, gamers are set to have more choice than ever in the coming months.
Who Loves their MINI’s ?? Whats your Favourite of the bunch ?
Sony has revealed on their blog that there will be two different bundles to get your Move on when they come out. So lets get down to business. The full package with everything you will need for the Move will set you back $400 USD, and it will include a PS3, the Sports Champions game, a PS Eye, and a Dualshock 3 Controller.
The second bundle as you can see above doesn’t come with the PS3 and instead comes with everything else, so shaves off the $300 price addition to only cost $100 USD. Though if you already have the Eye and don’t care about Sports Champions, then you can buy the Move controller itself for only $50 USD.
Bear in mind though that in all of these packages the navigational controller will cost an additional $30 to have, so expect to be paying about that much if you wish to have it too.
Unfortunately these different packages don’t essentially save any money between them and the fact that the navigational controller doesn’t come with any of the packages is a bit of a low blow as well. What do you guys think about these different packs?
Small bit of information for everyone here but don’t good things sometimes come in small packages? That is the case today with Official Nintendo Magazine hearing from Eoji Aonuma, the game’s producer, that Zelda: Skyward Sword is being aimed for a release date of early 2011. Which is better than the previously announced release date we heard at E3 of sometime in 2011; and even better as the date is closer than we may have thought.
Capcom has announced today that their Sengoku era fantasy, called “Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes” is going to be arriving in North America on October 12th and Europe and Australia on the 15th. Devil May Cry 4’s developer Hiroyuki Kabayashi was the head of the project in Japan and in bringing it overseas.
We will be seeing a launch on both the PS3 and the Wii on the same exact day, where there are over a dozen different samurai heroes to choose from and they each have their own different type of weapon and way to use them. Which means you have the chance to fight with any style of your choice to go with your characters. The player will take control over their hero as they battle through thousands of soldiers on famous battlefields of 16th century Japan.
Blacklight Tango Down Developer: Zombie Studios Publisher: Ignition Entertainment Platform: Xbox 360 (Reviewed), PlayStation 3 Genre: Shooter Price: 1200 MSP – Buy Now!
Overview:
We’ve all played Online FPSs, so many in fact that there are becoming nearly dime a dozen. What sets a good FPS apart is the way that you can customize your own weapons and your experience to fit how you want to play. Plus a good hook is always good to put a little bit of your own flavor. A major advantage that Blacklight Tango Down has over it’s competition, is it only costs $15 to own. So will Ignition’s futuristic Blacklight Tango Down stand above your average FPS? Partially.
Graphics & Design:
There are a number of different stages in which you can do battle on, however the way that the maps are designed are unfortunately a failing point for the game. Each of the maps you will play on will have static spawn zones, which means you will always spawn in a certain area in the same exact spot. This is a major error in level design due to the fact that spawn camping can become a heavy issue during the game, and can make new players simply give up and quit the match.
Weapon effects and digital grenade effects are interesting to see, especially during an EMP grenade attack. The overall appearance of the levels is well done, if not a bit smooth around the edges with no textures. You have your standard gray and brown environment with little to distract from the battle, minus the advertisements that is. Because for being set in a futuristic environment, seeing a billboard or a poster with an advertisement that you can get on shelves now, is a bit of a stretch.
Gameplay:
The abundance of the time spent playing Blacklight Tango Down will be the online multiplayer. However there is an initial flaw to this mode, which is the fact the game does not have dedicated servers for the matches. This means that not only does it occasionally take upwards of five minutes to enter a match, but at times there will be a heavy amount of lag that will only result in your players death through means unknown until you hear the explosion later.
The problem with the lag is that your own character only has 175 hit points in his health bar, and though the health does recharge if you happen to survive a fire fight, it won’t be often. The game plays through as a more realistic type shooter, where a few bullets from nearly any weapon can drop your gunner to the cold ground.
As for the firearms you can use there are a your standard variety of weapons, from SMGs, Sniper Rifles, Assault Rifles, Light Machine Guns, etc. They each have a very large amount of customization available; anywhere from changing the barrel on the gun to attaching something akin to a cell phone accessory to it. Each of these various customization options, and there are a lot mind you, affect the stats of the weapon in either positive or negative effects.
The way you access these new custom weapons however, is the painful level grinding as you advance through fight after fight. Each kill or assist in the game will provide experience points and when you level up you will gain new accessories, guns, or equipment. Though you will have to search the customization menu to see exactly what you unlocked as the message saying what you have unlocked is nigh unintelligible to read on most TVs. Take it as you will but the eventual level difference can make your gun seem like it is doing barely anything compared to the other guns used by higher levels.
The problem here arises that the way that the gear is unlocked, you will have a tough time starting out due to the basic weaponry provided and practically zero customization. Put this together with the fact that the matchmaking is not very balanced and there is a problem. When a team of five level 30 players faces off a team of four level 5 players then the distinct advantage is with the higher leveled characters.
Since this is the future though, you would expect to see some fancy new technology right? Right, well that is one thing that Blacklight provides. The essential player combat has the feeling of playing in a fully armored soldier such as in Halo. The neat feature here though is that your visor can be used for a number of different things, most impressive of which is the HRV, or the Hyper Reality Visor. The HRV will allow you to see through walls and identify where your allies are and where the enemies are. It will also show where your objective may be if you are playing one of those game types. A balancing issue with the HRV is that your weapon is not useable in this mode; so if an enemy catches you using it the chances of your death are very high.
Your visor is a hindrance as well, in the way that there are two special grenades; essentially they are flashbang and smoke grenades but with different effects which create more of a futuristic feel. The EMP grenade will shut down the visor in a blue screen of death and cause temporary blindness. With the DIGI grenade exploding into a digital disturbance in the air making everything in the area appear in a jumble of pixels. When coupled with the HRV it turns into a deadly weapon to pick enemies off that are confused with the digitized environment.
With a minor note there is a single player aspect of the game, but the game recommends that it is played co-operatively. This is more of a forced recommendation than a suggestion though. As the game does not adjust it’s difficulty for a single fighter as you will face wave after wave of enemies and one death meaning the end. Plus the co-op mode is only accessible to your own friends that have the game, there is no co-op lobby to join random games. In this mode we are introduced slightly to the story, that the Black Ops team is attempting to destroy the Order; but overall the story is paper thin.
Overall:
If you are looking for an adequate first person shooter with a few interesting features and a cheap price tag then Blacklight Tango Down is your game. It has it’s flaws and the graphics are not the best you would find in a retail title, but they are some of the best you will find in an XBLA game. Ignition made a great attempt to step into a genre already occupied with stiff competition, and has cut out a little niche for itself.
I give Blacklight Tango Down
Overview:
We’ve all played Online FPSs, so many in fact that there are becoming nearly dime a dozen. What sets a good FPS apart is the way that you can customize your own weapons and your experience to fit how you want to play. Plus a good hook is always good to put a little bit of your own flavor. A major advantage that Blacklight Tango Down has over it’s competition, is it only costs $15 to own. So will Ignition’s futuristic Blacklight Tango Down stand above your average FPS? Partially.
Graphics & Design:
There are a number of different stages in which you can do battle on, however the way that the maps are designed are unfortunately a failing point for the game. Each of the maps you will play on will have static spawn zones, which means you will always spawn in a certain area in the same exact spot. This is a major error in level design due to the fact that spawn camping can become a heavy issue during the game, and can make new players simply give up and quit the match.
Weapon effects and digital grenade effects are interesting to see, especially during an EMP grenade attack. The overall appearance of the levels is well done, if not a bit smooth around the edges with no textures. You have your standard gray and brown environment with little to distract from the battle, minus the advertisements that is. Because for being set in a futuristic environment, seeing a billboard or a poster with an advertisement that you can get on shelves now, is a bit of a stretch.
Gameplay:
The abundance of the time spent playing Blacklight Tango Down will be the online multiplayer. However there is an initial flaw to this mode, which is the fact the game does not have dedicated servers for the matches. This means that not only does it occasionally take upwards of five minutes to enter a match, but at times there will be a heavy amount of lag that will only result in your players death through means unknown until you hear the explosion later.
The problem with the lag is that your own character only has 175 hit points in his health bar, and though the health does recharge if you happen to survive a fire fight, it won’t be often. The game plays through as a more realistic type shooter, where a few bullets from nearly any weapon can drop your gunner to the cold ground.
As for the firearms you can use there are a your standard variety of weapons, from SMGs, Sniper Rifles, Assault Rifles, Light Machine Guns, etc. They each have a very large amount of customization available; anywhere from changing the barrel on the gun to attaching something akin to a cell phone accessory to it. Each of these various customization options, and there are a lot mind you, affect the stats of the weapon in either positive or negative effects.
The way you access these new custom weapons however, is the painful level grinding as you advance through fight after fight. Each kill or assist in the game will provide experience points and when you level up you will gain new accessories, guns, or equipment. Though you will have to search the customization menu to see exactly what you unlocked as the message saying what you have unlocked is nigh unintelligible to read on most TVs. Take it as you will but the eventual level difference can make your gun seem like it is doing barely anything compared to the other guns used by higher levels.
The problem here arises that the way that the gear is unlocked, you will have a tough time starting out due to the basic weaponry provided and practically zero customization. Put this together with the fact that the matchmaking is not very balanced and there is a problem. When a team of five level 30 players faces off a team of four level 5 players then the distinct advantage is with the higher leveled characters.
Since this is the future though, you would expect to see some fancy new technology right? Right, well that is one thing that Blacklight provides. The essential player combat has the feeling of playing in a fully armored soldier such as in Halo. The neat feature here though is that your visor can be used for a number of different things, most impressive of which is the HRV, or the Hyper Reality Visor. The HRV will allow you to see through walls and identify where your allies are and where the enemies are. It will also show where your objective may be if you are playing one of those game types. A balancing issue with the HRV is that your weapon is not useable in this mode; so if an enemy catches you using it the chances of your death are very high.
Your visor is a hindrance as well, in the way that there are two special grenades; essentially they are flashbang and smoke grenades but with different effects which create more of a futuristic feel. The EMP grenade will shut down the visor in a blue screen of death and cause temporary blindness. With the DIGI grenade exploding into a digital disturbance in the air making everything in the area appear in a jumble of pixels. When coupled with the HRV it turns into a deadly weapon to pick enemies off that are confused with the digitized enviroment.
With a minor note there is a single player aspect of the game, but the game recommends that it is played co-operatively. This is more of a forced recommendation than a suggestion though. As the game does not adjust it’s difficulty for a single fighter as you will face wave after wave of enemies and one death meaning the end. Plus the co-op mode is only accessible to your own friends that have the game, there is no co-op lobby to join random games. In this mode we are introduced slightly to the story, that the Black Ops team is attempting to destroy the Order; but overall the story is paper thin.
Overall:
If you are looking for an adequate first person shooter with a few interesting features and a cheap price tag then Blacklight Tango Down is your game. It has it’s flaws and the graphics are not the best you would find in a retail title, but they are some of the best you will find in an XBLA game. Ignition made a great attempt to step into a genre already occupied with stiff competition, and has cut out a little niche for itself.
There’s a Free Weekend coming to Ubisoft’s Real Time Strategy game R.U.S.E on Steam:
From Steam’s website:
The Free Preview Weekend of R.U.S.E. will let you play a sizeable slice of the multiplayer, featuring new maps never played before. Play with 2 to 8 players, with any team or free-for-all combination, and with any of the 6 factions available in the final game. You can also play battles against the medium or hard AI for the first time. Select which nation your opposing AI will play and check out the strengths of each faction. Good luck defeating the hard AI!
You can start pre-loading right now by checking this link (if you have steam installed), or clicking here to download Steam first.
The Free Weekend starts Thursday, July 15th at 11am Pacific Time. You can take a look at the game’s page on Steam for more details about R.U.S.E.
The ambitious mmorpg TERA will receive an Europe release in 2011, as the publisher Frogster secured the publishing rights to the game.
TERA – An online game world to set new standards in the genre
An impressive and highly-detailed virtual world with triple-A quality claim awaits thousands of players with TERA. Entirely developed in Unreal Engine 3, TERA transcends current representatives of the genre with breathtaking 3D graphical environments, thrilling animations and spectacular effects. The seamless architecture of the massive fantasy world including open dungeons guarantees a smooth and fluent game experience without any interruptions by loading times.
Dark powers are looming over the massive realms of TERA. It is only when players act together that they can protect their fragile home from an ultimate sinister threat. With six races and eight character classes, TERA offers an abundance of possibilities for character creation and development. The dynamic real-time combat system of TERA gets players engaged in battles considerably more actively than all conventional MMORPGs available on the market. By letting players actively dodge and block attacks, the impressive online role-playing world departs from the genre’s typical combat systems based on random statistics. Using the mouse and keyboard or a game controller, players of TERA have far more control of their character’s movements. Thanks to sensitive collision detection players actively keep opponents at bay using swords and shields for example. TERA is set to be released in 2011 based on a subscription model.
“TERA will set completely new standards”, commented Andreas Weidenhaupt, CEO of Frogster Online Gaming, upon the signing of the contract. “The licensing of this revolutionary online game world is one of the largest deals and milestones in Frogster’s corporate history”, agrees Christoph Gerlinger, CEO of the holding company Frogster Interactive Pictures AG.
Gang Seok Kim, the CEO Bluehole Studio Inc., added: “We are very glad that TERA is now making its official debut in Europe, as we firmly believe it is a critical region in the gaming industry. Bluehole sought out a partnership with Frogster because of their successful publishing ventures in Europe. Our biggest desire is to see European gamers enjoy and have fun with TERA, and we will make our best effort to that end.”
Players can already register for a newsletter on a temporary teaser site, where they also find a first trailer: www.tera-europe.com.
TERA will be released in 2011 in German, English and French versions, customized for the European market. You can be more familiar with the game by checking a trailer below.
I-Spot Japan Rating:4+ Platform:iPhone/iPod Touch Release Date:Out Now Developer:Undercoders Publisher:Undercoders Price:FREE (with option to purchase update pack for $1.99) BUY NOW
i-Spot Japan by Undercodes is great little spot the differences game which will test you as well as take you on a journey across Japan as you get to explore its beautiful locations. i-Spot Japan is currently available for the Apple iPhone / iPod Touch and the initial download is absolutely FREE !!
The complete release of i-Spott Japan will contain a total of 200 locations, divided in 3 levels of difficulty ranging from easy, normal and hard. Every location features 3,4 or 5 spot the differences, depending on the level of difficulty you have selected. For example playing it on easy will have you finding only 3 differences compared to 5 when playing it on hard. Some of the differences are VERY hard to spot where some are looking straight at you and are impossible to miss.
30 locations will be available for free as an initial pack when downloading the game (10 per level), the rest will be DLC as an in-app purchase. This is is great as you can play the game for free and if you like it you can purchase the rest of the locations as you go.
All locations within the game are accompanied by a title, a detailed description and its location showing its whereabouts on the map. All this information, together with the original pictures can be viewed in gallery mode once that location has been unlocked during the game. This is great for learning little facts and culture on Japan.
All images illustrate a wide selection of historical monuments, shrines, temples, castles, food and even lifestyle faces plus more, images span from southern island of Kyushuu to the northern island Hokkaido, Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Matsue, Hiroshima, Tokyo, Kyoto, Sendai, Matsue, Aomori, Sapporo these are just a few of the cities portrayed in the game.
i-Spot also features an online leaderboards which enables players compete for the best times and scores.
As this is review is also accompanied by a video review click on the play button below and watch the game and the review in action.
i-Spot Japan is a great for anyone that enjoys spot the difference games, Japanese culture and history. A few things that could be improved is the Map section in the gallery and possibly have a more selection of background music. For a Free download with the option to purchase the remaining packs for only $1.99 i-Spot Japan is worth trying out and great for the whole family.
Gamers know all about sweaty hands after intense game play. Third Party companies know this as well. Just an example, remember the Air-Flo controllers from last gen that had the small fan inside to keep your hands from sweating? It is a serious issue for those who have lost levels and patience due to lack of control when under intense gaming sessions.
Well it seems that gamers who have had trouble controlling those pesky analog sticks troubles are now over. Grip-it promises to rid you of discomfort and misery with new stylish grips to go right over your analog sticks for PS3 or Xbox 360. This product also promises more precise control.
At $4.99 for a pack of 4 grips, it is a great price and allows you to change your analogs instantly for those who are in need of a solution to the slip. With the same sized analogs, it should also work for a PS2 or the Xbox Original Controller as well. Grip-It! is now available at your local fine electronics retailer.
I never really had a chance to try the first Puzzle quest game. It was out there, but with the huge variety of the genre on the market, I just put the series off as a typical puzzle game and went on. I HATE myself now for rejecting what has now been one of the most deep and rewarding puzzlers I have came across.
Story
You start out in Puzzle Quest 2 choosing one of the 8 characters with 4 classes, War Mage, Inquisitor, Barbarian or Assassin. The story is what truly makes this game different from other puzzle games, as you must perform main and side-quests for the inhabitants of the small village of Verloren. The evil demon Gorgon and his minions have wrecked chaos through the land and like any hero it is now your job to help in any way possible to bring peace once again.
Gameplay I won’t lie, when I started playing this, I felt like I was going from place to place just to play a round of Bejeweled with each of the enemies. I was completely blown away just a few minutes later with how everything worked and tied together so nicely. Puzzle Quest can be compared to a point and click RPG, where you direct your hero, he or she will go.
Battling is the most addictive part of the gameplay. When you encounter an enemy, you will see a versus screen followed by your puzzle screen. Just like Bejeweled, you must swap and set up your jewels to fall and make combos and earn points. What sets this game apart is that every time you score, you earn Mana for your magic and attacks depending on the color or piece you combo on.
Each character including yourself has an HP bar and the object is to create your best combos to take out your foe. You have to be on your toes at all times, as the player and the enemy take turns, so one wrong move could lead to the enemy getting a devastating combo and taking you out. The more pieces you take out, the more mana you receive which you can build up to unleash your magic or attacks which can greatly change the pace of battle by changing up the colors out in the field to your advantage, hitting the opponent and hurting their HP gauge or using a status effect to improve your stats or hurt the foes. As your progress through the game, you will encounter more challenging opponents, and sometimes each puzzle all comes down to pure luck. The good thing is you are not set back if you lose, you can pick up right where you left to restart the battle or go better prepare. That leads me to the next topic of gameplay, which is character customization.
Your hero can level up just like in most RPGs. With shops placed all over the land, it is simple to use the spoils from your journey to trade for more upgrades and weapons that will protect you from enemy attacks and magic. This is actually quite a complex and easy to use feature that adds even more depth to the gameplay and will help you grow stronger for what lies ahead later in the game. Every part of the battle system includes the core match-3 gem matching system, that includes opening certain doors and chests in extra mini-games. The player’s experience as a whole will be rich and rewarding for each battle you win, even if it does come down to the luck of the draw.
Sound & Graphics
The sound in Puzzle Quest 2 seemed sharp and pleasant throughout the whole time I played. In some puzzle games, the music can either annoy you or be slightly noticeable. The music theme is your basic fantasy/medieval soundtrack which is a good thing, as it gives you the feel that you’re not just playing a puzzle game, but also a unique RPG. Sound effects are on tune with attacks and magic used as well as the small cut scenes that progress the story.
As far as graphics go, each character has their own sprite which has a fitting look for the story. The main character models are not forgettable and I could easily say I will associate them from this title. Why I mention this is due to the fact that many puzzle/rpg titles out there don’t really spend much time on art and instead give you a generic character to play as, but luckily Puzzle Quest 2 is not one of those titles. The enemies are a bit generic, such as goblins and rats, but the core of the game-play is on the puzzles, not the enemies so even picky players shouldn’t mind. I didn’t notice any hiccups when it came to the core game or the outside world. Character’s animations are a bit stiff though as you walk to your next target.
Overview
Puzzle Quest 2 is a gem for your arcade collection on your 360. With game-play that is addictive and fun to play, I found myself going back and losing hours just challenging enemies and customizing my character. I would say there is a very high replay value even if puzzle games are not your thing due to the complex upgrade system and RPG elements to keep you wanting to progress until the end. There is also a multi-player option as well to add to that with tournament mode, putting players in a head to head battle as they choose 4 monsters each to battle with until the last man is standing . There are some generic enemies and you might lose quite a bit just due to luck. Nevertheless, the mixture of the Bejeweled-like playing field and RPG elements truly come together perfectly creating the best thing since peanut-butter and jelly.
