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Weekend Deals Roundup - Hooray for Last-Gen!
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Hot Deals, PlayStation 2, PSP, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360,
Everybody may be talking about this “next-gen” newfangledness, but there’s still some great games to be found for consoles that are older than a year. If you’re looking for some new games to tide you over until Lair or Metroid Prime 3 or GTA IV hits (whatever floats your boat!), then these may help out.
KB Toys is offering a buy-one-get-one-free deal for a variety of PSP titles. Walmart is offering a variety of bundle deals (2 for $20, 3 for $25, or 2 for $30) on select games for the PS2, Gamecube, and Xbox. And for those of you looking for some next-gen games, we’ve also recently seen THAW for Xbox 360 at $19.99, and even Super Paper Mario for Wii, $44.99 at Amazon.
Enjoy the deals! Just try to leave a bit of money in your bank account to pay taxes with…
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Hideo Kojima Talks Metal Gear
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Culture, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Third Person Shooters,
Hideo Kojima talked about the Metal Gear franchise through the years at the GO3 Expo in Australia. Gamasutra covered his speech, an interesting walk through game development starting from the 80s through to his work on Metal Gear Solid 4. From the MSX to the PlayStation 2, it seems Kojima has been bumping against the technological limitations of each platform while trying to refine and evolve his “hide and seek” gameplay concept from the original game. While he offered no real new footage from Metal Gear Solid 4, he did discuss where he wanted to take the conflict in the next iteration of the franchise.
Read More 
| Gamasutra
Europe PS3 Backward Compatibility Database Online
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3,
Sony’s backward compatibility database has gone online, and there is good news and bad news. The good news is that out of the door, Sony is listing 1,782 titles as compatible with the 1.60 firmware update. The bad news is that there are many high profile games not on the list, and many that are on the list are listed as having “noticeable issues.” God of War 2 is listed as having no known issues, along with most of the games in the Grand Theft Auto series. Unfortunately, San Andreas is listed as having noticeable issues, as are Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2. Final Fantasy XII has minor issues, but Final Fantasy XI is nowhere to be found. Gran Turismo 4 Prologue is on the list, but the full game is not. The Metal Gear series looks to be compatible, though. And for those wondering, like the Xbox 360, Barbie Horse Adventures is fully compatible with the PlayStation 3. The full list is online here.
Read More | GamesIndustry.biz
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NPD: Nintendo DS, Wii Lead Hardware Sales
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360,
February’s NPD data has been released, and things look good for Nintendo. 1up has the details on video game sales for last month, and the Nintendo DS sold 485,000 units, the Wii 335,000. For the rest of the next-generation hardware, Microsoft maintained its sales pace by moving around 228,000 consoles, while the Playstation 3 saw a significant drop to 127,000. The PSP didn’t do much better against the DS, moving 176,000 handhelds.
The only bright spot for Sony would be that in the non-handheld category, the PS2 took second behind the Wii, selling 295,000 units, showing that their now last-generation technology still has plenty of legs at retail. Still, having their PS3 sales drop by nearly half over last month’s sales is a significant change; if new software from Sony can’t change course, the company may have to do something drastic to turn things around.
Microsoft should be pretty happy; while they didn’t lead the pack, the company will surely trumpet their increase in year-over-year sales. That, and having the number one game at retail for the month of February, Crackdown will also help. 1up’s article also further details the rest of the software charts for the month.
Read More | 1up
God of War PSP Confirmed
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP,
Internet rumors don’t always have the best track record, but it looks like the “accidental” leak of the existence of a God of War game on Ready At Dawn’s website has come true. Sony, of course, played dumb when responding to the rumors, but the God of War 2 packaging for the Playstation 2 confirms the game’s existence, and 1up has a shot of the teaser. At the God of War 2 launch event, game director Cory Barlog also apparently confirmed a version of God of War for the Playstation 3 (like this was in doubt) but also SIXAXIS and rumble support for the new game. It’s hard to tell if Barlog is just spitballing about features that he would like in the PS3 version of God of War 3 or this is an actual feature set, but that rumble is on the radar screen of Sony’s first party development teams is a good thing at this point.
Read More | 1up
Sony Profits Drop 5% On PS3 Launch Costs
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Hardware, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP,
Sony’s 3rd quarter financial results reflect a 5% drop in net profit year-over-year largely due to costs incurred launching the Playstation 3. A BusinessWeek report on the financial results indicates that despite this loss, Sony has raised its guidance for the year due to its successes in the flat-panel TV and digital camera arenas. While the games division used to be a huge profit center for Sony, lately gaming has been dragging the company down. Sony missed its shipment targets for the Playstation 3, but still believes it is on track to ship 6 million consoles worldwide by the end of March. Still, Playstation 2 and PSP unit sales were down. Third quarter sales of the Playstation 2 were down 1.25 million units to 4.11 million sold, a decrease of roughly 30%. Sales of the PSP were down even more; the company moved only 1.76 million handhelds compared to over 6 million sold during the third quarter of 2005, a decrease of nearly 75%. Sony seems to be losing battles on two fronts right now, with lost opportunities on the Playstation 3 side leading to conversions to either Nintendo’s Wii or the Microsoft Xbox 360. The PSP is getting beat up horrendously by the Nintendo DS; while Sony’s handheld had held its ground for quite some time, its popularity now appears to be fading. Sony hopes to get things turned around with the Playstation 3 soon; console availability doesn’t seem to be as much of a problem as a lack of exclusive titles.
Read More 
| Sony Financial Release [PDF]
Read More | BusinessWeek
God of War II Trailer Released, Should Sony Just Go Back to the PS2?
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, PlayStation 2, Release Dates, Survival Horror, Trailers,
Yes, it’s true… God of War II is going to be amazing, at least if this trailer is any indication. Given the graphics and animations seen in this trailer (which look good enough to pass for an early “next-gen” title), it begs the question - should Sony just give up on next-gen? The PS2 has been a cash cow for Sony for a long time, and if developers can pump out titles of this quality for the system, why not just stick with what’s working? From all the latest news on the PS3, it certainly sounds like developers wouldn’t mind going back to the PS2 and writing some more quality games for the console.
Read More | GameTrailers.com
Sony Update Fixes Backward Compatibility Glitch
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3,
When Sony released the 1.50 Firmware update in Japan, most of the reaction on the Internet was muted; after all, the upgrade seemed to add support for touchless payment methods and Korean input text via keyboard. However, mentioned almost as a side note, was an update for backward compatibility for PS1 and PS2 games. However, now that the firmware update has dropped for US customers, the compatibility patch now seems to be one of the larger parts of the update. One of the biggest complaints about the Playstation 3 backward compatibility functionality has been graphical glitches in PS1 and PS2 games, particularly when using the advanced connection options of the PS3. The 1.50 update largely fixes these issues, making backward compatibility that much easier to enjoy. There are still some game-specific issues lingering, but PS3 gamers can now play a large majority of their PS2 games glitch-free. The patch gives hope that Sony is listening to the concerns of gamers and that future fixes may yet take care of the remaining issues with the console.
Read More | 1up
PS2 Backups Booting On PS3
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, Mods/Hacks, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3,
Some enterprising gamer has figured out how to boot PS2 backups on the Playstation 3, assuming that one is willing to dismantle the PS3 and cut a hole in the top cover. Basically, the swap trick is an implementation of an existing hack used on the older Playstation 2 machines. The mod is interesting mainly because it shows off how deep the hardware compatibility for PS2 games goes, but if one really wanted to play back up Playstation 2 software, it probably makes a little more sense to pick up a cheap slimline PS2 and a Swap Magic disc rather than voiding the warrantee and risking the health of a $500 to $600 game console.
Read More | PS2 Scene
Gamestop - Trade in PS2 For $100 Off A PS3
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Corporate News, Hot Deals, Internet, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3,
Gamestop’s obviously got some PS3’s in stock, and they’re looking to get rid of them. Their most recent deal offers you $100 off a PS3 (either the 20GB “crippled” version or the 60GB hotness) if you trade in your PS2, a second PS2 controller, and a PS2 8MBB memory card. If you’ve got a second PS2 lying around for those times when you’re getting the infamous “disc read error”, then this might be a good deal. But until Nyko releases their USB-to-PS2 controller adapter, you might want to hold off… the lack of complete backwards compatibility and the lack of PS2 ports for games like Guitar Hero might leave you with an empty feeling inside.
Read More | Gamestop.com Weekly Ad
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