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SCEA Reveals Second Quarter PS3, PSP, PS2 Titles
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Release Dates,
Sony Computer Entertainment of America revealed the list of software titles coming in Q2 for the PlayStation 3, PSP, and the PlayStation 2. The PlayStation 3 releases seem a little sparse, with the exclusive Ninja Gaiden Sigma coming some time in June, and the downloadable Calling All Cars hopefully coming in the next month or so. Most of the rest of the titles are cross-platform releases, but it will be interesting to see how good the F.E.A.R. port is. The PSP will see the release of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas, which might be interesting on the portable. The updated Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars could be a decent entry in the franchise, and there are the upcoming enhanced releases of Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy II on the PSP. The PlayStation 2 still offers a number of games, including the upcoming Manhunt 2 and a new .hack release.
Sony’s full press release and list of titles continues below.
Click to continue reading SCEA Reveals Second Quarter PS3, PSP, PS2 Titles
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Sony Denies Price Cut Reports
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, PlayStation 3, Rumors,
Reports earlier this week from the Financial Times indicated that Sony might be considering a price cut for the PlayStation 3, in the wake of less than anticipated sales. Certainly signs seemed to be pointing towards such a drop, with the elimination of the 20GB console in the US and rumors of a PS3 with a larger hard drive resurfacing. Today, however, Sony has made a statement declaring that there are no plans in place for a price drop. Next Generation reports that Sony’s statement indicates that the company will let market trends and competition determine their pricing strategy – but that seems to be what the Financial Times suggested would be driving the price drop.
Read More 
| Next Generation
PS3 Firmware 1.70 Adds Rumble For PS1, PS2 Games
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, PlayStation 3, PSP, Retro,
Sony has made a new firmware update for the PlayStation 3 available, version 1.70. While not as huge as the previous 1.60 update, it looks like there are some decent improvements included. According to posts on the official Sony forums, the update includes the following:
- You can now download PlayStation® format software from PLAYSTATION®Store, and play it on the PS3™ system.
- You can now use saved data for PlayStation® format software on the PSP™ system.
- You can now use the vibration function of accessories that are for use with PlayStation® and PlayStation®2 format software.
Sony’s settlement with Immersion seems to be paying off again, with gamers getting rumble back in their older games, assuming they have a way to connect their old dual shock controllers to the PS3. It also looks like the promised feature to allow downloadable PS1 games on the PS3 will be coming soon – users in the forums are reporting that existing titles don’t have this ability, but common PS3/PSP classic downloads should be available in the next few days. As an added bonus, game saves should also be compatible between the two, meaning that gamers can play downloaded titles on the road and when they get back home, they can upload their save to the PS3 and continue playing.
Read More | Playstation.com
Pokemon Preorders Top 500,000
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Role Playing Games, Wireless,
Coming this Sunday April 22, Pokemania will officially hit the US again. The fourth generation Pokemon game, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl is set to be unleashed on the gaming public, nearly nine years after the first North American release. While initially considered a fad, a generation of gamers has literally grown up with the Pokemon franchise. Today Nintendo revealed that the two games have received over 533,000 pre-orders, twice those of the previous release. Early feedback seems to indicate that the games balance the tried-and-true battle gameplay of the originals with appropriately updated graphics and strong Wi-Fi support. Expect this title to easily hit one million sold, and continue to drive the DS juggernaut in the US.
Read More | Reuters
Gamestop Offering 360 Elite Trade-In, Hasn’t Thought It Through
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Culture, Rumors, Xbox 360, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Gamestop, always looking to keep their inventory of used systems and games well-stocked, will be taking the Xbox 360 Core, Xbox 360 Platinum, and original Xbox as trade-in credit towards purchase of a new Xbox 360 Elite (or other purchase). Thus sayeth Kotaku.com and other games websites in the area.
According to Kotaku, you’ll also be able to get a better trade-in deal on your used console… the Xbox 360 Platinum will get you $250 (normally $190), Core packs get you $200 (normally $140), and the lowly original black Xbox will get you $50. That all sounds like a pretty good trade-in deal for a new 360 ‘l33t, but we’ve gotta wonder how exactly Gamestop is hoping to help the droves of Premium owners that want to transfer their data from the 20GB drive to the Elite’s 120GB drive… will you have to sit there and wait for them to do it in-store? Or will they let you keep your 20GB drive for a deposit? Or will they somehow use the magic of the internets’ pipes to get your 20GB worth of Elder Scrolls saves and Xbox Marketplace purchases to you? What’s the deal here? So far, we’re waiting for details on how exactly this operation is going to work. My money is on “not smoothly”.
Read More | Kotaku.com
It’s Official: Neo Geo Games Heading to Wii
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Nintendo, Retro, Virtual Console, Wii,
IGN.com announced today, via an interview with SNK Playmore USA President Ben Herman, that indeed, SNK is planning on bringing many of the classic titles for the ill-fated but well-powered Neo Geo console to the Wii’s VC service.
While the interview is scant on details (Herman dodges most of the real questions, like price, release dates, and number of titles), there are some interesting tidbits. For one, Herman says that he expects the VC titles to retail at “just a little above the Super NES price point”. Given that SNES titles are $8.00, and N-64 titles are $10.00, I think it’s a safe bet that thetitles will thus rest somewhere in the $9.00 range. He also notes that SNK has “120 different titles” to choose from. Finally, he discusses the possibility of bringing SNK compilations over to the Wii in disc form and notes that future compilations WILL be utilizing the classic controller (one of the only reasons I didn’t pick up Metal Slug Anthology was its awkward control schemes).
I think I may squeak with delight when I see King of Fighters in a VC update… for now we’ll just have to hold our breath and hope that SNK brings the best of the best to the Wii, hopefully in a timely fashion!
Read More | Wii.Ign.com
GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that former EA Canada employees have banded together to form a new development studio, Jet Black Studios that will focus on developing titles for Nintendo’s Wii and DS consoles. The new team states that they will be working on original and licensed titles; hopefully this focus will allow development of game software particularly suited to the capabilities of Nintendo’s unique offerings. While the members of the development team at Jet Black have decent pedigrees, coming from FIFA, Need for Speed and James Bond franchises, their partner Flashman Studios seems to be mainly responsible for the release of second tier licensed properties.
Read More | GamesIndustry.biz
Nearly 800,000 PS3s Sold In Europe
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Hardware, PlayStation 3,
According to a report by the Financial Times, Sony CEO Howard Stringer said that Sony was nearing 800,000 PlayStation 3 consoles sold in Europe. With 600,000 of those sales reportedly coming in the first two days of launch, this would seem to indicate a healthy 200,000 units being moved in the three weeks following. One assumes that this is the sell through number, since Sony had previously indicated that 1 million consoles would ship for launch. The numbers are interesting from a couple of perspectives – first, that there would seem to be more people than expected willing to pay the hefty exchange rate adjusted price of the PlayStation 3. The second interesting thing is that European sales are quickly closing in on the Japanese sales numbers. While Japan has taken months to reach nearly 900,000 units sold, Europe is nearly at that point only a month after launch.
Read More | Financial Times
Koei Offers New Opoona Screens
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Role Playing Games, Wii,
Koei has offered up some new details and images from their new “lifestyle RPG” and exclusive Wii title in Japan. Scheduled for release in that territory this summer, the RPG is quite a departure from the Dynasty Warrior franchise. The RPG’s look is definitely on the cute side; beyond its looks, though, appears to be an interesting gameplay system – the game is completely controlled through just the Wii nunchuck controller. The new screenshots hint somewhat at the background story and environments the player can expect, and show a few in-game combat screens. No mention has been made of a localized release, but this seems like the kind of unique title that might do decently on the Wii in the US.
Read More | GameWatch
RedOctane Investigating Xbox 360 Patch Issues
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Activision, Hardware, Internet, Music, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,
The launch of the Guitar Hero series on the Xbox 360 has been going less than smoothly for RedOctane, with complaints about the functionality of the whammy bar on the guitar peripheral to objections to the cost of downloadable content. A quick timeline of the issues:
- April 3: Guitar Hero II goes on sale for the Xbox 360
- April 3: Complaints surface online about defective whammy bars.
- April 4: RedOctane states that they are “looking into the issue.”
- April 7: RedOctane isolates problems with the controller to two model numbers, offers RMAs for defective guitars, lists workaround on support site.
- April 11: Xbox 360 downloadable content launched at over $2 per song, gamers complain about price gouging
- April 14: Software patch posted to Xbox Live to fix whammy bar problems
- April 14: Reports surface online about Xbox 360 consoles getting “Red Ring of Death” after applying software update.
- April 16: RedOctane investigating console issues with patch
While there has not been a conclusive link found between RedOctane’s update and the Xbox 360 problems, this does mark the latest in what has been a fairly long list of issues with the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II. There doesn’t seem to be a good way to resolve the problems: if there is no link between the update and the Xbox 360 consoles dying, then this just adds a further black eye to Microsoft’s ongoing issues with the 360. If there is a link, then confidence in RedOctane will only drop further and the company may be facing repair bills for dozens of consoles.
Read More | Eurogamer
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