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Sony Releases New PS3 Screenshots

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Fighting, PlayStation 3, Screenshots, Simulation, Sports,

Ahead of the upcoming Tokyo Game Show, Sony has released a ton of high resolution screen shots from some of the games they will be showing at the Tokyo Game Show, and Game Watch has them all online. Many of the screens look like 720P screen grabs. Among the new screen shots shown are a couple of shots of a game tentatively titled Afrika. Lair, the dragon-based action adventure was also updated, and apparently the game is now supporting the Playstation 3 tilt controller. Gamers can also check out screen shots of the upcoming Unknown Realms title from Game Republic and Formula One Championship. Finally, Sony also released a bunch of screens for both Heavenly Sword and MotorStorm. MotorStorm and Formula One both look remarkable well-detailed at this point, and the action shots of Heavenly Sword also show promise. Of course, one can not determine framerate from a still, but the games do look like they are in better shape than Sony’s hardware production.

Possible Images of PS3, Wii Demo Kiosks Surface

Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: PlayStation 3, Rumors, Screenshots, Wii,

Rumored Wii and PS3 kiosks Ah internet, how is it that you’re always one step ahead in the rumor-mongering!? Just when people were getting bored speculating about the Wii price and release date, you find yet another rumor to start!

The image to the right is what some are claiming may be the PS3 and Wii demo kiosks, though who knows where they came from or how anyone got ahold of them. I wouldn’t hold your breath though… there are roughly a bajillion companies out there that make a living off of creating tradeshow-floor displays and demo kiosks, and chances are Nintendo and Sony have asked several of them out there to bid on a proposal and try to create the demo units that the consoles will be housed in. However, I think there’s still some interesting information to be gleaned here - chances are both Sony and Nintendo gave specifications about what the demo kiosks should hold and how they’re set up… and with that in mind it’s interesting to note that the Nintendo kiosk doesn’t include the nunchuk attachment for the Wiimote, and that the Sony booth appears to have corded controllers attached to it. Could those even be PS2 controllers that don’t have the built-in tilt sensor?

While we’re doubtful that these will resemble the final forms of these kiosks, it’ll be interesting to see just how much of each console’s functionality will be present in their demo kiosks. Will Wii players be able to try out games that use the nunchuk? And will PS3 players be able to test out the tilt sensing capabilities of the new controller? Right now it’s looking like the answer to both those questions is “No.”

9 Minute Madden Wii Controls Video Hits YouTube

Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Electronic Arts, Screenshots, Sports, Wii,

Unlike most of the other titles for the Wii, opinions on whether Nintendo’s innovative controller improved on the Madden franchise were somewhat divided. Some bloggers on joystiq.com absolutely hated the new control scheme and criticized the graphics of the game, while others like IGN thought that the control was “where the game shines”. While the above video may not give a final verdict on whether or not the Madden 2007 Wii control scheme is an improvement, it certainly gives a lot of tasty tidbits.

Until we start seeing Wii demo kiosks with Madden built in, this may be the closest we’ll get to playing the game. The 9 minute 10 second video recently posted on YouTube appears to be an EA representative showing off most of the features of the control scheme, and from the looks of it the title at least appears to recognize the gestures very well. Another interesting thing in this video is just how quickly the rep is able to blaze through the menu screens - thanks to using the Wiimote like a mouse, it looks like selecting and planning out plays will be a breeze.

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15 Brand New Sam & Max Screens from Telltale Games

Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Adventure, PC, Screenshots,

Description Today Telltale games posted some goodies over on their developers blog, including a statement that “Season One” of the upcoming Sam & Max game is “nearing completion”. More importantly, though, they’ve graced the web with 15 new screenshots of the first S&M 3-D adventure (geez, that sounds naughtier than it should). While some of them are renders “made outside of the game engine”, it looks like the majority of the screens are from in-game scenes.

Sam & Max will be releasing this fall for the PC platform and will be available via GameTap and other services.

Gran Turismo HD Screens Online

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Driving, PlayStation 3, Screenshots,

One of the demonstrations that Sony made at E3 was a super-high resolution version of Gran Turismo, tentatively called Gran Turismo HD. The technical demo utilized the assets from Gran Turismo 4 ran at 1080p resolutions at 60 frames per second. Now, Japanese site Game Watch has made a set of full resolution screen captures from the technical demonstration available for download. At their site, users can grab a ZIP file with 10 high-resolution images. The sharpness of the images is amazing, and the screen grabs show some effects like depth-of-field. The environments are a little sparse, since they are based around the Playstation 2 version of the game, but still give gamers hope for what a full version of Gran Turismo could be for the Playstation 3.

World Of Warcraft Burning Crusade Previewed

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: MMORPG, Screenshots,

Dean Takahashi of the Mercury News was recently able to get a preview of the new Burning Crusade expansion pack for Blizzard’s World of Warcraft. He was able to talk with lead designer Tom Chilton and Shon Damron from public relations. The expansion is still on target for the end of the year and the beta program is set to begin soon.

Chilton covers some previously known territory; the level cap gets raised to 70, and there are two new races: the Draenei for the Alliance and the Blood Elves for the Horde. Then Chilton releases new details about the starting areas for the new races. According to him, the new areas will increase the world size by about 30 percent. Blizzard also revealed some new characteristics for the races, and some details about the new level 70 region, Hellfire Peninsula. Finally, Blizzard also released some new screens for the expansion pack as well. With all the new content, expect World of Warcraft fans to have all available time stolen towards the end of the year.

Wild Arms V Art, Screens Surface

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: PlayStation 2, Role Playing Games, Screenshots,

The Wild Arms series started on the original Playstation, and for the 10th anniversary of the game, Sony Computer Entertainment Japan is releasing Wild Arms the Vth Vanguard this Winter 2006 in Japan. GameWatch Japan has published character art for the three main characters, Dean Stark, Rebecca Streisand, and Avalil Van Freul. Screen shots from the in-game cut scenes, dungeon exploration, and battle segments have also been released. Battle mechanics seem to be based around the same structure as the fourth game in the series, with slight changes. No American release has been announced at this time, and no pricing has been set for the Japanese market.

Mario Hoops “Dunk of the Week” Video Online

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Nintendo DS, Screenshots, Sports,

Donkey Kong Dunking While Mario Hoops has recently shipped in Japan, US gamers won’t see a localized version until September. For those anxious to see the game in motion, Nintendo has launched the “Dunk of the Week” on their official web site for the game. The release of preview videos echoes the marketing leading up to the release of New Super Mario Bros., where new power-ups where shown from week to week. This week’s dunk features Donkey Kong hitting the basket for 59 points – this isn’t a basic basketball game.

Toys “R” Us has Mario-themed Decorations for Your Home…

Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Hot Deals, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Screenshots,

... your Animal Crossing home, that is! Earlier we ran this story about how you would be able to download exclusive items for your house by taking your DS to Toys “R” Us this week. Now, thanks to some postings on Nintendo.com, you can see images of just about all the decorations you can get. The items available are all Mario-themed and include a Piranha Plant, Question Mark Block, Fire Spinner Block, 1-Up Mushroom, Flag Pole, and Starman.

All in all, some pretty neat extras for your Animal Crossing house, especially if you want to show the world how big a Nintendo fanboy your virtual you is. I just wonder what people will get when they start selling this virtual furniture on eBay!

Build Your Own Gears Of War Fan Site

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Screenshots, Xbox 360,

Microsoft has made an official fan site kit for Gears of War available to gamers looking to express their dedication to the upcoming Epic release for the Xbox 360. The kit includes several new screen shots, icons for use as messenger avatars, concept art, logos, and wallpaper. Logos are included in PSD format for easy manipulation. The download weighs in at 100 megabytes, and anyone looking at utilizing the graphics might want to look into doing a little remixing to make his or her fan site stand out from the rest. Others can download the package just to get a look at the brand new artwork.

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