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Final Fantasy III: DS vs Original

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo DS, Retro, Role Playing Games, Screenshots,

An enterprising poster in the Dreamwiz forums has put up a image detailing the differences between Final Fantasy III on the DS and the NES release. The differences are quite striking when one can compare the two directly, and despite the relatively low quality of the scans, the game appears to be close to its next generation counterparts in graphical quality.

While previous re-releases in the series have been straight ports, the DS version of the game will be an upgrade, with everything moving to 3-D. There have also been rumors that the touch screen interface will be used in the game as well, signifying a possibly gameplay update, and other rumors suggest some kind of wireless play.

Squaresoft is targeting a Summer 2006 release for the game in Japan. No US release has been announced, but it is hard to imagine a modern Final Fantasy release not making its way to North America.

Power Stone Collection Preview

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Fighting, PSP, Retro, Screenshots,

Capcom showed off some video of Power Stone Collection for the PSP in February, showing off the classic gameplay of the Dreamcast game in portable form. IGN recently got some hands-on time with a playable preview of the game, and post some impressions.

The game does seem to capture the essence of the Power Stone series, albeit with some scale down for the PSP and its smaller screen. “Collection” means that both the original Power Stone and its sequel are included. Part of the most addicting part of the series was multiplayer; the four-player madness of Power Stone 2 made the game an exceptional party game, and it looks like gamers will be able to play with up to four players via the ad-hoc wireless connection. Capcom also thought to include game sharing, so not everyone will need their own copy of the game to play.

New Bullet Witch Screenshots

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Adventure, Screenshots, Xbox 360,

Game Watch Japan has some new screenshots of Cavia’s upcoming action adventure fantasy, Bullet Witch. The game is set in the near future, in a dark world where the enemies are fought using both technology and magic. Potentially, this could be the Xbox 360’s Devil May Cry. The game is scheduled to ship on June 29, 2006, in Japan, with no US release date announced, but there is always the possibility that the game will be released without region encoding for those anxious importers.

Read More | Game Watch Japan
Read More | Game Watch (Google Translated)

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Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth II Screens

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Screenshots, Strategy, Xbox 360,

TeamXbox has four new screenshots for EA’s summer release of Battle for Middle Earth II on the Xbox 360. Screenshots can’t capture how fluid the gameplay will be, but the shots show off some pretty crazy water and shadow effects with a high level of texture detail. Here’s hoping EA can translate the RTS gameplay that has traditionally been restricted to the realm of the PC so that gamers can experience Battle in all its high-defination, surround sound glory.

Crytek’s Crysis Screens Released

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, First Person Shooters, PC, Screenshots, Trailers,

DailyGame has screenshots from Crytek’s upcoming PC Shooter, Crysis, and a link to the GDC Trailer. DailyGame gives the visuals high praise, and from the screenshots, it is easy to see why. The trailer was apparently promoting ATI technology, and its probably best to not think about what kind of monster CPU/GPU combination was running this demo. Screenshots and trailers never really tell the whole story, but it is easy to get caught up in the level of detail in the environments in the game, matched with Far Cry style gameplay.

Super Monkey Ball Adventure Screenshots

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Adventure, Nintendo Gamecube, PlayStation 2, PSP, Release Dates, Screenshots, Strategy,

This should come as good news to many - the next version of Super Monkey Ball will be making it’s way to Gamecube, PS2, and PSP in about three months time. The new title, named Super Monkey Ball Adventure, happens to be the first narrative-driven Super Monkey Ball game, providing a true adventure game. Of course, the classic puzzle game is back, as are the popular party games. SEGA is promising With 5 new worlds, a host of new Monkey Ball characters, new Ball abilities, brand new party games, and PSP-exclusive content.

As for the adventure mode, here are the details: On Jungle Island, our hero, Aiai, meets Princess Deedee of Monkitropolis and Prince Abeabe of Kongri-la, star-crossed lovers whose marriage is hampered by a feud that exists between their respective kingdoms. The Monkey Ball world could be torn apart unless Aiai can reconcile the feuding Monkey Kingdoms by traveling to all five Monkey realms, helping people and defeating the evil Naysayers in an effort to spread joy and remove prejudice and fear.

We look forward to seeing what SEGA has in store for us come June 2006. For now, you can check out six more images after the jump.

Click to continue reading Super Monkey Ball Adventure Screenshots

VIDEO: Nintendo DS Browser and TV Tuner In Action

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Screenshots, Wireless,

Earlier today, Gear Live reported that the Nintendo DS would be receiving a new Opera-based browser along with a TV tuner. One of our readers just sent us this video, which shows the new browser and TV tuner in action. Do know that the tuner will only be available in Japan due to the type of broadcast signal it picks up. The browser takes advantage of the dual screen of the DS, giving a full perspective of the web page it visiting on the bottom screen, with a draggable magnifying area that allows you to take a closer look at any section, which is then displayed on the top screen. The video, playable above, is in Japanese.

(Thanks Phil!)

LEGO Star Wars II Preview

Posted by Brandon Gribin Categories: Action, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Gamecube, PC, PlayStation 2, PSP, Screenshots, Xbox,

IGN has put up a great preview, with screens, of the upcoming LEGO Star Wars II title that will feature the original three Star Wars episodes.

The first one was a blast so the sequel is definitely something to look forward to. Unfortunately, the game won’t be coming out for the 360 or PS3, but we’ll manage. And besides, if the game did hit the next-gen consoles, it’d probably take longer to develop and would retail for a higher price than what the game will go for otherwise.

LEGO Star Wars II will feature two-player co-op on the PS2, Xbox, GameCube, GBA, PSP and PC, with four-player co-op for the DS version. It’s due out later this year.

New Super Mario Bros. Screen Shots

Posted by Brandon Gribin Categories: Action, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Screenshots,

A bunch of new screenshots of the yet-untitled New Super Mario Bros. Nintendo DS game have surfaced. I tried the game at last year’s E3 and honestly wasn’t very impressed. Of course, E3 ‘05 was a while ago so hopefully the game’s much better now. And hey, we’re talking about Nintendo here. Head on over to Kotaku for a host of more images.

High-Res Burnout 360 Screens

Posted by Brandon Gribin Categories: Action, Driving, Screenshots, Xbox 360,

We’d be lying if we said Burnout on Xbox 360 didn’t look amazing. Still, I’m not completely sold on the game. After already picking the title up on the original Xbox, I’m a little relucant to spend an additional $60 on the same game with some minor updates. Here’s to the next Burnout title. Meanwhile, click through to see all 8 shots in glorious high-res.

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