Results tagged “playstation network”

Okay.  Some patents can take years to clear, right?  Well, according to the unimaginatively named Patent Compliance Group Inc., Activision has been falsely using the term "Patent pending" lately.  Also, apparently, some applications of their patents have been misleading.  The penalties for this kind of behaviour are small to start with, but given how many copies of the games in question Activision has sold, it could easily add up.  There are those who think that this kind of lawsuit is somewhat bogus, although certain points may hold merit.  In the end, this is the kind of story you won't hear about ever again, unless PCG actually wins.

Bringing games from one continent to another has always been a sketchy deal.  A company has to decide whether a game will actually sell or not.  Inexplicably, Mother 3 (and indeed, two thirds of the Mother series) doesn't seem to meet Nintendo's criteria.  Then, it has to take into account whether the content is appropriate for the audience or not.  Most dating sims and eroge like RapeLay and the Maple Colors series obviously won't make the cut (oddly enough, games with rather weird titles like Let's Meow Meow! did make the cut, see the screen shot above).  Some companies are even running into the problem where Australia is refusing to classify certain games, which makes selling them in that country illegal.  And now, Australia is looking to block people from even knowing about those games, but such a measure probably wouldn't work, according to Kotaku.  Myself, I don't think Australia needs to have the same reputation as China when it comes to Internet censorship.

The PlayStation Network experienced some problems just now, which were apparently isolated amongst pre-slim models of the PS3.  This, plus the constant bricking of pre-slim models by their new firmware versions, might point towards a larger problem Sony is having in keeping their pre-slim PS3 models working.  My inner conspiracy nut wonders if Sony is deliberately trying to get rid of all the pre-slim models, especially the backwards compatible ones, for some darker purpose.  Maybe they want to keep selling the PS2, or maybe they plan on introducing a new PS3 model with a different version of backwards compatibility inside.  Somehow it's easier to believe that the company is just bumbling their way through another year, having grown heads so big that they bob around like bobblehead dolls.

Apparently, the Wii can help stroke survivors recover faster.  With the discovery of so many good things that the Wii can do, it's a wonder anyone is still trying to bring down the gaming industry.  Good luck getting a Wii, though.  Christmas sales of the Wii has oscillated the console back into the territory of very limited supply and high demand.

And finally, the PlayStation 2 is currently outselling the PSP Go in Japan.  Yes, I said "2", not "3", although the 3 is outselling the PSP Go as well.  What a failure the PSP Go was.

Anyone who likes puzzle games is always thrilled to find another one to play whenever a developer creates a new one, or decides to put a spin on an existing one to make it feel different. But really, this is never a good thing. You'll think back to the last time you found a new puzzle game to dig into, and remember how addicted you were to that one. And now it's happening all over again; your life and priorities are all at the whim of playing just one more game in something you can't put down. Well, that's just great.

And here we have a new one: Critter Crunch, a rather whimsical new puzzler from Capybara Games for Playstation Network and iPhone/iPod Touch. (Note: I reviewed the former.) This is the kind of game that takes a lot of cues from older puzzle games, and adds an interesting (and very hilarious) little twist. Said twist being, as you could have guessed, crunching critters. It all has to do with feeding the right critters to each other in order to make them pop and hopefully take their friends with them for chain combos. It's all very addictive, because once you po...oh, forget it.


The key to winning at Critter Crunch is to successfully feed critters so that they pop in order to fill the belly of your Biggs, the cuddly, rotund creature in the lower section of the screen shots. The best way to get items to fill Biggs' belly is to chain many of the popping creatures together for big bonuses. That's also good for clearing the screen, as sometimes it will become cluttered if you're focusing on feeding and popping one at a time. You'll only start out with three creatures which go from smallest to largest, and the smaller ones feed on the larger ones. That's simple enough, but your situation will definitely become more complicated from there.

If you manage to create some good chain combos, Biggs' son, naturally a smaller version of your Biggs, will appear. When he decides to pop in on either side of the screen, you'll have to feed him quick before he becomes impatient and dissatisfied. This is not as easy as it sounds, as when this happens you'll have to be concerned with the critters constantly dropping down and feeding him as well. What makes it even worse is that the critters drop down faster while you're feeding him, making rushing to him a rather risky move, especially later in the game. If you're unable to feed him in time, which will unfortunately happen when you're within a few dangerous circumstances, he'll let out a squeal of dissatisfaction. It's cute enough to make you feel incredibly bad about not making it to him. Ouch.


In addition to that, you'll also have to be concerned with clearing the screen of as many critters as possible before you become overloaded. In later stages, this will become a big concern, as critters will drop down much faster than usual and in bigger arenas. It's incredibly easy to maintain when you first start playing; in fact, an erudite puzzle game player could do it as second nature. But the game gets more difficult pretty quickly.

And it's here when you discover that Critter Crunch is one of the most deceptively difficult puzzle games around. You'll be cruising along perfectly fine in the opening hours, perhaps wishing that it would become a little more difficult to keep things really interesting. And like a punch in the face, the game hits you with a plethora of obstacles and stipulations to make winning that much harder for you. It becomes a tad sadistic, admittedly, but it's still plenty of fun.

You'll spend most of your time in the Adventure mode, but there are also Puzzle and Survival modes to spend your time in. The Adventure mode consists of almost everything explained above, with a few surprises that won't be spoiled here. It's a rather lengthy quest broken up by a bizarre and hilarious story about a crazy explorer who makes it his itinerary to learn everything there is to know about the critters. It's a nice break, especially considering how intense some of the later matches can be. There are also some optional puzzle and survival levels included within the Adventure mode.


The puzzle levels entail you having a set number of turns to eliminate everything on screen with the items you have. Usually, the solution is as obtuse as it can possibly be, but it's actually pretty fun to figure out the solutions to them. And it's always rewarding when you can find them without some kind of guide available. Unlike the adventure levels, the puzzle ones are less intense, instead being quiet, methodical tests. The survival levels, however, are at the complete opposite end of the spectrum. These require fulfilling certain conditions within a limited time frame. (Ex: Making eight combos in 45 seconds, which is damned hard.) You may spend around six to ten hours completing the Adventure Mode, but there's plenty of modes to make your play time much longer than that.

With this game being so cute, it makes excellent work of having a beautiful color palette. Everything is hand drawn, which makes its visuals stand out wonderfully on a high definition set. There isn't much in the way of animation with this being a game only $6.99, but that isn't to say there isn't any. Capybara did a great job making it look vibrant.


The game does have a few little problems, however. As said before, the difficulty does ramp up rather quickly. That in itself isn't a bad thing, but the fact that it ramps up so high that it becomes a little more reliant on luck rather than skill is. And that's even after the patch that reduced the difficulty a little. Not to say that didn't help, as the more difficult levels have been put off until much later. Also, when Biggs' son comes onto the screen after a successful eight-hit combo string, he makes the fact that he's there very obvious by allowing his face to pop into the side of the screen. But when he does this, it will obscure your view, making a portion of the screen hard to see. The later levels have large, sprawling puzzle screens that have you keep track of everything, and a mistake through no fault of your own can be pretty frustrating.

Fortunately, its flaws are minimal compared to the sheer amount of enjoyment it offers. If you decide to purchase it, you'll find Critter Crunch one of the most enjoyable and whimsical puzzlers this generation. Just, uh, try to pace yourself so you don't become too addicted.

It's been quite a bit of time since we've had a new game from Square Enix on PSOne Classics. It almost seems as if it's a struggle for them to get games up on the Playstation Store as a whole. Of course, you could probably say that for just about every company for PSOne Classics -- though it's admittedly gotten better since June -- but Square Enix, mostly Squaresoft, has a lot of memorable games that could (and damn well should) be up. It looks as if they're going to begin amending that situation, though not without an awkward misstep.

No one knew what surprise Sony of Europe was hinting at for their Playstation Store this week.  Gamers knew that the niche release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was releasing this week, so they quite logically figured that it was related to that. But no! Square Enix Europe sent out a newsletter saying that the much-vaunted Squaresoft PSOne title Vagrant Story was releasing on PSN this week. Who knew it would be this when Square fans were clamoring for Final Fantasy VIII?

A pity it wasn't to be, though, as Square Enix rescinded the statement that VS would hit Europe this week not even 24 hours later. To be honest, it would have been nice if Europe's PSN enjoyed a PSOne Classic before America got one, as their store hasn't received many of them at all this year. They also constantly receive games much later than any other store. And then they had to go and give them a figurative kick in the butt cheek-showing pants. Jerks.

They also amended their newsletter. I doubt any Europeans looking forward to it are laughing right now.


But hey! The good news is that at least we know it's coming soon. In Europe at least, since, as of this writing, the ESRB still hasn't rated it. But that also means America can't be too far behind. I've been looking forward to playing the game again, though this time on PSP since this definitely isn't the kind of game that looks good on a modern television. I still own a the PSOne version -- though I didn't play much of it -- but $10 (higher than the usual $6, Square Enix tax and all) for a digital version to preserve the physical copy is a price I'm willing to pay. And anyone who was curious about where a lot of Final Fantasy XII's ideas originated would do well to check this game out. Whenever it arrives.

Now how about that Xenogears, eh guys?

Though I don't own, or plan to own, a PSPgo, I always like to check and see what's updated to the Playstation Store every week. In case you haven't noticed -- and if you haven't, that's perfectly OK -- Sony's been updating the store recently with a plethora of PSP games for either current or potential go owners, or people with PSP's already that want to download their games digitally. The most distressing aspect of the updates themselves thus far is that even though plenty of games have made their way to the store, there are still plenty of games missing.

Well, unless you're Japanese of course, since its store has just about every retail game available on the store already. On the opposite end, you have a store like Europe's that's reeling for more games. Many of us here have already shared some thoughts on why we think the PSPgo is a bad deal, but another one of the problems is the limited lineup you're forced to stick with if you own one. Take Dissidia: Final Fantasy, for instance, a game that released at retail on August 25th. Well, it just released digitally today for $39.99, the same price it's going for at retail. That's the same price most, if not all, new games go for on the store, even though a retailer like Amazon is selling a game like Dissidia for a much cheaper price.

The worst thing here is that's the only Square Enix game previously released at retail available on the store. Games like the Star Ocean titles, Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth, and even Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII are still MIA, not to mention most of Namco Bandai and Konami's games.

But the most popular game still conspicuous by its absence is still Lumines, one of the best, if not the best puzzle games on PSP. Portable systems always need a good puzzle game that can be played in either short bursts or long sessions, and Lumines would be the definitive choice to fill that role.

Unfortunately, it's not coming anytime soon. While developer Q Entertainment would have no problem uploading the game to the store, there are a few hindrances on the publishing side that will ensure that it won't be uploaded for a few months, if ever. They explained that they have no problem working with Namco Bandai to get the game up, but they've unfortunately lost the rights to two songs used in the first game. The situation pertaining to whether Namco Bandai is interested in reacquiring said songs and having it uploaded is another question.

I don't know about you, but I'd hate to be robbed of playing certain games because of either rights issues or possible corporate laziness. A lot of this has made me rethink my stance on digital distribution, something that I was all for under six months ago. It's a little difficult to gain a little perspective on the situation until you see it happening before you, and realizing how much power publishers have over the consumer is honestly pretty frightening.

Team 17 director Martyn Brown described digital distribution as being a "win-win" situation for both the developer and publisher, but at this point, I'm having trouble agreeing with him. Sure, we do have programs like Steam and GOG.com that constantly offer deals and minimal DRM stipulations, but the console arena will likely never be like that because of it being a more closed source. Unless publishers and console manufacturers are willing to be more open about how games are distributed, the future of digital content on consoles looks pretty distressing.

It's Thursday, and that means there will be an update to the Playstation Stores in America and Europe. Today, we received the hilariously controversial Fat Princess and Watchmen: The End is Nigh Part 2 -- whose Xbox Live Arcade version isn't releasing until August 26th because of the Summer of Arcade II, by the way. But the Playstation 3 isn't the only system to receive updates to its service; the PSP iteration, via Media Go on PC or PSP, also receives a few necessary updates.

So we did get some PSP games on PSN and another PSOne game (another freaking Spec Ops game; thankfully it's the last one). Out of those, I found the most interesting one to be the UMD Legacy version of Pocket Pool. At first glance, you'll assume that it's just a budget game made to appeal to anyone who wants a cheaply priced pool game on their PSP; that's the same assumption I made. Little did I know that there was quite a bit more to it than that. A lot more.

Here's the description from the game's page on Playstation.com (which prompts your birth date upon arriving on it, and that says something):

Grab your stick and go head-to-head with the Dream Models in Pocket Pool for the PSP (PlayStation Portable) system. With 13 different types of pool, including 9-ball, 8-ball, Rotation, Black Jack and Snooker, there's a game of billiards to satisfy any pool shark. And when you're up against the Dream Models, wins mean more than just a notch on your cue - they unlock video clips and image galleries of the luscious Dream Models.

Yeah, so what the. If you want to see them, there are screen shots on that page, and videos can be found via a Google search. You know, just so you know I'm not making this up. If you, uh, want to play it, it's available for only $10.

Also hitting Playstation Network today is Strikers 1945 Plus for PSP, which is only being released digitally here despite being released on UMD in Japan. That's perfectly understandable, too, because though I'm sure it's a superlative port of both Strikers 1945 1 and 2, shmups -- a distinctive term referring to a Japanese arcade shoot 'em up, or "bullet-hell" shooter, if you prefer -- don't sell that well at retail outside of Japan unless they're bundled with a plethora of other classic games. It's only $12 too, so it sounds like it's worth your money. The other PSP game is some game no one's ever heard of or cares about called Brave Story: New Traveler.

Nah, just kidding. New Traveler actually gets my ringing endorsement because of how completely enjoyable it is. It doesn't break any new ground as far as Japanese RPGs are concerned, but it doesn't need to. Anyone who enjoys a good light-hearted RPG should definitely pick this up if they haven't, and I believe that it's the best original (i.e. not a port or remake) RPG on PSP. I'm sure Justin Joseph would also give it a recommendation if he was writing this. It's available digitally today for $14.99 (and only takes up 147 MB of your memory card), but if you prefer a retail version, Amazon.com is still selling new copies for $19.99.

In news totally unrelated to this topic: I'm happy to see that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled received a price reduction. Seriously, this game had no business being priced at 1200 points ($15), and thankfully Ubisoft and Microsoft decided to wise up and reduced the price to 800 points ($10). That's great! Now to see who else will potentially buy it so I can possibly play with them.

I made a post on Sunday night about how the Wii Virtual Console, for the first time ever, didn't receive a single game on it for a week in North America. While I was writing that, I thought it was a futile effort really. Here's a company that supposedly is taking a week off, perhaps giving the service's superlative games some breathing room so people can catch up on what they should get, what they should avoid, and what they should finish. Those certainly aren't bad intentions in the least, if this was their idea.

Keeping that in mind, I was pretty shocked to see that this week, the service was also greeted with absolutely nothing. I don't know what to think of this now. Maybe we all need to band together and remind them that there are still good games not on the service yet, some of which are Nintendo published! When I made that last post, I didn't realize that the original Super Mario Kart wasn't on the service either. I don't get it. Though you're still getting some good Wii Ware games, like Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord that released last week. Also, the first episode of Tales of Monkey Island hit Wii Ware this week, which, if you're a fan of the Monkey Island franchise, is...no wait, you've probably already played this, or are playing it.

Meanwhile, there is some good news for digital classic games: Turbografx-16 games are coming to North America's Playstation Network sometime in the near future. I was hoping they were coming over, though with a good sense of pessimism given who we're talking about here. It's nice to hear they're coming, though Hudson couldn't give a date as to when. Who knows if they were even supposed to talk about it yet.

Meanwhile, I was thinking a little more about the Dissidia demo, mainly about how feature-packed it is. Honestly, I thought it might be a little too feature packed, and could hurt the potential sales of the game. Really? Five characters available to play, including the likes of Cloud and Sephiroth? That may be all people ask for to play as in this game, making them content with the demo.

Upon doing a little more research, though, the demo really doesn't have too much content. There's a lot more to this game than I thought, and I'm not just talking about the storyline. During the game, you'll have the ability to level up characters as well, enabling them to obtain more attacks. A good example of these are displayed while playing the demo's difficulties, where each character has a slightly different move set depending on whether you're playing on normal or hard. It's a really fun game if the demo is any indication (and I'm sure it is), so be sure to anticipate it for August 25th.

By the way, I'm sure Onion Knight's "Burn it Up!" is an internet meme in the making. Expect plenty of (possibly stupid) Youtube videos on it. 

The Virtual Console in itself is a great idea. What it represents is a fantastic opportunity to replay your classic favorites on a newer console, making the Wii's inherent functions multipurpose, but in a very beneficial way. You have the ability to play them without being attached to the computer and without hooking up an older console to your television. That latter point may not seem all that bad, but anyone with an HDTV is going to have a problem rendering old hardware on an advanced TV that it wasn't intended for. Fortunately the Wii replicates its classics in the best way possible, and with some of the best emulation around. Seriously, it makes all of those classic compilations by outsourced companies like Backbone Entertainment seem pedestrian in comparison.

Oh, and it also gives gamers the chance to experience the classics that either passed them by in their younger days or weren't there for that specific generation. That, and it gives people the chance to play games that fetch prices way too high on second-hand markets; an example of that being one of the more recent additions: Pulseman. It's a game that's hard to come by in any territory, and not played by most gamers.

With an opportunity like that, I hate to see it being underutilized. Things started off great, but then the offerings from Nintendo began to whittle down to a single offering once a week. Last Monday's update was a bit worrying, as, for the first time since its inception, the American Virtual Console received no update at all. Looks like they've run out of games to upload! But nah, there are plenty of quality games that need to be put on there, some of which are even Nintendo published. Even worse, the European VC has been without updates for eleven weeks out of this year. Of course, it's fine in Japan. Oh, Nintendo.


Meanwhile, I'm surprised to see that Sony has been stepping up their offerings of classic games in America. Sure, they haven't gone as far as to introduce a Turbografx lineup here yet (if ever), but for the last two months, we've seen a better quantity of releases on Playstation Network. And some of them are actually games people wanted, like Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy VII, and, most recently, Wild Arms 2. Quite interesting for a company that, a little over two years ago, expressed disinterest in classic games (despite their Japanese counterpart encouraging it not too long before that).

So kudos to you, Sony Computer Entertainment of America, for changing your tune a bit on classic games. And here's hoping your European counterpart follows suit, since they definitely deserve more than just Final Fantasy VII. I wouldn't be surprised to see Turbografx 16 games skip overseas platforms -- they've improved, but keep your expectations low -- but heck, if they shocked a lot of gamers (me included) with this, I wouldn't mind being shocked again.

(Though I'd like to be shocked by Nintendo on the virtual front, too.)

Things just got a little more interesting for Playstation Network today, as Turbografx (aka PC Engine) games were announced and released on the system today...in Japan. This is good news! It seems that the Virtual Console might (because anything could happen) have some serious competition from here on out (except in the obvious departments inaccessible to Sony), given that Sony is a little faster about putting out titles on the system, which they've proven with PSOne Classics. Again, that's in reference to Japan. If you live in America or Europe, gamers are lucky to get even one classic title a week, and that goes double for Europe. That kind of makes me worried about the chances of seeing games like that in the US.

Then again, Sony has been pretty good with putting out classic titles. Sure, some weeks are full of shovelware that no one really wants (Spec Ops? Really?), but they've put out more genuinely great titles like Final Fantasy VII, Resident Evil: Director's Cut, and Metal Gear Solid as well. And, if the ESRB is correct, it looks like Final Fantasy Tactics -- in all of its "I got a good feeling!" goodness -- and Wild Arms 2 will hit the system pretty soon. Though that last example goes more for America than Europe, the latter of which has only received FFVII. Still, their newfound good will hasn't been in place enough to not be concerned about seeing classic games from other systems overseas.

The Japanese PSN is starting out with four titles: New Adventure Island, Devil Crush, Sengoku Mahjong, and Bomberman '94. All of them are available for 600 yen a piece, which is comparable to their Japanese Virtual Console prices. Also neat is that, like PSOne Classics, they're playable on both Playstation 3 and PSP. Early reports are saying that the emulation on them is pretty good, comparable to the Virtual Console's emulation. That means it's much better than any compliation could ever be, and it may be better than emulation via Custom Firmware.

The funnies thing here is that though a lot of us are surprised to suddenly see Turbografx games available, we actually shouldn't. Sony discussed plans to have a system in place like this initially nearly three years ago at former Chairman and chief executive officer Ken Kutaragi's keynote at the Tokyo Game Show 2006 (jump down to 01:57:32). Also notice that he mentioned plans to have Genesis/Mega Drive games available for download as well. I wouldn't be surprised to see them available in Japan next month at this rate, honestly.

Who knows when, or if, these games will make it overseas. I'm sure there would be a nice subset of gamers to support them, though they probably also own these games on the Virtual Console. Still, gamers like this are the type to buy things more than once because of a bizarre OCD problem (yeah, me included), so I'm sure they'll sell well. I'm also sure that certain PS One Classics will sell well too, and look at where that's going! I think Sony may need things like this worldwide to prove they're completely serious about going digital.

I finally did get around to seeing all of Nintendo's press conference. To be blunt it was rather boring at times and mostly lacked the "wow" factor that Sony's had. At least Nintendo had a few cool factors and many of the games they announced were definitely exciting. Unlike my last post I'm not here to exclusively talk about any one company or product. I'm going discuss what really grabbed my attention at E3 this year, now that the electronics expo has ended.




First I'd like to post a follow up to my thoughts on the PSP Go. As I said the biggest source of contention for many gamers would be the high price point and possibly having to re-buy their entire UMD collection. At the very least a possibly free solution is in the works for Sony regarding the latter. Engadget reported that Sony is working on a program that will allow new Go users to swap their UMD games for digital versions. The details of how the program will exactly work are not yet clear. For example, imported games (with PSP games being region-free) could be a problem. Still, this is a good move in regard to catering to people with older PSPs (and large UMD collections) who want to upgrade.

Video posted on Joystiq compares the PSP Go with the 3000 and the iPhone, and also shows off how sleek and streamlined the device is. Still, I'm not sure Sony has learned much with a high price point of $249 for a hardware revision. Yes, the argument could be made that it is cheaper than iPhone or iPod Touch, and or the price of a current PSP and 16GBs of memory. Yet, such a move seems counterintuitive during a recession when people are strapped for cash. A $200 or even a $220 price point would have been more attractive. Unlike the PS3 costs for the PSP have fallen over the years, so I don't expect $249 to stick around for very long.

On Monday and Tuesday Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony all announced the next step in motion control. Nintendo finally followed up to the Motion Plus controller it introduced at last year's E3. In the meantime Microsoft and Sony announced their own projects in the form of Project Natal and the PlayStation Eye. Out of the three, Microsoft's Project Natal was the most ambitious, promising to use the player's entire body as the controller. Sony introduced a combination of Wii-like motion controls combined with a camera for precision that promises to surpass the Wiimote. Out of the three, only Nintendo's Motion Plus controller has a solid release date of later this month, while Microsoft and Sony's respective projects won't be seen until sometime next year or later. The demonstrations from E3 already show the Motion Plus controls as a huge improvement on the Wiimote. It'll be interesting to see how developers embrace the new and improved controls.



Given that the Wii and its motion controls are a run away success, it's only natural that Microsoft and Sony would introduce their own form of motion control. In fact, if Nintendo hadn't of done it three years ago I'm certain someone else would have sooner or later. The gaming community seems genuinely split on the idea of more motion control. Some gamers welcome it as innovation that had to happen and as a way of bringing more causal gamers into the fold, while others feel such technology is a waste of time. There are positive signs that developers may understand these concerns and possibly alienating the hardcore gamers who are content with traditional controls and will address both. Personally, I feel innovation is a good thing, especially if it encourages people to be active in an enjoyable way. At the same time I'm a gamer who is content with traditional controls. So if possible I'd like to have it both ways, and if the Wii is any indication that future is very possible.


Microsoft also went in an interesting direction and announced Facebook and Twitter connectivity on the Xbox 360. Nintendo also did the same to a certain degree with aspects of the DSi. Gamers use Facebook and Twitter, so this could be a good idea. As long as it isn't forced on gamers (which it won't be) it'll be a fun tool for those addicted to social networking. The idea of being able to share images and footage from video games on Facebook with like-minded friends is especially appealing. In short, social networking is here to stay, like it or not.



Speaking of the Wii, Nintendo announced a (gorgeous) black colored console and accessories would go on sale in Japan starting on August 1st. No announcements have been made for releases outside of Japan, but I hope Nintendo eventually decides to sell a black Wii domestically. Such a move could boost sales, and let's face it, people like being able to choose their colors. (At least I know I do.) The "You can have any color as long as it's white" deal may not be a point of contention with many gamers, but variety is still good.

E3 '09 was also great for gaming news. Geoff already covered a lot of the gaming announcements in his posts on the subject. However, I'd like to cover a few games of interest that he didn't mention, or only mentioned briefly. As numerous fans pointed out Nintendo set out to appease many of the gamers who were upset by last year's E3 conference. The gaming giant announced games for both hardcore and more casual gamers. At the very least, the conference was an excellent one for RPG gamers. Golden Sun, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, and a playable version of Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (which is said to be quite good) were all announced for the DS and Wii. So far 2009 is a great year to be an RPG gamer, between the various upcoming games on the DS and PSP.
 



Nintendo also revealed Wario Ware: DIY. It's Made in Ore for the DS, and Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again for the DSi. Both games offer players the chance to create their own custom levels and share them with others. While I don't play Wario (yet), Mario vs. Donkey Kong looks interesting. If I had a DSi, I probably would have grabbed the title when it released on June 8th. On a final Nintendo related note, James Patterson's Women's Murder Club: Games of Passion actually managed to catch my eye, even more so than COP: The Recruit. I don't know anything about the James Patterson's Women's Murder Club series but the gameplay footage did strike me as being Phoenix Wright-esque. Being the Ace Attorney nerd that I am, it is almost tempting to try this game for that fact alone. It certainly worked well enough in Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law.

Sony had a variety of interesting game announcements. Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy XIV are two games that left the biggest impressions on me. FFVII is announcement that I'd been hoping for, mainly because my fears that would not arrive on PSN Stateside were assuaged. Considering the going price of the game on eBay and the higher PSN price for Japan, $10 dollars on PSN is practically a steal. Although I own a like-new copy of the game (I bought in 2003 brand new at a reasonable $14.99), I am tempted to re-buy the game just to play on my PSP. Either way, a PSN download is a great way for gamers to experience one of the most popular RPGs of all time, especially if they haven't previously done so. Now if only we could have other classics, such as Xenogears.



Final Fantasy XIV was also announced as a PS3 exclusive for 2010. Since then Square Enix has more or less stated the game could be a timed exclusive- it hasn't denied the possibility of a 360 release. The announcement came as a bit of a surprise as FFXIII isn't even complete yet. I was curious to what XIV was going to be, until the word "Online" appeared under the title. After that it was pretty easy to figure out this game Square's long awaited new MMORPG, perhaps named XIV at the last minute? Or maybe they planned to call it XIV all along but managed to keep the name tightly under wraps. While some Sony fans are glad to have an FF exclusive (perhaps after the sting of losing XIII) many more Final Fantasy MMO fans want the game to hit Xbox Live. With any MMORPG the more players the better. I can't imagine this one not hitting XBL since it represents a huge chunk of online gamers, and 360 owners did get XI after all. I can only hope Square's newest MMORPG fixes many of the problems found in XI, as well as providing a nice graphical upgrade to the series. Of course that last hope would be a given as it is debuting on the PS3 (and PC) first.




All in all, some pretty nice announcements came out of E3 2009. There were no major hardware changes, with the exception of a PSP revision, the Wii Motion Plus controller, and upcoming projects from Microsoft and Sony. The overall themes (other than exciting new games and motion control) seemed to be social networking and online play with customization. The next year or so will be an interesting year for gaming, to say the least.

There was, as they say, trouble in paradise for Sony a few weeks back when Microsoft announced that two more Xbox Originals would be joining their lineup on the Xbox Live Marketplace a few weeks ago. With the addition of Sega Soccer Slam and Raze's Hell, the number of Xbox Originals available would go up to 25. The problem for Sony here was that the number of Xbox games on XBLM would be the same as the amount of PSOne games on Playstation Network.

Not that it's at all a surprise, given how Sony has been releasing older games on the service slower than a snail's pace. But upon comparing the number of Xbox games and the number of PSOne games, the company's efforts weren't just said, they were pathetic and infuriating. The potential of people trying games they missed during the PSOne generation was nearly squandered.

Unless you're Japanese, of course, where they've had over 200 games on the service for a good while, making the North American and European efforts seem incredibly paltry in comparison.

But the tide may be turning. Last week, we were graced with the presence of Castlevania: Chronicles. A pretty welcome port of the game, seeing as how the game went for way too high prices on ebay previously. Who could pass that up at only $6? Well, I did, but that was only because I was in the midst of buying gifts for family members. That, and I was wondering where I could find some of those ever-elusive Playstation Network cards, which should have been out years ago.

Now, news comes out today that the first Suikoden title is now available on PSN, also available for only $6. Part of me is hoping that Sony has finally gotten the signal and is now starting to address the problem with the spartan classics lineup. They've already addressed the situation of new games on PSN -- which were mainly for PS3, but are now seeing PSP ports -- so logic suggests that this is next in line for repairs. Then again, part of me is saying this is only a coincidence, and starting next week (or the week after, if they don't update next week), it'll be back to the same old crap. Here's to hoping!

Now, I need to get ahold of one of those PSN cards that only took two years to come out.

In case you haven't heard yet, Mega Man 2 was released on the Wii Virtual Console yesterday. Great news, since the game is considered by many (if not all) to be considered the best in the main series. Fans are speculating that the recent release of this game is in anticipation of Mega Man 9 gracing the presence of WiiWare soon. That, or they're just speculating to keep their mind off of the fact that Japan and Europe have had the game for months; or that this is the only VC game released this week, reminiscent of the one-game-a-week summer doldrums while the Japanese and Eropean VC didn't stagger at all.

But they could be correct. This is coming off the news that the game was given a definitive Japanese WiiWare on September 24th. So it's possible that the US might see the game release as early as next Monday. The aforementioned prospect is overwhelmingly positive, though, and positivity is something that owners of the Wii console haven't had towards Nintendo for a good while. At least in America.

Also, earlier this month, the press received their review copies of the game. From that, you might conclude that it really is coming soon. Hopefully that's true, though they get an extra bonus we most assuredly won't be getting, and that will probably go for a high price if someone decides to hock theirs on either ebay or a similar marketplace. That package looks so fantastic that I might even pay top dollar for it! Even though it really isn't an NES game per se. Ah, to be so weak willed.

A release date for Mega Man 9 in territories outside of Japan will definitely be announced very soon. Keep in mind that while it's only hitting WiiWare in Japan, it's also hitting Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network.

There was quite a bit of interesting news concerning the main three's downloadable channels, and I figured that I'd post the tidbits of relative importance here. Note that this is in no way intended to compete with or usurp the News Roundup done by our administrator this week.


So this week gives us another trio of new Xbox Live Arcade games, after last weeks trio of (crappy) games; one of which we've been awaiting for quite a while. Upon seeing its conspicuous absence on the on the list of SNK's Tokyo Game Show lineup, we were wondering what happened to Samurai Showdown II for XBLA. We received our first hint at an answer when Microsoft updated their site with a page for the game sometime over the weekend, usually indicating that a specific game is coming soon. It turns out that the game is due Wednesday, and for only 400 points ($5). The system is also getting Rocketbowl and Shotest Shogi this week. Hey, no one said all of them had to be interesting! We'll see how their inherent quality is.

Meanwhile, Nintendo's Wii Shop Channel received the Wii Ware title Groovin Blocks, and Virtual Console titles Cho Aniki and Final Soldier, the last two of which are TurboGrafix16 titles. In typical fashion, though we're receiving the VC titles now, Europe received the games back in May 2008. Good stuff, now are we getting Secret of Mana this month, too?

There's no news concerning what Sony's Playstation Network is receiving this week. If anything.