Monthly Archives: July 2009

The US PSN update this week has seven titles on sale, and they won’t last long so hurry up and get them.

Also, Unbound Saga and Myst arrived for PSP along with PS3 getting a demo for Trash Panic.

Sales lasting until July 23

• WipEout HD (was $19.99, now $14.99)
• Flock (was $14.99, now $7.49)
• Savage Moon (was $9.99, now $4.99)
• Crash Commando (was $9.99, $4.99)
• PixelJunk Eden (was $9.99, now $4.99)
• Brain Challenge (was $9.99, now $4.99)
• 3 on 3 NHL Arcade (was $9.99, now $4.99)

Downloadable Games

• Namco Museum Essentials ($9.99)
• Spec Ops: Ranger Elite ($5.99)
• Trash Panic Demo
• FUEL Demo
• Namco Museum Essentials Trial

Add-ons, PSP, and Home stuff is after the break.

Music tracks, videos and extra details can be found over on the US PS Blog.

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According to PlayStation Pulse, a demo for Dissidia: Final Fantasy will land on PSN July 23.

Good good for those wanting to try before they buy.

The PSP title is expected to land in stores August 25.

A brand new free quest for Monster Hunter Freedom Unite arrives tomorrow, July 17, and it’s a challenge quest.

The two-player online challenge has you tasked with slaying the Nargacuga, who is like a Tigrex, but meaner.

If you play this title, you can get more details over on Snow’s blog at Capcom Unity.

This coming weekend, July 17-19, 1 vs. 100 will be free for Gold and Silver members alike on Xbox Live.

Skill Prizes will be offered, with loot including digital cameras, holiday vouchers, laptop PCs and HD TVs to the most “outstanding players”.

It’s a rather fun little quiz game, so give it a try.

Thanks, Blerk.

ACE has said that Zeno Clash 2 will be a much larger game than the first one and will be large enough to be released on consoles – which is what co-founder Andres Bordeu wanted to do in the first place.

“The sequel will be developed from a different perspective than the first title,” he told That Videogame Blog. “Zeno Clash is a short indie game, whereas with Zeno Clash 2 we want to build a larger title; a game that’s big enough to go retail on the consoles.

“[It’s] what we would have liked to do in Zeno Clash if we would have had the resources. We really think that an open ended world is fit for the world of Zenozoik. Many games offer you the possibility to roam around freely, which is a great feature. But when you travel through those worlds many have very familiar and recognizable environments.

“In Zeno Clash the woods don’t look like a regular forest with green trees and bushes. In Zeno Clash the cities are just plain insane. I think it will be extremely entertaining to explore a world where you a never quite sure what you will encounter next.”

Day one purchase right there.

The ESRB website has revealed Command & Conquer Red Alert 3: Commander’s Challenge for PS3 and Xbox 360.

Description for the title reads:

“A real-time strategy game (RTS) in which players control different factions vying for global supremacy in the wake of global war and occupation.”

The Commander’s Challenge was a PC-exclusive download for Red Alert 3′s “Uprising” expansion where players fighting through 50 missions, unlocking technology after battling it out with an AI opponent.

No word on exactly what this this, but it sounds like DLC for the consoles to us, and Shack too.

EA has launched a DJ game for Club Fight Night located in the EA Sports Complex over on PlayStation Home, along with a rock ‘em sock ‘em robot style game.

In it, two player-controlled robots beat on each other with the winner receiving virtual items.

The Club DJ mini-game has players hitting buttons to the beat, which is depicted by your dancing avatar.

EA Sports Complex will also be getting a Pro Shop on July 30 where you can buy different items for your virtual self.

Kotaku has more information on this along with some nifty screens.

PAX has announced this year’s winners for the PAX 10 Independent Games Showcase.

The ten winners were picked from over 150 submissions.

Winners last year included indie titles Audiosurf, Schizoid, and The Maw.

Here’s the list for this year:

• CarneyVale: Showtime by the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Games Lab (Xbox 360)
• Closure by Tyler Glaiel and Jon Schubbe (PC)
• Fieldrunners by Subatomic Studios (iPhone/iPod touch)
• Liight by Studio Walljump (Wii)
• Machinarium by Amanita Design (PC)
• Osmos by Hemisphere Games (PC)
• Puzzle Bloom by Team Shotgun (PC)
• Tag: The Power of Paint by Tag Team (PC)
• Trino by Trinoteam (Xbox 360)
• What is Bothering Carl? by Story Fort (PC)

Full details on each game through the link.

Japan will be getting the lovely black Wii on August 1, but Nintendo says it has “no plans” to release it in the US.

Gee, thanks.

When contacted by GameDaily, a spokesperson for Nintendo gave the site the bad news.

However, it was quickly pointed out by GD that if it’s a big hit in Japan, it might see release elsewhere – just like the gold Zelda-themed DS.

Cross your fingers

Visit the link for more.

THQ announced a date for Red Faction: Guerrilla on PC yesterday.

Today, new screens have been released for it.

Eurogamer France has ‘em.

Go have a look.

Some coders have cloned Portal and threw it on iPhone.

This is not supported by Valve nor available on the App Store, but it’s cool if you are a Portal fan nonetheless.

Watch the video of it below, courtesy of PocketGamer.

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Tour de France 2009 has arrived on Xbox Live, just in case you didn’t know already.

It will run you 800 Microsoft Points ($10.00/£6.80) and lets you join one of 18 official teams and race through 21 legs of the cycling event.

Ys Seven has a new video out, and it’s posted after the jump courtesy of Kotaku.

The game has you take control of Adol Christin. The battle system has been retooled, and party play will be implemented for multiplayer.

Game’s out in September in Japan, with release dates for the rest of the world to be announced.

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Halo 3: ODST arrives in the UK September 22, and those who pre-order at participating retailers will receive a token to unlock grizzled UNSC Sgt. Johnson as a playable character in Firefight.

Just like the US pre-orders.

Those who purchase ODST get into the Halo: Reach Beta, which is a prequel to the series as a whole and expected to hit retail in fall 2010.

Halo 3: ODST will run you £39.99.

Full press release through the jump.

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Konami has sent over a Q&A session with Hideo Kojima regarding Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for PSP.

The game picks up where MGS3 left off with Naked Snake in 1974. It will feature a growth mechanism, so that your character can evolve, and Koija says he had plans for this project while working on MPO.

“I actually had the plan for this project in mind while working on MPO,” he said. “Back then, I intended to place the project in the hands of the next generation of creators at Kojima Productions. However, in the end, I felt that it was still a little too early to leave it completely in their hands, so I decided to take the reins.

“This game is an MGS5-class game. I am supervising, designing, producing, directing, and editing this title together with the MGS4 team. Therefore in that sense, “Metal Gear Soild” has not ended, and the “Metal Gear Saga” continues.

“In regards to the quality of the game, the main staff of MGS4 are producing it. They are aiming for PS3 quality because they were creating MGS4 on the PS3 not too long ago. In reality it is hard to maintain the same quality as the PS3 but we strive for it and we are expressing this in ways only we can express it in.”

Read the rest through the jump, and find out what his thinking was regarding those wonderful numerical teasers on the countdown site.

New screens for the game can be found over on GamesWire.

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Louis Castle, co-founder of EA’s Westwood Studios has left the firm for free-to-play games company InstantAction where he will act as CEO.

InstantAction specializes in third-party 3D browser-based games funded through advertising and micro-transactions.

Castle, who founded Westwood with Brett Sperry in 1985, became general manager of EA’s Blueprint Studios after Westwood was acquired by the publisher in 1998. It’s greatest success came from Command & Conquer series.

Via GI.biz, IndustryGamers.

Final Fantasy XIII information has been revealed in the latest issue of Japanese magazine, Jump.

A character named Hope Estheim is included in the game, and apparently she holds a grudge against one of the main characters, Snow. He got his mother involved in a fight using boomerang-style weapons.

Guess she didn’t think that was kosher.

Vanille is the character who looks like a bit like Rikku, and she uses a yoyo-style weapon that she swings around. Her backstory is currently still a mystery.

Hope that got you gagging for the game again.

It’s out in Japan later this year, and the rest of the planet is getting sometime in 2010.

Via CVG.

The European PSN update is a bit light this week, sorry ’bout that. There has to be something there for ya though, so without further ado here’s the list.

Home Update

• BUZZ! HQ – currently down for maintenance

Demos and Games

• Trash Panic Demo
• Disney’s Tarzan (£3.99/€4.99)
• Tomb Raider Anniversary (£11.99/€14.99)
• Brothers In Arms D-Day (£15.99/€19.99)

Add-On Content

• The Last Guy – Bonus Mission (£1.59/€1.99)
• LittleBigPlanet – GhostBusters Costumes (£1.59/€1.99); Ghostbusters Costume Kit (contains four costumes) (£4.79/€5.99
• Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires (four armor sets) (Free)
• Rock Band
• Guitar Hero: World Tour
• Rock Band: Unplugged

Extra details, music game content, videos and themes are all listed over on the EU PS Blog.

Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines will be available in a new Limited Edition PSP Entertainment Pack in November for $199.99.

It includes 8 new missions where Altair will get to explore various large cities. This time around Altair will discover the cities of Limasol and Kyrenia in Cyprus, and of course his “signature moves” are still part of the gameplay.

The Entertainment Pack includes:

• White PSP-3000 system
• Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines PSP game
• UMD Movie (to be announced shortly!)
• 2GB Memory Stick PRO Duo

Frederic Lefrancois, a producer on Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines, answers the questions about the game over on the US PS Blog.

Watch a video of it in action below.

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LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues will allow not only level creation, but two players can create levels simultaneously.

This new feature is expected for all console versions, and of course will not be shareable between consoles.

It’s like a cross between ModNation Racers and LBP, according to Joystiq’s man on the floor at Develop.

Hit the link for the rest.