This week is just preparation for next week which has two megaton releases. However, there is still some pretty neat stuff coming out this week. Take a look:
Playstation 3
Xbox 360
Nintendo Wii
•Call of Duty 4: Game of the Year Edition •NBA Ballers: Chosen One
•NBA Ballers: Chosen One
•Battle of the Bands •Heavenly Guardian •Target Terror •Wild Earth: African Safari
PSP
Nintendo DS
Playstation 2
•Chameleon
Dream Pinball 3D •Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness •Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time •River King: Mystic Valley •The World Ends With You
•Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES
Looks like a good week if you're an RPG fan. You have a rerelease of one of the most critically acclaimed (and hard to find) games of last year, two new Pokemon games, and a game from RPG powerhouse Square Enix.
What is my pick of the week? I'll say Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES. I'm not an RPG fan, but this looks like a great rerelease of Persona 3. It will include an additional chapter and additional storyline/gameplay elements for a total of 30 additional hours of gameplay. If you're at all interested in this game, I recommend you get it right away since it is an Atlus game and will probably be impossible to find in 3 months.
Next week will be a huge one because we have both Mario Kart Wii and Grand Theft Auto 4 coming out. So, start saving because next week is going to be a good one! Until then, happy gaming!
Taxes are due Tuesday...did you get them done? If so, it's time to start thinking about how to spend that refund. Maybe this week's release list will help you.
Playstation 3
Xbox 360
Nintendo Wii
•Gran Turismo 5 Prologue (Also available as a download from the Playstation Store)
...
•Okami •Summer Sports: Paradise Island
PSP
Nintendo DS
Playstation 2
...
•Cory in the House •High School Musical 2: Work It Out •MLB 2K8 Fantasy All-Stars •Rondo of Swords
...
Yeah, it's a light week number wise but game wise, it's an extremely heavy hitter.
My pick of the week depends on what category you fall in to. If you have a Wii, but don't own Okami on the Playstation 2, then I demand that you buy Okami for the Wii this week. Okami was a PS2 adventure game in the style of Zelda, but got severely underlooked by most people because of the release of Twilight Princess. Now that the hype of Twilight Princess has settled down, it's time for you to revisit the game that was far superior to the vastly overrated Wii launch game. There, I said it. Okami is better than Twilight Princess. I'm not theonly one to feelthis way either. Zelda fanboy flaming aside, Okami on the Wii looks to be a fantastic port of the PS2 classic. The port will feature the same great game you never played on the PS2, however the team at Ready At Dawn (the same team behind the excellent Daxter and God of War: Chains of Olympus for the PSP) have taken the liberty to do some enhancements to the Wii edition including 16:9 widescreen visuals running at 480p and some wagglan controls (sadly). However, you can paint with the Wii Remote, which is awesome and hopefully inspires Nintendo to make Mario Paint for the Wii.
However, if you're like me, a snobby bastard that's a part of the hip alternative gaming scene, you'll have Okami already and most likely won't be interested in a Wii port of the same game. What do you do then? You buy Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, that's what. Gran Turismo 5: Prologue is a demo of Gran Turismo 5 fully featured racing game that will give you an early glimpse at what to expect from Gran Turismo 5 when it ships next year (or in 2010, knowing Polyphony Digital). This title follows in the footsteps of previous pre-release GT titles Gran Turismo Concept and Gran Turismo 4 Prologue, but what makes this one different is that it is the first one to receive a worldwide release. The game features 76 cars, 6 tracks, 12 track layouts, 16 player online racing, Full HD 1080p graphics, and uncompressed LPCM 7.1 surround sound. New to the Gran Turismo series with 5 is GT-TV, a video on demand service that will be regularly updated with both free and pay content related to the world of racing and automobiles. However, the game does not include in-game voice chat (dumb move, Sony) nor private racing with your PSN friends, but Taku Imasaki, the producer of the North American release of the game, confirmed that they are working on adding that in a future update. Sepaking of updates, the lead director of the Gran Turismo series at Polyphony Digital, Kazunori Yamauchi, has said that vehicle damage will be coming to Gran Turismo 5 Prologue as an update, and that GT5P will eventually reach the full functionality of Gran Turismo 5, but with fewer tracks and cars. So, maybe buyers of Prologue will get a discount on the full game when it comes out, but probably not knowing Sony. Anyways, demo or not, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue looks quite awesome, but it definitely isn't for everyone. Remember, this game will be released as both a retail Blu-ray and as a download from the all-new Playstation Store. Both versions cost $40 and offer the same content, but the PS Store version will be a 2 GB or so download and will make you download the GT TV videos from the internet to view them. The Blu-ray edition will include all of the GT TV videos available at launch on the disc for instant viewing.
And we're back from an extended break. In order to celebrate our triumphant return to the internets, here's a list of games that are out this week!
Wait a minute...
Playstation 3
Xbox 360
Nintendo Wii
...
...
•Baroque •Mini Copter Adventure Flight
PSP
Nintendo DS
Playstation 2
•World Championship Cards
•Fab 5 Soccer (Sorry, this isn't a game with The Beatles, it's a shitty budget title) •Plushees
•Arcana Heart •Baroque
Looks like the release list is taking a break this week too...
HOWEVER! There are two big releases this week that fall outside my realm of coverage. The first is Sony's long-awaited US release of the new DualShock 3 controller. The new controller adds rumble back into the controller and makes your PS3 controller not feel like a cheap piece of plastic. I got mine last night and I must say it's a definite improvement over both the Sixaxis and the DualShock 2. I highly recommend any PS3 owner to get one as soon as you can. Also, here's a list of games that have vibration support at the moment. More will be coming in the future with game patches. In addition, the DS3 supports vibration on all PS2 and PS1 games.
That is not my pick of the week, though. My pick of the week easily goes to Ikaruga on Xbox Live Arcade. That's right, Treasure's classic (and very hard to find) vertical shooter has been ported to Xbox Live Arcade and will be selling for the ultra-low price of $10. If you have an Xbox 360 and don't buy this game, I will be extremely disappointed in you because Ikaruga is one of the greatest games ever created and is something that everyone needs to experience it at least once. Sure, you could be old-fashioned and buy the Dreamcast or Gamecube version, but you'll be paying at least $30 or $40 more for a disc and a case. Not worth it just for that. Come on, you know you want it. Drop your fear of digital distribution and experience one of the greatest games of all time.
PC World has stated that the new upcoming PS3 firmware, version 2.20, will include some great new features. PC World says:
"The updated firmware enables Blu-ray Disc Profile 2.0, or BD-Live, to be supported on the PS3. BD-Live enables Blu-ray Disc makers to incorporate additional interactive features including downloadable video content, ringtones, games and more.
The firmware also exposes "Portable Copy," which enables PS3 users to copy a standard-definition version of the Blu-ray movie to a PlayStation Portable (PSP). You can transfer music and photo playlists from the PS3 to the PSP and use the PSP as a remote control for music playback using "Remote Play." DivX and WMV playback functionality has been improved, along with new Internet browser settings and additional AV settings."
I think that this is a great new ideal from Sony. They just keep pushing out more and more great ideals all the time now. I will admit I was one to be a PS3 Flamer, but now I am starting to like the new Playstation.
•Naruto Ultimate Ninja 3 •Obscure: The Aftermath •Sea Monsters: A Prehistoric Adventure
My pick this week goes to Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. Now, before all you Final Fantasy fangirls start crying becuase I didn't pick your OMFGKAWAIIBISHIE ^__^ game, let me just say that I would never award FF7 or FF anything, other than "Series Tony Most Hates". Now to the pick at hand, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword for the Nintendo DS. This game, while lacking the graphical prowess of Sigma, Black, and II, it definitely looks like a well thought out and well executed version of the game that you can put in your pocket and play anywhere. The game really seems to live up to the high bar set by the console iterations of the series. The critics so far seem to agree with my analysis, as it has been getting very positive scores across the board.
In addition to Dragon Sword, be on the look out for Dark Sector and Viking: Battle for Asgard. Dark Sector may end up being meh, but Viking looks like it could be a real surprise. The first review I've seen of that game gave it a 9.5/10. Be sure to check out the other reviews of it as the week progresses, because this might wind up being a game to buy. The fact that it's based on the Vikings only makes me more intrigued, because Vikings are freaking badass.
Also, I have a correction from last week's list. World Championship Cards for PSP has been delayed until April. Sorry for disappointing all less than two of you who are looking forward to this game.
Check back here next week to find out what games are begging for your money!
This week is actually a damn good one for new games considering we're right in the middle of March. If you have a PS3, 360, DS, or PS2, there's a great game coming out. The other consoles, not so much unless Sega Superstars Tennis completely beats my expectations (which it won't). So without further ado, here's what you can buy this week:
Playstation 3
Xbox 360
Nintendo Wii
•Condemned 2: Bloodshot •Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds •Karaoke Revolution: American Idol Encore •Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 (Also available in a Limited Edition) •Sega Superstars Tennis
•Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 (Also available in a Limited Edition) •Sega Superstars Tennis
•George of the Jungle •Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 •Sega Superstars Tennis •Worms: A Space Oddity •WWII Aces
PSP
Nintendo DS
Playstation 2
•World Championship Cards
(No highlight game here this week. I'm not going to tell you to waste your money on World Championship Cards. Go buy God of War, Wipeout Pulse, or Patapon instead.)
•Diary Girl •Fantasy Aquarium •Go Pets: Vacation Island •Lost in Blue 3 •Sega Superstar Tennis
•Metal Gear Solid: Essential Collection •Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends •Sega Superstar Tennis •Singstar 90s (Also available as a bundle with 2 microphones)
My overall pick of the week goes to Metal Gear Solid: Essential Collection. This package is a collection of the first three Metal Gear Solid games in a specially priced $30 bundle in preparation for the release of the highly anticipated (50GB, dual layer Blu-ray) PS3 exclusive Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of The Patriots which comes out in June. The Essential Collection is a fantastic deal if you are new to the MGS series, have only one or two games in the series, or are a completist. It's really hard to say no to $30 for three of the greatest games ever.
Check back here next week to find out what games are begging for your money!
Sony has just sold me on a PS3. This was announced on IGN.com recently:
Quote
MGS4 Bundle Announced Anticipated game to be packaged with 80GB PS3 and DualShock 3. by Jeff Haynes
February 26, 2008 - For months, Metal Gear Solid fans have eagerly been looking forward to a release date of the upcoming title from Kojima Productions, Metal Gear Solid 4. Since its delay last fall, the only thing fans have known is that the game is expected to be released later this year. Earlier today at Destination PlayStation, a retailers only conference for Sony products, Sony announced that a Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle pack will be released in Q2 2008.
The bundle will include MGS4, an 80GB PS3 and a Dual Shock 3 included for an MSRP of $499.99. It will also include an Metal Gear Online "Starter Pack. For players that pre-order Metal Gear Solid 4, there's an added bonus: they'll be guaranteed access in the multiplayer beta of Metal Gear Online in late April.
"Working closely with our retail and publishing partners and sharing our hardware and software roadmaps at Destination PlayStation gives us a great opportunity to outline some key milestones for the year. In response to incredible demand, we will be manufacturing more 80GB PS3s for North America and the Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots 80GB PS3 bundle is an ideal way to offer that continued value to our consumers," said Jack Tretton, president and CEO of SCEA. "With Blu-ray having won the format war, our stellar software line-up and a broad product portfolio, we will continue to drive the incredible momentum we've been generating since last fall."
EDITOR EDIT: That wasn't the only thing to come out of Sony's Playstation Destination event today.
Metal Gear Solid 4 comes out June 12. One can only assume the bundle comes out on that same day too.
In addition, Sony announced a new God of War PSP bundle. The bundle will be $200 and will come with God of War: Chains of Olympus, Superbad on UMD video (hahahahaha, Superbad and UMD are both hilarious...for totally opposite reasons), and a free download of Syphon Filter: Combat Ops from the Playstation store. Expect it on retail shelves in June.
Finally today, the much awaited vibration-enabled DualShock 3 will be hitting store shelves on April 15 for $55. More than I had hoped for, but still a good deal cheaper than importing it.
So, it looks like Sony decided to save all the big announcements for this little conference instead of saying everything at GDC. Looks like the bad news of Phil Harrison leaving Sony is being balanced out.
Sony has put the final nail in the coffin for usage of their UMD (Universal Media Disc) format for movies by announcing that you will soon be able to transfer Blu-ray movies that you own to your PSP by way of the Playstation 3.
According to Gizmodo, the functionality will be available this year, will (most likely) be free, and will work on (almost every) Blu-ray Disc under the sun. Some specifics about the transfer process are that the movie files will be around 1GB, in standard definition, optimized for playback on the PSP, and will take about 3-5 minutes to download to the PSP's memory stick. However, the catch is that the movies will be protected by DRM (Digital Rights Managment), which is no surprise considering that you're copying a copyrighted movie onto a portable device and could easily share it with others. There's no word on what exactly the details of the DRM policy will be (one of the restraints may be that you can only copy each disc a certain number of times). My guess is that it will be just like the DRM used for PSone games downloaded from the Playstation Store.
But who knows. Knowing Sony it could be a DRM scheme that drops a rootkit on your PS3/PSP and monitors every single thing you do before dropping that rootkit in your brain and controlling you.
In a completely unsurprising move, Rockstar has edited their latest offering, Manhunt 2, down to M standards. Along with the M rating comes the usual content descriptors that Rockstar gets for their games: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content and Use of Drugs.
In the press release, Captain Obvious (aka Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of Take-Two) stated the obvious: "Manhunt 2 is an extraordinary game, and we eagerly anticipate its release in North America." As opposed to "Manhunt 2 is a horrible game and we dread it's impending release in North America."
There is no word from Rockstar on what exactly got cut from the game so it could receive a Mature rating. I think it would be interesting to find out what they cut, or maybe even have a release of the unedited version on PC where AO titles are allowed.
The edited game is currently slated for an October 31st launch on Wii, Playastion 2, and PSP in North America. Rockstar has not stated a release date for other regions around the world as of yet.
Fresh out of Comic Con 07, comes a sneak peek at Capcom's new Phoenix Wright inspired attorney game based on the hit Adult Swim show, Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law. The game comes out this fall for Sony's Playstation 2 and PSP systems.
I remember when I first heard about the game this past spring, I was worried about how it will turn out, but I think all my concerns have been erased by this gameplay demo. The graphics are flat and 2D, the voice actors are there (oh dear God let Stephen Colbert be in the game), and it's funny. Of course, the cameo of Guile of Street Fighter 2 fame in the jury in that clip sealed the deal for me. I'm so buying this game on release day...and Aqua Teen Hunger Forice Zombie Ninja Pro-Am.
From Kotaku, here's Sega's rumored Tokyo Game Show lineup, with some entries bolded for my emphasis...
Alien Syndrome (Wii, PSP) After Burner: Black Falcon (PSP) Beijing 2008: the Official Videogame of the Olympic Games (PS2, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP, DS, PC) ChuChu Rocket! (XBLA, PC) Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars (PSP) Fighters Megamix 2 (Xbox 360, PS3) Ghost Squad (Wii) Happy Tree Friends False Alarm (XBLA, PC) JET SET RADIO NEXT (Xbox 360, PS3) Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii, DS) Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms Visit (PC) Nights: Journey of Dreams (Wii) Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus (PS2, Xbox 360, PC) Samba De Amigo Fever (PSP) Sega Classics Collection 2 (PS2,PSP) Sega Rally Revo (Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, PC) Sega Superstar 2 (Wii) SHENMUE 3 (XBOX 360) SHENMUE I & II PLUS (Xbox 360) Skies of Arcadia 2 (Wii) Sonic Rivals 2 (PSP) Sonic Rush Adventure (DS) Sonic the RPG (Xbox 360, PS3) Space Channel 5 Part 3 (Xbox 360, PS3) Space Channel 5 Showtime (Wii, DS, PSP) The Club (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) The Golden Compass (PS2, PC, DS, Xbox 360, PSP, PS3, Wii) The House of the Dead 4 (Xbox 360, PS3) Universe at War: Earth Assault (Xbox 360, PC) Virtua Fighter 5 (Xbox 360, PS3) Virtua Fighter Kids 2 (Wii) Worldwide Soccer Manager Live (Xbox 360, PC) Yakuza 3 (PS3)
OMFG! Next gen versions of Chu Chu Rocket, Jet Grind Radio, Space Channel 5, Samba De Amigo, and EFFING SHENMUE?! COULD IT BE?! Well, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this list is true. Why? We all know Sega hasn't been doing great lately, and they could be trying to resurrect some of their fan favorite Dreamcast franchises like Shenmue, JGR, and Space Channel 5.
Regardless, if Shenmue I and II Plus and Shenmue III are indeed real, that will push me over the edge and make me get a 360.
Don't worry, I'm still a Sony fanboy at heart, but I gots to have me my Shenmue
David Jaffe, the outspoken creator of the smash hits God Of War and Twisted Metal, has some kind of announcement planned for tomorrow. He will be posting it on his blog right after the press release comes out around 9 AM or so tomorrow morning (probably Pacific Time).
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT COMING FRIDAY...well big announcement for ME. It's not like I'll be revealing what game we've been working on, stuff like that. Well actually, I will be able to talk a little bit about ONE of the games for the first time...
[middle cut since he's talking about how he saw some family in Alabama and ate at Cracker Barrel.]
c- Friday-at 9am (PR wants to send the press release out before I post...so no 12:01 update)...but at 9am, I will post news of my future. Again, it's a big deal for me personally and it does deal with my work. So this week I'll be able to spill SOME of the beans...and I'll prob. spew about how I'm dealing with this very, very big change in my work life.
Hope to see ya'll soon!
David
ps. Just FYI, the game alot of you guys seems to think we are working on, we are not. Sorry to dissapoint
So, he says it isn't what we think he's working on, so that rules out Twisted Metal 5 or Black 2 or whatever they're going to call it. David most likely isn't going to take on the directorial role in God of War 3, because he doesn't really want to make huge epics any more (though he'll probably maintain a supervisor role with Cory Barlog directing, like he did with God of War 2). The other possibility I'm hearing a lot is that he's leaving Sony, which is most likely not the case because David has stated many times that he has no intentions to leave Sony since they have been so good to him for the past 10 years or so.
Here's what I think will happen:
He's going to open up a new studio that will make games for Sony, and more specifically, the Playstation Network.
Here's my reasoning. After taking a month off from the blog in May (maybe due to his tirade against Gamespot and Joystiq), he posted this entry which consists of 2 pictures of an empty office space. In some of the next entries, he mentions having some big design tasks for his next game, but it's nothing too important to my argument. However on his July 1 blog entry, he posts a picture of some beer (...and weed) on a table and captions it with "How else do you expect us to celebrate signing a big, important, life changing contract?!?" That contract, probably with Sony and us meaning someone from Incognito (probably the head, Scott Campbell), since he's worked with them on many projects (including his most recent, Calling All Cars!).
That and David is pretty much one of Sony's biggest star developers, and I bet that they would be willing to listen to what he wants to do.
Anyways, now that my silly speculation is over, remember to keep it tuned on RFGen for all the news that matters.
Rockstar's latest has joined the ranks of Thrill Kill, Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude Uncut and Uncensored, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (the first version), Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy: Director's Cut, and Playboy the Mansion: Private Party. Like these games, Manhunt 2 has received the ESRB's highest content rating, AO (Adults Only).
Now, Rockstar has to make a very important decision concerning their game. They can either release the game with the AO rating and risk not having the game sold at stores like Target or Wal-Mart, appeal the AO rating, or edit the game and resubmit it. A representative for Rockstar told Kotaku that they have not made a decision yet, and are considering all the options to get this game released.
This is the second big blow to the game today. Earlier on in the day, RF Generation forum member, James, reported to us that the BBFC rejected Manhunt 2, which means that it cannot be released in the UK and Ireland. Here is a link to James' thread on our message board.
Obviously, Rockstar and Take 2 are in a very tough place right now. Their game was banned in the UK and Ireland, and is not going to be sold at the biggest retailers in the USA. My advice for Rockstar: release the AO version of the game to retailers that will accept it, and give the rest of them a cut down M rated version of the game. That way, the creator's original vision will be available to those who search it out, and if you can't find it, you can just as easily buy the edited version. This practice is used very often with DVD movies. They will released the normal movie as seen in theaters, and an unrated version that would have gotten the movie an NC-17 rating.
Manhunt 2 is currently slated for a July 9th release on Playstation 2, Nintendo Wii, and PSP.