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PAL PlayStation Store Update: Discounts On Metal Gear Time Trial
Big update this week for the PAL PlayStation Store, as Sony not only cut the price on a ton of great PSN titles and dropped a Gran Turismo 5 demo, but also let PSP owners enjoy a little Metal Gear. Yes, in addition to the endless list of discounted games and DLC, there are GT5…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 18, 2009 - Uncategorized
Final Fantasy XIII’s First-Day Sales Numbers Are In
Final Fantasy XIII was released in Japan yesterday. A day later, Square Enix have released figures revealing how many copies of the game were sold during its first 24 hours on the shelf. And that number has “exceeded one million”. Which, well, makes it sound like they sold between 1 and 1.1 million. The news…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 18, 2009 - Uncategorized
EA Reclaims #1 Publisher Position (In Europe)
It hasn’t been the best of years for Electronic Arts, but the mega-publisher can take solace in one key area: they’ve returned to the top of the summit in the European market. Having been the #1 publisher in the world’s second-biggest market for years, EA were displaced in 2008 by Nintendo, but have regained top…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 18, 2009 - Uncategorized
“Core” Game Sales Are Actually On The Rise
While overall video game sales in 2009 are down, that’s the big picture. Break it down into individual markets and you’ll see that “core” game purchases are anything but down. Having taken a look at detailed market data, Broadpoint AmTech analyst Ben Schachter says that “core” game sales in the US (which according to their…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 18, 2009 - Uncategorized
Aliens vs Predator “Unbanned” In Australia
Knew something was up with that trailer rating this morning; Sega just let us know that Aliens vs Predator, a violent game which had previously been refused classification in Australia, has had that ruling overturned. Sega Australia’s general manager, Darren Macbeth, tells Kotaku “It is with great pleasure that we announce the success of our…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 18, 2009 - Uncategorized
Vagrant Story Dated For (PAL) PlayStation Store Release
Last month, we received the uplifting news that Square’s classic Vagrant Story was on its way to the PAL PlayStation Store. Thing is, back then, it didn’t have a release date. It does now! And that date is Tuesday, December 22, which we guess must also be the day Europe’s PlayStation Store is update next…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 18, 2009 - Uncategorized
FFXIII Home Goodies Arrive, Aren’t Quite “Free”
Like we said, there’s now some Final Fantasy XIII gear available in the Japanese version of PlayStation Home. Thing is, it isn’t as free as first believed/hoped. The only thing that’s free is a personal space, and that’s only free until January 14, after which it’ll cost ¥600. Everything else, from chairs to rugs to…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 18, 2009 - Uncategorized
Quake Wars Goes Online, Learns Korean
Splash Damage have announced today that Korean developers Dragonfly are working on an online-only version of Quake Wars, called…Quake Wars Online. It’s moving into beta as we converse, with 100,000 spots available, but since those spots are Korea-only, that information is presented only as information, not a recommendation. Still, you’d expect the final game to…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 17, 2009 - Uncategorized
Aliens vs Predator Not Entirely Banned From Australian Consoles
Sega’s Aliens vs Predator may have been effectively “banned” in Australia, but Sega are still plugging away, with a trailer released this morning on the Australian PlayStation Store. Hilarity ensues. Not for the contents of the trailer, mind you, but for the MA15+ rating the trailer carries, and veritable baggage train of rating warnings along…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 17, 2009 - Uncategorized
TF2’s War Ends With New Item, New Maps
And just like that, the war is over. The Soldiers, victorious, the Demomen, less so. The saying decrees that the victors get the spoils, and since the Soldiers won, their spoils are on the way. Spoils which come in the form of the final update to the game’s characters for the week. Since the Soldiers…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 17, 2009 - Uncategorized
Here’s the Achievement List for BioShock 2
Ever-watchful Xbox 360 Achievements has dug up what it says is the list of cheevs for BioShock 2; there are 50 for the standard total of 1000 gamerscore, and a goodly number of them are secret achievements. Here’s the full list. It rates a standard spoiler-alert warning but, going through this, the descriptions don’t seem…
By Owen Good Published December 17, 2009 - Uncategorized
Playing the Crowd in MLB 2K10
MLB 2K10 is trying to be more creative and less repetitive with what you hear coming from the stands this year. For that they need voices for more than 10,000 sound clips. Here’s what two had to say. Bitmob’s Aaron Thomas and his friend, Shanker Srinivasan, journeyed to 2K Marin’s studio in Novato, Calif. to…
By Owen Good Published December 17, 2009 - Uncategorized
Well, Excuuuuuse Me, Hulu!
The Legend of Zelda, that Friday special cartoon that ran on The Super Mario Bros. Super Show back in the late 80s, is now on Hulu for your trip down memory lane pleasure. I feel kind of silly now, having bought the whole thing on DVD some years back. At the time I thought it…
By AJ Glasser Published December 17, 2009 - Uncategorized
PlayStation Store Update: VIII + 5 + 40
So much to see and do this week on the North American version of the PlayStation Store. But what to do first? Download the Gran Turismo 5 Time Trial demo? Final Fantasy VIII? Rubber Soul? Argh! I suppose it’s up to you to decide whether the Army of Two: The 40th Day demo takes precedent…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 17, 2009 - Reviews
Dragon’s Lair Micro-Review: Small Scenes from the Mind’s Eye
When it landed in 1983, Dragon’s Lair was truly unlike anything ever seen in an arcade. The gorgeous cartoon visuals not only justified an unthinkable 50-cent spend back then, they became the most memorable of pre-crash arcade classics. With Dragon’s Lair’s port to the iPhone and iPod Touch, EA Mobile and Digital Leisure are banking…
By Owen Good Published December 17, 2009 - Uncategorized
Starship Patrol Brings More Tower Defense To DSiWare, Q-Games Style
The official Nintendo Europe web site has given us a better look at Q-Games next original DSiWare effort, the downloadable DSi game known as Starship Patrol over there, Starship Defense over here. Like Q-Games’ PixelJunk Monsters, Starship Patrol is a classic tower defense style game, but with a focus on resource management, strategic weapons placement…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 17, 2009 - Uncategorized
Spore: Creatures Preview: The Next Step
For those of you that longed to take your Spore: Origins creature onto dry land for the next step in the evolutionary process, this iPhone game is for you. For those of you who missed that evolutionary step, here’s what happened: You created a microbe through a streamlined version of the Spore interface and then…
By AJ Glasser Published December 17, 2009 -
UncategorizedBanjo-Kazooie, Sonic & Avatars In Hot All-Stars Karting Action
Yes, Banjo and Kazooie are making a guest appearance in Sega’s Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, something that will likely please Rare fans as much as it will send Nights fans into a petition-signing, blood-boiling frenzy. The Xbox 360 version looks to have taken advantage of Sega’s offer to include bonus mascot characters in the…
By Michael McWhertor Published December 17, 2009