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PC Sales Charts: Buy Now, Play Later
One thing that always gets me about the PC sales charts is the number of times you see a game tagged “pre-sale”. It’s interesting, because it reveals a level of dedication in the PC market you don’t normally see from console gamers. When you think of a “pre-order” for a game at, say, GameStop, you…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 2, 2009 -
What Do You Think Of PS3 Firmware 3.0?
The royal we have updated our PS3. There are little things we’ve noticed, little things we like, little things we don’t. What about you? Things that stuck out: More sparkly, less smokey. New PS3 logo. No more Spider-Man PLAYSTATION logo when you start up a game. We kind of miss that! It had an awesome…
By Brian Ashcraft Published September 2, 2009 -
And The Last, Secret Beatles: Rock Band Song Is…
Some “surprise” this turned out to be. While we’re sure MTV would have liked this to remain a secret until a little closer to the game’s September 9 release, word has already got around that the game’s final song is… SPOILERS “The End”. END SPOILERS. If this checks out (it’s unconfirmed for now, but seems…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 2, 2009 -
Up Close And Very Personal With Beatmania’s Celica
Konami has just released a limited edition 19-cm figurine of beatmania IIDX Celica Mizushiro. As we pointed out before, she’s priced at ¥5,985 (US$60) and comes with different sets of arms in various poses. The link below has a photo review of the piece. There are several discerning pictures — like this: Not to everyone’s…
By Brian Ashcraft Published September 2, 2009 -
Report: 360 More Reliable, Repairs Less Frequent
According to data released by third-party warranty providers SquareTrade, since the mid-point of 2008 the Xbox 360‘s reliability has improved out of sight. Now, before we go any further, know this: we have our doubts when it comes to SquareTrade. A third-party warranty provider? Who nobody had ever heard of until they released some selective…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 2, 2009 -
Look What Some Lucky Taiwanese People Got When Buying PS3 Slim
No, they didn’t get those guys. Who wants stuffy businessmen when you can get other stuff? That’s right other stuff. During the Taiwan launch, Sony Taiwan gave away 150 of these special commemorative launch sets to 150 individuals who bought the PS3 Slim. Included in the bundle were one DualShock 3, one PS3 t-shirt, a…
By Brian Ashcraft Published September 2, 2009 -
Guitar Hero 5’s Song Importing Isn’t As Great As We Thought [Update]
Yeah…so it turns out Guitar Hero 5’s ability to import songs from previous games isn’t as good a deal as we first thought. Turns out that, of World Tour’s 85 songs, only 35 can so far be copied over. That’s less than half. Funny that there’s some mysterious ailment afflicting songs sold on a retail…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 1, 2009 -
Professor Layton As An 8-Bit Game
Level-5’s puzzle franchise Professor Layton series are not 8-bit NES games. They have many more bits and are on the Nintendo DS. Let’s say, for snots and giggles, that Professor Layton was a NES. What would it look like? Perhaps, just perhaps, it would look something like this. 8-bit Professor Layton theme by Nonsak. I…
By Brian Ashcraft Published September 1, 2009 -
In a Terrible Economy, the Hopeless turn to Gold4Jetpack
Bionic Commando’s cheeky YouTube ads were pretty alright; the game, eh, it had problems. But Capcom’s right back at it with this pitch, giving your pre-order of Dark Void from GameStop all the fulfillment of visiting a pawn shop. And just like Cash4Gold, you get nothing for something with this offer, too! Well, not really.…
By Owen Good Published September 1, 2009 -
What’s Holding Up Trine On The PSN?
PC platformer/puzzler Trine has long been coming for the PS3, but never actually arrived. What’s taking it so long? Like Lando, Lauri Hyvärinen, CEO of developers Fronzenbyte, has told GameSetWatch that it’s not his fault. It’s not his fault! It’s just something that happens when you leave a game with free-form physics in the hands…
By Luke Plunkett Published September 1, 2009 -
Who’s Who in the NHL 2K10 Player Ratings
2K Sports gave out its player ratings today for NHL 2K10 and, fun-with-spreadsheets style, we present you this year’s superlatives – dubious included – among the 1,225 players on this year’s roster. • Best Player: Evgeni Malkin, center for the Pittsburgh Penguins is a 98. Behind him is teammate Sidney Crosby at 97, no wonder…
By Owen Good Published September 1, 2009 -
Rumored Star Wars Battlefront IV Concept Art Leaks
Feeling a bit sore about the abandoned Star Wars Battlefront III, previously in development at TimeSplitters and Haze house Free Radical? Here’s a little salt for that wound, alleged Star Wars Battlefront IV concept art. Unseen64 has more than a dozen purported concept paintings from the fourth Star Wars Battlefront game, which seems to have…
By Michael McWhertor Published September 1, 2009 -
Craig Ferguson’s Roundabout Backhand Praise Labels Warcraft as ‘Hip’
Craig Ferguson of The Late-Late Show on CBS last night got a reader’s invitation to join a Warcraft guild, and responded somewhat circuitously. In the end, what he’s really saying is that playing World of Warcraft is hip. It is? Replying to: “Stephanie from New York City,” Ferguson says, more or less, guys his age…
By Owen Good Published September 1, 2009 -
Canabalt: The Best One Button Game You’ll Play Today
Flash platformer Canabalt may be simple in concept, but what it lacks in gameplay variety, it more than makes up for in being awesome. This “daring escape” platformer is simply beautiful and beautifully simple. Two things to note. One, my best performance is some 3500 meters. Likely easily crushed with the right randomly generated set…
By Michael McWhertor Published September 1, 2009 -
Hot Coffee Suit Pointed to Take-Two Duplicity Born of Financial Turmoil
Struggling to stay afloat, Take-Two decided to ship Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas with a sex scene in the game and later lied to investors to cover up their decision, according to the suit settled today. The 2006 suit, which was tentatively settled for $20 million, also alleges that company officers earned more than $18…
By Brian Crecente Published September 1, 2009 -
Rock Band Is Going Mobile, But Not To iPhone (Yet)
Electronic Arts will be stacking one more Rock Band release upon the ever-increasing pile, announcing Rock Band Mobile for unspecified mobile platforms that are not the iPhone and iPod Touch, thank you very much. The announcement looks to have come by way of EA Mobile‘s Facebook page, which enthusiastically notes that Rock Band Mobile will…
By Michael McWhertor Published September 1, 2009 -
PC Headaches
To: Ash From: Crecente Re: Day two of computer problems was a fun one. I finally figured out my email issues (thanks to the helpful emails from readers) only to be confronted with a slew of odd issues. Today I: Lost Internet Lost WiFi Lost Audio Crashed Lost Desk Top Manager Fortunately, I eventually found…
By Brian Crecente Published September 1, 2009 -
L.A. Noire Still In Development But That’s All We Know
Good news from today’s Take-Two quarterly earnings call is that we got an update on Rockstar Games‘ L.A. Noire. The bad news? There’s no actual news, as Take-Two execs remained tight lipped about the title. The publisher wouldn’t offer any new details on the Team Bondi game, which is not currently on Take-Two’s list of…
By Michael McWhertor Published September 1, 2009 -
Red Faction: Guerrilla PC Preview: PC Gamers Get Best Version (If Their Rigs Can Handle It)
I feel awful for PC gamers most of the time because they often get games late and have to deal with more controversy about piracy and digital rights management. Having seen and played Red Faction: Guerrilla on the PC, however, I no longer feel so bad for PC gamers. In fact, I think I envy…
By AJ Glasser Published September 1, 2009 -
ESRB Rates New Flood Of PSone Classics
Sony’s made it quite clear that the drought of “PSone Classics” re-releases of original PlayStation games for the PlayStation 3 and PSP is over. A new batch of ESRB ratings underscores that with a raft of new old PlayStation games. In addition to pumping out re-ratings for titles like Tomb Raider and Bloody Roar, PSone…
By Michael McWhertor Published September 1, 2009