Facing tough competition from a red-hot console market, developers are looking online in a bid to keep computer-based gaming alive.
There was a time when personal computers were the tools of choice for hard-core gamers. But four years ago, on the brink of the release of the PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360, analysts were proclaiming the death of PC gaming.
These new consoles – well, Sony's PS3 and Microsoft's Xbox – were more powerful than the computers at the time, and were integrating with home entertainment systems to provide high definition experiences beyond just gaming. Nintendo, meanwhile, offered a completely new approach to gaming with its Wiimote controllers.
And this year, Electronic Arts decided to kill the PC versions of many of its popular sports titles, including Madden NFL 09, Tiger Woods PGA Tour and NBA Live. LucasArts is releasing The Force Unleashed, its new Star Wars title, on every platform except PC.
Here is the latest news and rumors from the new PSM3 magazine's 'The Insider' article, courtesy of SWORDF1SH via GameTrailers (linked above).
To quote: Alone in the Dark is being redesigned for PS3. Expect right stick camera control, a slicker menu system and enhanced visuals.
Apparently the reason for the 6 month delay of PlayTV, is that Sony tried to implement Freesat (an HD-capable alternative to Freeview), but its impossible - for now. PlayTV 2.0? Surely not...
Guitar Hero IV shots have leaked showing in-game Ozzy Osbourne renders. But the series could be in trouble after Warner Brothers were demanding more money for use of their music in the game, and in Rock Band too.
The new Medal Of Honor is rumored to take place in modern-day Afghanistan, possibly revolving around Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Intriguing details of BioShock's PS3-exclusive 'Plasmid challenges' have emerged. They're said to play like Valves inge... More »
ABSTRACT: After the disaster of the original Xbox, Microsoft put a lot of effort in designing what is probably the most sophisticated consumer hardware security system to date. We present its design, its implementation, its weaknesses, how it was hacked, and how to do it better next time.
Speaker: Michael Steil
Michael Steil has been involved with various embedded systems hacking projects, like the Xbox, the Xbox 360 and the GameCube. In 2006, he has spoken at Google about the flaws in the security system of the original Xbox.
Speaker: Felix Domke
Felix Domke is the principal author of the Xbox 360 hack and the Linux port. He has also significantly contributed to hacking the dbox2, the GameCube and the Wii, and porting Linux to the respective platforms.
Months ago TechRadar released a list of 10 tricks that Sony hasn’t revealed to no one. Well guess what, that’s not all! There are now 16 PS3 tricks that Sony hasn’t mentioned to anyone. Are there still more secrets that Sony is trying to hide from us. We will find out soon...
(1) Play games from any country Harbouring a desire to play Super Gaiden Ninja XI? Now you can. In fact, you can handily play any PS3 game from any country. On holiday in the States and spot the latest release at a bargain dollar-to-pound price? Help yourself. So far, at least, PS3 games aren’t being region coded. That said PS2 and PS1 games are so you can’t play a US title on a Euro console.
And let’s not forget that Blu-ray movies are region-coded so the barriers aren’t completely down yet.
(2) The secret video reset One of the most annoying as... More »
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and other platforms is LucasArts' most ambitious gaming project to-date. Taking over four years from concept to completion and enduring multiple delays, the long-awaited game is the first next-gen development effort by the small studio, and the first to utilize multiple new technologies and the direct input of Industrial Light and Magic.
Taking all this into consideration it comes as a bit of a surprise to see what print media is saying about the game. With four reviews in the can, Force Unleashed has only mustered a meta score of 6.8, with individual publication scores ranging from a mediocre 7.5 all the way down to a pathetic 56.
Official Xbox Magazine offers the highest score of 7.5 and has the following to offer.
With its non-branching storyline and no multiplayer, Force Unleashed ... More »
Following on from last month's rumor that Old Snake may be featuring in Sony's 'brutal offroad racer' MotorStorm: Pacific Rift, we've spotted another character in the latest MotorStorm trailer that looks like a certain devil slayer.
A short clip of what looks like Dante riding a motorbike occurs at 1 minute 5 seconds into the latest trailer and we've pulled a screen which you can see below.
The latest sales figures show that Afrika managed second spot in the weekly software sales for Japan. However, the PS3 didn't even manage to break five digits selling just 9,775 units in the week which was WAY behind the Wii's 35,755 weekly sales.
Conclusion? Afrika is not a system seller, at least in Japan...
To quote: The rest of the top ten was mostly older games. Wii Fit took fifth place with 31,134 units, and was followed by, Inazuma Eleven (Level-5, DS, 29,245), Battlefield Bad Company (Electronic Arts, PS3, 25,603), Dragon Quest V (Square Enix, DS, 23,389), Phantasy Star Portable (Sega, PSP, 23,106), and Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii, 22,621). Of these, Battlefield was new, although the PS3 version trailed the 360 version's June release.
In hardware, DS Lite was at the top once again, pushing 56,439 units. This was way ahead of the PSP's 41,664 units and the Wii's 35,755 units.
The PS3 got close to five digits, but didn't quit... More »
With the PlayStation 3 version of Alone in the Dark hitting in November, nearly half a year after its PC, Xbox 360, Wii, and PS2 versions, the development team have had plenty of time to fix the mistakes made in the initial release, and fix they have.
Press Release: GAME FEATURES - PLAYSTATION 3
Full 360° camera control: enhanced camera controls allows complete freedom of the camera and better handling of first person view camera movement for even more immersive gameplay
Fine-tuned controls: quicker and smoother reactivity of the hero's movements in third person view make for more rapid movements in nail-biting situations
Inventory system more accessible: more logical jacket inventory system with the ability to combine objects using only the D-pad, and more fluid hero movement makes item selection a breeze.
More tips: players will get all the help they need to get through every situation and... More »
Sony's semi-official blog ThreeSpeech has just heard that a demo of MotorStorm: Pacific Rift will be available to a few select people next Thursday.
Apparently, some gamers will be chosen at random to receive an e-mail with a voucher code to download the demo. The Demo will be available to everyone else next month.
To quote: ThreeSpeech has just heard that a demo of hotly anticipated off-road racer, MotorStorm: Pacific Rift (as if we need to explain what MSPR is to you guys...) will be made available to a lucky few next Thursday. Some of you lucky lucky people will be selected at random to receive an email with a voucher code allowing you to download the demo, with it being made available to everyone else next month.
We’re expecting more details on this next week so keep checking back. Sadly ThreeSpeech can’t do anything to increase your chances of being chosen, but you know we would if we could...
DieH@rd of NeoGAF shared news that a new English version of PSP Remote Joy was released today, and with it you can play (or capture screens and videos via pressing escape first after configuring the options) your PSP games on PC via USB cable.
Resize & Fullscreen are supported, PS1 games are not playable, controllers are supported (PS2, PS3).
Changelog v0.14:
PSP OFF LCD screen is running to correct me. 3 seconds mouse cursor and mouse operation to disappear. PSP model to determine the image data available to address how to use it. Some changes to the setup screen. PC / PSP both in the processing speed of some improvement.
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