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Empire: Total War, is the new installment in The Creative Assembly’s Total War RTS franchise and will maintain the series 3D battles, grand turn based campaign map and rich historical flavor; while for the first time introducing 3D naval combat into the series.

Below is an interview with one of the game's developers:

WP: Who has the honor to speak with us? State your name, rank, and occupation!

Kieran Brigden, studio communications manager for Creative Assembly.

WP: Empire Total War marks the first time that the Total War series has had really intricate naval battles. Why have them now?

KB: Well, it's a combination of factors. One, we've wanted to do it for a while but the technology was ready now. Two, it's the period that's right for it. When you add naval battles to the game, you have to do it when it's interesting, enjoyable, and fun. The 18th century was the absolute height of cool naval warfare. You had thi... More »  


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In today’s economic climate, the need for more entertainment options at home is ever increasing.

With an estimated 65 percent of American households playing computer and video games, GameStop provides a great value for budget-wise consumers with 2,500 game gifts priced at $20 and under.

Press Release: Looking for Holiday Gift Ideas... GameStop Offers Its Top Picks

GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME), the world's largest video game and entertainment software retailer, has affordable gift ideas for anyone on your holiday list. With more than 700 new titles due to release before the holidays, GameStop offers something for everyone.

“A new generation of gamers that includes younger children, older adults and women has emerged, and they are interested in casual, more social gaming experiences,” said Bob McKenzie, Senior Vice President of Merchandising, GameStop. “While the traditional racing, sports and shooter games are still in high dem... More »  


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The PlayStation 3 and PS2 were the only platforms that didn't receive a significant boost this week as the end-of-year climb finally begins.

The DS and PSP platforms are both up nearly 20k units, the 360 almost doubled last week's effort from 8k to 15.5k, and the Wii is up 10k units from the previous week.

Defying the weekly gains for every other platform, the PS3 sold only 17.4k units this week, exactly (for our purposes) what it sold last week. As we look for continued increases in hardware next week, will the PS3 be along for the ride?

Hardware:

- DS+ 107,423
- PSP 61,226
- Wii 35,298
- PS3 17,436
- 360 15,474
- PS2 5,281


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Today Kimmo Lahtinen of Housemarque shared the following via PS Blog:

Hi, my name is Kimmo Lahtinen and I was the programming lead for Housemarque on Super Stardust Portable. Super Stardust Portable is the PSP version of our previously released PS3 title Super Stardust HD with some nice additions we think you’ll enjoy.

And you’ll be able to enjoy them very soon. Super Stardust Portable will be available for download on the PlayStation Store on Thursday, December 4th for just $9.99!




If there is one word to describe the game, that would be ‘intense’. Your goal in the game is to simply destroy the waves after waves of enemies we throw at you and try to not get killed. If you’re not constantly on the edge of your seat when trying to blow up everything in sight with dozens of asteroids coming at you all the while screen is filled with explosions and fireworks, you should probably apply for a jo... More »  


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The new firmware update for the PS3 will be released today. Firmware v2.53 will contain many changes to your system settings. The full list of changes will be categorized under each of your XMB sections.

Users

* You now have an option to set the PS3 to turn off automatically after a background download or installation of content. This option is available when you turn off the system while content is being downloaded or installed.

Settings

* BD/DVD has been renamed to Video Settings
* Sequential Playback has been added as an option under Video Settings
* Divx VOD Registration Code has been added under System Settings
* Power Save Settings have been added as an option for the system and controllers. They can now be set to shut off after a certain period of time
* The method for connecting Bluetooth devices has been changed
* You can now choose German, French (Canada) and French (Switzerland) k... More »  


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Sony Computer Entertainment of America’s head of hardware marketing, John Koller, recently spoke to MTV about PSP piracy.

Koller stated that PSP piracy is trending down right now, and that it has not be as prevalent in the last one to two months.

To quote: “We’ve made really no secret [that there] certainly has been some piracy on the PSP,” said Koller in a phone interview last week. “We’ve seen that as a significant issue — it’s trending down right now, we’ve seen the piracy not be as such prevalent in the last month to two months. But it has been a problem for us.”

“We’ve noticed there’s kind of a ‘good vs. evil’ battle that we track on many of the forums and many of the pirated Web sites,” laughed Koller. “There’s certainly people that are standing up and fighting for what we consider the good side, the rights of developers and publishers to make money on their IP.

And then there’s ce... More »  


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Now that the “new” PlayStation.com has launched, and with the PlayStation Network fully integrated into the site and forums, there is one thing that is blatantly missing... That one thing is avatars.

Avatars are defined as a “user’s representations of himself/herself or alter ego”. Part of what makes the Internet so special, is that things such as “avatars” let users basically be anything they want to be.

So why on the PlayStation Network are we forced to choose from a set of 200+ avatars, most of which are horrible and no one would actually want to use? The offering Sony has given us certainly doesn’t represent us gamers, or PlayStation fans at all.

Sure there are some bearable avatars out there, like the Motorstorm avatar, or a Nathan Hale avatar, but since they are the only decent avatars, it’s not uncommon for 15 of yo... More »  


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Mickael2054 has released an updated version of his F1Dumper and manager app. This app lets you dump your PSP's Flash1 directly onto your memory stick. Very useful for those who want Flash1 backups.

Download: PSP F1Dumper And Manager v2.5

The app is now at version 2.5 and includes the following changes:

- A completely redesigned interface xmb
- Displaying the battery-top right (with small battery%)
- Displaying the date and time
- Information on ongoing activities at the various operations
- Adding sounds in the menu
- Left and right buttons to skip to the end / early menu
- Fade images
- Possibility to have as many dumps that we want on its MS (thus restoring choice)
- Optimization of operations (more files copied and less bugs)
- Adding the date in the "About this dump.txt"
- Various audits for more security (if the file exists)
-... More »  


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