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Sony releases Eye of Judgment press pack
People can say all they want about how the Wii is revolutionizing the gaming industry, but the first time we saw The Eye of Judgment in action, we really knew the next generation of gaming had arrived. And with about a month before the virtual card battler is set to release, Sony has released new preview copies to journalists throughout the land.Games Radar received the awesome Eye of Judgment press pack, which includes the "magic cloth," a deck of cards the PlayStation Eye, the game, and exciting new screens and a trailer.The trailer, which we've kindly embedded after the jump, features two wizards waging war with magical beasts in a spectacular hall, where we're sure many battles of its ilk were once fought. Admittedly, it's a little unspectacular after seeing Sauron whoop Gandalf's ass with real magic, but now, there's just no other way to play the game without a wizard's robe and staff in hand.
Elemental Monster: back to regular screens
We kind of want Hudson to release their card-battling game Elemental Monster in the U.S. We have an occasional interest in card games and an ongoing interest in 2D. And, of course, we want to give Hudson a reason to release big posters of the Designers' Choice artwork made to promote the game. Preferably in blacklight-responsive ink on flocked paper, for maximum rockin'-ness. Are we kidding? You'll never know!It's a bit of a bummer to go back to looking at the (perfectly fine) in-game artwork after seeing the Frank Frazetta fanart masterclass that was the Designers' Choice, but that doesn't mean there's nothing in the actual game to care about. It's a trading card game with 6-player local wireless play (though we don't know if each player requires a separate copy of the game) and 2-player online play. Presuming that more than two people buy this, it could be a fantastic online game. Oh, that also presumes that it isn't just an awful game.
More like Elemental Awesome
When we first saw Hudson's Elemental Monster, we praised its in-game 2D art as welcome and nice-looking. We had no idea that there were powerful levels of awesome art yet to come. These illustrations of the game's creatures are just flat-out amazing. We're not fantasy art aficionados by any stretch of the imagination, but we know that looking at something like the White Knight above elicits a genuine "wow" from us.The Elemental Monster Designer's Choice event seems to involve a collection of new art, along with commentary from the artists. Whatever the reason, we've found six fantastic pieces to gawk at. At this point, who even cares about the actual DS game? Hudson should consider it a success based on the art produced in its name.
Japanese PSN cards on sale ... at a price
Most will find purchasing anything off the Japanese PlayStation Store an impossibility. Without a Japanese address and credit card, users are locked out of purchasing anything from the country's virtual store. With many games releasing earlier in Japan, this comes as a disappointing disadvantage to gaijin hardcore.NCSX is planning on changing that, though. They're offering pre-paid PSN cards for the masses. With these cards, players will be able to buy content off the Japanese store without any qualms. The problem? They're a bit pricey. A 3000 yen card goes for $36.50, a premium of almost $10. The retailer explains: "Our vendors in Japan don't have access to the tickets at wholesale and had to pay retail (from Family Mart, no less) and tacked on their mandatory handling charges to obtain them for us. Think of it as a videogame vigorish that's built into the price."The orders will be delivered digitally, so customers won't have to wait to get their downloads on.[Thanks, J! Via GameBrink]
Insider Trader: Working for the weekend
Every Friday, Insider Trader slips you the inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Nerf fishers – kicked back in their comfy Fishing Chairs, they definitely corner the market on chillin' with style. In honor of the upcoming three-day Labor Day weekend, we take a look at the newest way to hang with style (and psst, you don't actually have to be fishing to use this tip). At the other end of the spectrum, for those of you who demand crunchy bits, we've dug up some efficiency tips for hard-working enchanters. So whether you choose to spend Labor Day kicking back on the beaches of Stranglethorn or toiling in town over a hot disenchanting window, read on for Insider Trader's Labor Day special.First up: the Fishing Chair. Available only via a special loot-coded version of the "Gone Fishin'" card from the WoW trading card set "Through the Dark Portal," this card seems to inspire some remarkable player enthusiasm. To quote wowhead.com's particularly eloquent description: "The Fishing Chair provides the discerning angler with a comfy place to rest his laurels and store his refreshing beverage of choice. The item is usable from the inventory and does not need to be equipped. Using the Fishing Chair opens a nice-looking folding chair with attached umbrella and drink holder. The umbrella's lining is decorated with a pattern of worm-baited hooks, very thoughtfully. The Fishing Chair works the same as a chair in any inn and can be sat in by clicking on it. While seated you can eat, drink or fish."But it's not just fishers who are putting the Fishing Chair to good use ...
Konami reveals 'Animal God Transmission' card game for DS
OK, maybe "Animal God Transmission" isn't quite the right title, but it's the one machine translation gives us, so we're just going to have to go with it. And, what exactly are these animal gods transmitting? Card battles, apparently, as images show an attachment that goes in the GBA slot of the DS and allows players to swipe cards in, much like Sega's Love Berry add-on peripheral. No silly swiping, though, as Konami offers up an easier way of inputting card data than even Spectrobes did, asking the player merely touch the card to the device.
Network Ticket launches in Japan next week
Sony's Network Ticket allows gamers without credit cards to make purchases off the PlayStation Store. Sony's lively collection of tickets will be available to purchase next week, June 6th. Japanese gamers must visit kiosks at a participating convenience stores and ATM machines.So far, there are no plans on releasing the Ticket outside of Japan. However, depending on the popularity of these prepaid cards in Japan, that might change.[Via PSP-Vault]
Samsung develops 8GB microSD card
Wow, it seems like we were just marveling over the introduction of the world's first 8GB SD card a few moons back. Ah, that's right, we were. Alas, Samsung took it to heart that SD doesn't cut it for your average cellphone (they run a bumpin' mobile business, after all), announcing that it has managed to pack a full eight gigabytes into the microSD form factor for mid-2008 production. That's particularly timely considering that 4GB examples haven't even gotten into widespread circulation yet -- "8GB" just has a nicer ring to it -- not to mention that the new card handily surpasses SDHC guidelines with 16MB/s reads and 6MB/s writes. For the record, a microSD card rocks a little over 20 percent of the surface area of its SD counterpart, so does this mean we can expect 40GB SD cards, like, now? Not quite.
SNK fixing Card Fighters DS
Luckily for people hoping to get their New Game+ on in SNK vs. Capcom Card Fighters DS, SNK is aware of the game-breaking bug. Unfortunately, they'll have to wait more than six weeks to get their hands on a repaired game.SNK president Ben Herman released a statement on SNK Playmore's official message board stating that they have ordered new cartridges from Nintendo, which will take six weeks to receive. At that point, SNK will issue instructions for getting your game switched out for a corrected one. Be patient! Don't return the game to the store yet, because the replacement copy will have the same issue.Anyone out there playing Card Fighters DS? We wonder how many people this issue affects. That's a nice way of saying we wonder how many people bought this game.
SNK vs. Capcom Glitch Fighters DS
SNK vs. Capcom Card Fighters DS has already had its share of negative press; now that it's joined the exclusive club of DS games that don't work, things are just going to get worse. The game-breaking glitch happens when, after completing the game, you start a "New Game +" and attempt to talk to a fellow in the Card Tower named Card Battler John. The game freezes and further progress is hindered.Depending on your idea of finishing a game, this could make it impossible to play completely through Card Fighters DS. It definitely renders you unable to get all the cards, which, in a game called Card Fighters that contains both the place name "Card Tower" and the name "Card Battler John," is probably pretty important.
DS Fanboy Review: Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales
Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales is a lot like most modern cartoons that seem to be aimed at the younger set -- you know, Disney and Pixar and Cartoon Network in the after-school hours. Like these cartoons, Chocobo Tales is colorful and simple, with a solid storyline that isn't really anything special. It's fun, but not deep. But also like those cartoons, Chocobo Tales is peppered with hilarious one-liners and jokes that do show off some depth and appeal for an older set of fans. It's definitely cliché to talk about something that appeals to gamers of all ages, but that may well be the best possible description for the latest Final Fantasy spinoff.Also, it's just about the cutest thing ever.
More items for cards from TCG expansion
One of the most interesting aspects of the WoW TCG (trading card game) has been the in-game tie-ins. The best-known example is probably the ever-popular turtle mount, which is only attainable via a scratch-off-to-reveal code that can be found on rare cards. There is also apparently a hippogryph pet and a couple of tabards (flame, frost), though I haven't personally seen either. So it comes as no surprise that the expansion to the TCG, Through the Dark Portal, will feature more of these loot-for-cards promotions. As announced on Upper Deck's page, here's what you can get: Picnic Blanket. When used, summons a nice picnic setup, complete with umbrella and grill. Anyone around can right-click the grill to get "Grilled Picnic Treat," a BoP food that gives a buff reading "Does nothing. Tastes great!" Hopefully this blanket is reusable, since it looks pretty neat when used (see pic). A pet monkey named Bananas. Come on, it's a pet monkey! Like Upper Deck says, who doesn't want a pet monkey? Very cute. Finally, there will be a "fortune-telling device." Click it and an imp appears and whispers an answer to you (allegedly to the entire party, in a future patch, though I think that would get old fast). Upperdeck says it's similar to "a certain toy you may have had as a child." This would definitely help make some decisions a bit easier. Neat stuff. Do any of you play the TCG? How is it? Like everyone else I know, I played a lot of Magic: the Gathering when I was younger, but I haven't really touched those kinds of games in a while.[thanks, Dave!]
Homebrew FFVIII game goes MMO
Triple Triad is no ordinary piece of homebrew. Like Wandria, or Hexaxis, this title is pushing the limits of what we thought homebrew development could produce. But, this game isn't a graphical showcase. Rather, it's pushing the online capabilities of the system, becoming the first ever homebrew MMO game.The game is based on the card game from Final Fantasy VIII, with over 330 cards from Final Fantasy VII, VIII and X (with XI to come later). Not only will you be able to buy, sell and trade your cards with others, you'll also be able to send each other private messages, chat during the game, and more. You'll be able to have a friends list, a blacklist, and you'll also be able to track the movements of other players. Quite ambitious, is it not?Hopefully, this revolutionary project will be able to deliver on all its promises. There won't be too long to wait, though: the game is planned to release this Monday.[Via PlayStation Forums, QJ]
Internal Gamecube memory card mod
The genius behind the internal Wavebird receiver mod is back to ensure that you have even less reason to open that flap, provided you don't mind opening the whole system.This time, the target is the Gamecube memory card, which gets not only soldered into the system, but taped onto the motherboard. Electrical engineering is serious business! The modder uses a third-party memory card held together with standard Philips-head screws, but if you want to install your Nintendo brand memory card, you'll need one of those triwing screwdrivers to get past Nintendo's proprietary screws.[Thanks, James Smith!]
Elemental Monster: new card battler from Hudson
Card-battling games seem like a natural for the DS-- the second screen is especially well-suited for managing cards while the game is in play. But we haven't gotten that many card games-- in fact, SNK vs. Capcom Card Fighters DS is the only one we can think of, and that one's not even out yet.Hudson's Elemental Monster is a turn-based card-battling game that uses some pretty great 2D sprites. Between battles, the game has an RPG-style story mode, which also uses a lot of hand-drawn 2D. We're actually surprised to see a DS game coming out that has this much non-polygonal art (some backgrounds are 3D, but that's fine!) How about a US release, Hudson?
First look at a Spectrobes "punch card"
This is one of the cards that comes packed in with Spectrobes. Notice the little holes for the stylus to poke through when the card is placed on the touchscreen. We must say, we like this idea better than passwords! And involving physical artifacts in gameplay makes the whole experience a little more special.Still, something is nagging at us. It's a card used to input data into a computer. How can it seem so innovative? It's basically 18th-century technology.
QuickerTek Takes "Modern" MacBooks and iMacs to the (802.11)Nth Degree
Okay it looks like it's time for me to eat some crow. Back in the Valentine's Day Ask TUAW, somebody asked if it would be possible to upgrade the 802.11g wireless card in iMacs and MacBooks to be compatible with the new 802.11n wireless standard that Apple just recently released and I said probably not. Well it turns out I was wrong, though I should get partial credit because I did actually mention QuickerTek in my response. Today QuickerTek announced the availability of a wireless N card that fits in the Airport card slot of "modern MacBooks and MacBook Pros" as well as "modern iMacs." They say: "Since this wireless upgrade uses standard parts, no drivers or other changes need to be made, nor are additional steps required to use the higher speed 'n' upgrade." I just called QuickerTek and they confirmed that this upgrade only requires removing the old card from your Core Duo MacBook (Pro) or iMac, connecting the antennas, and running Apple's enabler upgrade software (which, as we mentioned before, will run you $2).QuickerTek offers the bare card for customer installation at $149 or they'll put it in for you for $199 if you send them your Mac.[Via MacMinute]Update: We previously mentioned doing this yourself with a Mac Pro upgrade kit (which is substantially cheaper), though be warned that Apple claims this will violate your warranty.
Kweh! Or, fresh new Chocobo screens
Oh, that little scamp of a Chocobo -- what will he get into next? If these screens are any indication, it looks like he's getting into a giant beanstalk. Considering the upcoming Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales is peppered with references from children's stories, that's probably exactly what it is ... but really, how many times do we need to see the beanstalk here? It's all over this latest batch of screens!Check after the jump for selected screens -- only one beanstalk included.
Happy Valentine's Day from PSP Fanboy
Click image for a hi-res version.Happy Valentine's Day, PSP fan boys and girls! Do you have a special somebody in your life? One that you would do a duet with in Gitaroo-Man Lives! Well, tell that guy or girl your true feelings today with our special Valentine's e-card. Inspired by the hit Sony flog, this gift should warm the heart of the gaming other in your life.See also:Joystiq Valentine's Day
Games for every day in Touchmaster ad
Why, it seems like we were just talking about Touchmaster DS, and now we've got all sorts of advertisement goodness! Well, some goodness, at least -- it's not the best DS ad we've ever seen, but it does do a good job of communicating what the games is and why you should buy it this summer, but in a Pepsi challenge, we'd probably take this one. Check out the video after the jump and let us know what you think.
