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Championship Sprint heading to PSN, but first, a video
Here's another classic Midway arcade title -- Championship Sprint. For some reason, the title of the game made us think we were going to see some horses racing, but alas, there are no horses. Just horseless carriages. While we'd love to "relive the classic arcade action", we're not entirely pumped to have another really old title hit the PS Store. It may be nice to relive those memories, but personally, preference goes to R.C. Pro-Am for the NES. It's awesome. This? Maybe ... there are crashes, after all.
WarHawk final formats finally figured out
In a lengthy interview with Game Informer, Senior VP of Marketing Peter Dille came out with many fantastic bits of information regarding PlayStation Home, multiple games and other nagging questions we've been wondering about. From the "Hall of Fame" (PlayStation's take on achievements) to E3 to WarHawk, a lot of issues were addressed but we've got to admit the WarHawk info really made us nod.Here's what Dille said about the final formatting decision on WarHawk: "Warhawk will be available as a download from the PlayStation Network, but we'll also have a retail SKU. There will be differences between the two. The game will be the same, but in the retail SKU we're able to take advantage of that Blu-ray disc and pack that disc with behind-the-scenes information, developer interviews, demos of other games and again, if you've got Blu-ray why not take advantage of that. On top of that, we'll have a Bluetooth wireless headset so that you can jump into the fray on day one and start trash-talking."So for the cost of $60 in North America, you get WarHawk, oodles of extras and a Bluetooth headset? Sounds like a deal and/or bargain. For those who don't yet have a headset of any kind, this is a fantastic deal. While he didn't comment on the pricing of the PSN download version, we'd estimate they'd keep it at $20-$30 because it is just online and headsets aren't cheap. Especially bluetooth. If you want to learn anything else, check out the complete interview with Dille.
SGD '07: How about a delicious WarHawk gallery?
The one game that just couldn't decide what to be -- retail, download, retail, download, online, offline, online, etc -- has graced us with a new gallery and let us just say: wow. This game looks fantastic. For a title that you download off of the internet and stick directly on your hard drive, this is surely unprecedented. We're very excited for WarHawk to just release already, but we've got to wait until they actually decide once and for all what form of distribution they'll release it on. Right now, it appears as though it'll come in both retail and online versions. It probably will change a few more times. For now, check out a video after the break.%Gallery-3210%
No PSN cards "at this time" for Europe and US [Update]
We were as happy as can be when we first heard about Sony's PLAYSTATION Network cards. Buying a card from a retail store and dancing around the whole credit card ordeal seemed like a breath of fresh air, especially for those too young to hold a plastic or those too paranoid about putting any personal information on the internet (what some may dub as "public domain"). We warned you guys that Sony didn't currently say anything about cards outside of Japan. Turns out we were wise not to get your hopes up too high.No news about North America, but Sony spoke to CVG and stated that no, in fact, they had no plans to bring the PSN cards to Europe at this time. In the future, perhaps? Maybe Sony Europe will take charge and set something up instead of leaving it to the main offices. CVG also points out that during the European launch of XBox Live, there was an issue of the same manner -- no plastic, no online gaming in Europe. Let's hope in the future, this is not a trend.[Update: We contacted SCEA PR Manager Al de Leon about the availability of the Card in the US. "As far as the PLAYSTATION Card, we don't have any updates to the payment system to announce."]
Rampart trailer is so darn exciting!
We're kidding. Why does this need to be in HD, anyway? In any case, if you were able to think back to the days where Rampart was pretty awesome, then you'll enjoy this trailer's attempt to instill you with the notion there is some high-octane action to be found in this classic title. If you want to stroll down memory lane, watch the trailer. It does bring back memories. It was fun. But no matter how perfect a transition the game may make to the PlayStation Network, that doesn't mean it's still fun. We'll see this Thursday.
No credit card? No problem! PSN tickets are here for you
We've had a lot of comments when we'd write up a post about new additions to the PS Store crying foul against the need for a credit card. Well, Sony has finally addressed the issue with what they're dubbing PlayStation Network Tickets. You can say PSNT if you want, but that reminds me of "pissant" and that's just not nice. These new tickets will be available in early June.Only available in the Japanese areas (for now), you can go to a nearby convenience store and pick up a ticket valued anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 yen. This is a little different from Microsoft and Nintendo's approach to paying sans credit card -- the values are actually money, not points. That way, you know you're spending money and not subconsciously passing it off as "just 800 points".Since there is a heavy reliance on convenience stores, international offerings of the ticket may differ. We're not sure what they could be, but there are enough places to pick up the cards in the US -- let's get GameStop, EB Games, and Best Buy on board.
How about some Worms, er, Zwok?
Sony has been hard at work... making some online game that strongly resembles Worms, but it's online! It's called Zwok and it's pretty neat. We have no idea why SCEE would stick this up on the internet when there's a perfectly good PlayStation Network that would love to see some games -- especially in Europe!To play the game, you've got to sign up. Don't worry, it's free. You then customize your little character... is that a Zwok or just a really ugly thing? Whichever it is, you make it your own. There are two teams for every match: Blooz and Grienz. Yes, that's "blue" and "green" in crazy-speak. Choose a weapon to fire, get into position, and let loose. Seriously -- this is Worms. Regardless, we'd love to see something like this on the PS Store. Wouldn't you?
Metareview + Our Take: Mortal Kombat II
Today gives us the opportunity to look at the reviews given to the PS Store's downloadable Mortal Kombat II. Before we get into our impressions, we'll do as we always do and cite the big-name review sites. Their scores for this game were surprising. There aren't too many reviews on the game, though. Without further ado, here are some of the scores given to MKII. IGN: 7.3 / 10 GameSpot: 7.9 / 10 What we noticed in these reviews is that the reviewers didn't actually review the title as what it is, rather, as what it was. "Oh, this game was great in 1993!" were slapped over both reviews, listing what the game offered back then and how it still does all those things. What our impressions were entailed how that doesn't matter two kicks of the donkey -- the game as it is now really sucks. Read on to listen to our reasoning, or just flame away for no reason now.
Rubber duckies and trailers collide on PSN
At last! North Americans can now splash alongside Europeans in PSN's virtual tub. Anyone up for a game of Super Rub-a-Dub? ... Didn't think so. The tech demo turned 'bath-time nostalgia action-puzzler' has been tossed into the PlayStation Store pool today, treading water with (previously announced) Gauntlet II and some trailer filler. Here's a breakdown of the new content: Super Rub-a-Dub ($6.99); free trial also available Gauntlet II ($4.99) Super Stardust HD Trailer (free) Rampart Trailer (free) BlackSite: Area 51 Trailer (free) Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Movie Trailer (free) [Via SCEA press release]
Japan's PS Store snags 25 new games... where are ours?
Granted, the American PS-Store is pretty weak in its selection of original PlayStation titles, the Japanese store has time and again gathered up the greatest games from the old console. In a similar effort, Japanese gamers have a giant update to look forward to -- they're getting a couple dozen of games to play. Most can be played on the PS3 directly, too. All is not well, though. The price of games in Japan has gone from 500 yen to 600. Hopefully this will not echo in America.PS3/PSP compatible games: Spectral Force (Idea Factory) R-Types (Irem) A.IV. Evolution Global (Artdink) Resident Evil Directors Edition (Capcom) Bishibashi Special (Konami) Arc the Land (Sony) Ore no Shi wo Koete Yuke (Sony) Gunners Heaven (Sony) Ganbare Morikawa-kun Ni-go (Sony) Marl Oukoku no Ningyou Hime (Nippon Ichi) Tekken 2 (Bandai Namco) Non-PS3 compatible games: Ikasama Mahjong (Idea Factory) CG Mukashi Banashi Jiisan Ni-do Bikkuri (Idea Factory) Yaku Tsu Noroi no Game (Idea Factory) Lunatic Dawn III (Artdink) A5: Take the A-Train 5 (Artdink) Metal Slug X (SNK Playmore) Real Bout Garou Densetsu (aka Real Bout Fatal Fury, SNK Playmore) Kenkaku Ibunroku Yomigaerishi Soukou no Yaiba Samurai Spirits Shinshou (aka Samurai Showdown Warriors Rage, SNK Playmore) Bakumatsu Roman: Gekka no Kenshi (aka The Last Blade, SNK Playmore) Garou Densetsu Wild Ambition (aka Fatal Fury Wild Ambition, SNK Playmore) Fushigi Keiji (Capcom) Philsoma (Sony) Jigsaw World (Nippon Ichi) Wai Wai Tennis Plus (Hamster) Awesome. Give us some! I'd love to get me some Arc the Lad, R-Types, and more.[Via lovable PSP Fanboy!]
Ninja Gaiden demo strikes the Store
Every Thursday, the PLAYSTATION Store updates with this or that. Ninja Gaiden, the butt-kickingly awesome game from Team Ninja, will be available for play in today's update. The demo will feature multiple weapons, visuals running at 1080p and 60fps, and some mad ninja action. The demo is also supposed to have some unlockable stuff -- that's nice. We recall there being some kind of ninja-esque scoreboard for the demo, so we'll cross our fingers for that. Make sure that when you play it, your PS3 doesn't start to puff out smoke. Also included in today's update is a demo for Virtua Tennis, and various trailers.
Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Virtua Tennis demos assault US PS Store
Without warning, like the shadowy figures known only through whispers in the night, Ninja Gaiden Sigma has made its presence known on the PlayStation Store. The demo will be available today in the US, one day prior to its Japanese release, alongside a demo for Virtua Tennis. Also coming out today are trailers for Gauntlet II, The Wheelman, John Woo's Stranglehold and The Godfather. The full version of Ninja Gaiden Sigma is set for a June release (on disc). [Via SCEA news release]
Why don't those PlayStation games work on my PS3?
Sony answered the above question after a problem arose with the 1.70 firmware update. See, the update allowed you to download PS-One titles and play them directly from your PS3 instead of generally needing the PSP, but something was wrong. The downloaded games wouldn't work. Oops. Sony answers why that is as we pull out our hair in aggravation.It seems for the games to play on the PSP, it has to have the ROM itself and a certification key -- the PS3 doesn't need a certification key to play the games, so there's no reason for it. It needs to be removed. Sony is on the case right now and will have everything cleared up "sometime in May". If you downloaded anything, don't worry -- you won't have to pay for the games again. Kind of annoying, but hey. Sony should have thought about that being an issue. Now we have to wait to get our Crash Bandicoot on.
What's new in the PS-Store this week?
We'll probably do this every Thursday night slash Friday morning just to keep Sony and ourselves on our toes. Anyway, there came a small update this week. No games, we're afraid... those will probably hit next week. Here's what's new in the PS-Store:Movie Trailers No Reservations Ocean's 13 Trailer Ocean's 13 Trailer #2 Game Trailers Oblivion Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction Although the trailer for Ratchet and Clank is the same one we've danced around before, this one's in HD and it makes all the difference for those of us not owning an HD computer setup. The Oblivion trailer? It's nice, too. Don't ask about the movie trailers -- neither film looks very good if you ask me.
What's coming to the PS-Store near you?
ThreeSpeech, the semi-official blog under Sony's umbrella of ultimate justice, have posted a quick reminder of what titles are coming to the PlayStation Store in the next month or two. Not surprisingly, more delays! Awesome. Calling All Cars - May 18th Nucleus - May 25th Super Stardust HD - June 15th Will Calling All Cars ever come out? Probably not. Will the US ever get Super Rub-a-Dub? Of course. While it is surprising to see the two crazy spaceship-ish shooters coming out so soon, we really wanted to get our hands on Calling All Cars back on March 22nd. Jaffe, you're a crazy guy, but you shouldn't drive us to insanity, too.
Nucleus for the PS-Store screens, preview
The PS-Store downloadable title Nucleus has a different take on curing cancer than Folding@Home -- you shoot those pesky viruses and bacteria in blood cells and collecting proteins. You control a "remote unit" which resembles the greatest kind of cell ever: a sperm cell. You squirt out stuff, shoot stuff, and drop nuclear protein bombs once you've gathered enough protein.You've got a tractor beam to pull stuff around, too. You can link cells together to create a sort of shield using this. Uh... other than that, it sounds like a pretty straightforward arcade shooter. You do have some timed battles where you survive for a certain time while fending off this or that, or getting rid of everything within a certain period of time, but the fact remains: you shoot stuff, you don't die, you'll probably win.It seems somehow different, though. Details are scarce, but there's just something oddly alluring about this game. It comes with a medical journal to explain what each object is -- so there's something strategic at work behind the scenes. But what?
Super Stardust HD -- what Blast Factor envies?
Helsinki based Housemarque has been working on a new PSN title called Super Stardust HD, probably a follow-up to their original Stardust that was on the PC. Housemarque also helped with the PSP title Killzone: Liberation which is supposedly very fun (don't got a PSP, so can't give my impressions). The title is rumored for a summer release over in Europe -- no word on any US dates, but we'll cross our fingers.What do you do in the game? Well, you hover over a series of planets (one at a time, silly) and... shoot stuff. Different weapons have different impacts on the things you shoot (amount of debris, power, etc), but in the end your ultimate goal is to destroy it all. We'll keep our eye and ears open for more info.
New stuff hits the PS-Store... lots of new stuff!
Well, everybody's PS-Store probably looks a little different nowadays, what with the European and US and Japan and Hong Kong all handing out different stuff at different times... however! We're pretty sure we've got a good list for the US and EU stores on what's new. Let's get crackin'.US Armored Core 4 demo GTAIV teaser video: "Things Will Be Different" Stardust movie trailer (if anyone else is a fan of Neil Gaiman, you should be giddy with excitement... although my favorite of his has to be Neverwhere, hands down. American Gods is a very close second) Other movie trailers: Are We Done Yet? and Perfect Stranger. EU In addition to that stuff, we imagine excepting the movie trailers (?), Europe is also privy to the Super Rub a Dub demo and game. Also mentioned in an e-mail was a new version of Gran Turismo HD -- now with worldwide scoreboards and one other thing. Oh yeah, full compatibility with force feedback and all of these driving wheels: Logitech's Driving Force, Driving Force Pro, and Driving Force EX. So, enjoy that one, guys! Force feedback is coming back in small doses, but for those who missed the experience, your voice has been heard.
Many territories are lacking PS3 online store
Our apologies to PlayStation 3 owners in Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Slovenia, among many others. According to SCEE Director of Corporate Communications Nick Sharples, many of the over 102 territories in the region have no access to the PlayStation 3 Online Store. Different currencies and languages were cited as reasons for the delay. "Stores will reach some territories in due course," he told Games Industry.No dates have been given for upcoming store launches. Sharples also said that some territories will not get a store at all due to other factors such as broadband penetration. "The PS Store may not be accessible in Azerbaijan, for example," he said. We don't have console sale data for each of these countries, so we would love to hear from PS3 owners gaming sans online store how much they care about it, if at all.[Via PS3 Fanboy][Update 1: Fixed a misrepresentation of Sharples' quotes.]
For Europe -- some online content coming up!
Well, this can really apply to all of us, but Sony isn't the best at getting everyone the same content at the same time. So we're just going to list what's coming for Europe and assume that it's either already here in North America and/or Japan, or it's on its way. Let's go! Demos for: Resistance: Fall of Man, MotorStorm, Ridge Racer 7, Genji: Days of the Blade, Formula One Championship Edition, Lemmings and Blast Factor Added content for: Ridge Racer 7, Genji: Days of the Blade More content soon for: Resistance: Fall of Man, Motorstorm There's supposed to be a lot of extra crap coming out for Ridge Racer 7, actually. There are supposed to be over 25 race events added as well as a plethora of decal sets (tailored to specific games like Pac-Man or Katamari Damacy). Along with this extra content is the lack of mention of prices. We're going to say that demos are free, but the extra stuff shouldn't extend beyond anything reasonable.
