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PSN Store Update: Final Fantasy 14, Trials Fusion, FIFA World Cup
It's football, fantasy, and FMX in this week's line-up of PlayStation Store additions for North America, starting with the full launch of Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn. PS4 players can hook up with the subscription MMO for $40, or $60 if they fancy some in-game items from the Collector's Edition. You can also transfer a PS3 copy across to PS4 - Amazon has the PS3 version going for $25. Next it's FMX: RedLynx's next attempt to break your controllers is Trials Fusion, and it's the first in the series to arrive on PlayStation. The PS4 game - also available on Xbox One, 360, and PC - adds freestyle tricks to the trademark mix of motocross and puzzle-platforming. The regular game is $20 but if you're wheelie keen for the upcoming DLC, a Deluxe Edition is $40 and comes with the season pass. Speaking of puzzles, the PS4 also gets a few brainteasers this week. Pure Chess and Backgammon Blitz are $8 each - you can get a game-pack stuffed Deluxe Edition of Pure Chess for $15 - and finally, That Trivia Game will set you back That Ten Dollars. Onto to PS3, and football - the rounder, kickier kind. The catchily titled 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil is only on PS3 and Xbox 360, and you can score it as a $60 download on the former. Meanwhile, Beyond: Two Souls has been out for a while, but it's also now on PSN as a $60 download. Don't forget, this week's PS Plus freebie is the new Castle of Illusion, and that comes bundled with the Genesis original as a nostalgic bonus. Finally, the Vita has plenty of new releases including Conception 2 ($40, also out on 3DS) and Cross-Buy portable versions of Dead Nation ($8) and Ethan: Meteor Hunter ($10). For the full list of new releases, sales, and Plus discounts, head over to the PlayStation Blog. [Image: Ubisoft]
Pure Chess surrounds, checkmates PS4 this April
If gaming platforms are squares on a chess board, VooFoo Studios' Pure Chess almost has the PS4 surrounded. Its debut on the PS3 and Vita in May 2012 was followed by ports to the 3DS, Wii U, iPhone and Android, leaving a curious gap on Xbox platforms. That doesn't matter, though - the PS4 is about to be conquered in April, resulting in a checkmate of all of Sony's gaming platforms. Strategy enthusiasts can set up a game for $7.99, or go for the Complete Edition for $14.99 to get extra locations and set themes. If you're like our own Jess Conditt, or if you haven't won a game of chess in your life, Pure Chess includes tutorials for strategies of various skill levels. In contrast, if you're a chess master that's tired of obliterating beginners, Pure Chess offers leaderboards and tracks your ELO (a score based on a player's aptitude at outwitting opponents). Yes, it's essentially just a pretty version of chess, but can the chess board buried somewhere in your basement host matches with people hundreds of miles away? ... It can? That's, um ... huh. [Image: Ripstone Games]
New Nintendo eShop releases: Pokemon Battle Trozei, Yumi's Odd Odyssey
This week's headline new release is Pokemon Battle Trozei, a game that mixes the series' trademark critter-battling with one of gaming's most prolific genres, the match-3 puzzler. If you've caught 'em all in Pokemon X/Y, you can get reacquainted with every known Pokemon in Battle Trozei - at last count, there were 7,543,207 known species of Pokemon. So it might take you a while. Moving on, games are always finding new ways to enliven the art of fishing, and Yumi's Odd Odyssey tries it by mixing the pastime with platforming. Yumi breaks all kinds of fishing etiquette in the 3DS game, from using her line to swing and catapult over gaps to beating up all kinds of piscine enemies. She's a fishing renegade, that Yumi. There are a few new sales and offers to close things out: Renegade Kid has a 30 percent sale on select 3DS games including Mutant Mudds, ATV Wild Ride 3D and Bomb Monkey, while Nordic Games is discounting some of its Wii U games including Jeapordy and Wheel of Fortune. Finally, Nintendo is offering free access to all of Wii Sports Club between March 21 9AM PT and midnight PT on March 23. As ever, we've got this week's full list of new releases after the break.
Knytt Underground, Pure Chess coming to Wii U eShop
Knytt Underground, the curious game of subterranean exploration, will come to the Wii U eShop, courtesy of indie publisher Ripstone. Originally developed by Nicklas 'Nifflas' Nygren for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, Knytt Underground borrows and occasionally mocks the structure of games like Super Metroid, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and other victims of their pervasive portmanteau. Ripstone has also announced a downloadable Wii U version of Pure Chess, a classic game in which two dueling kings send out L-shaped horses and cylindrical rookies until a "gotcha" is declared. It's been a while. Knytt Underground and Pure Chess will be available on the Wii U's eShop near "the end of 2013/start of 2014."
