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Final Fantasy XIII-2 dated worldwide, bundled with limited edition system in Japan
Final Fantasy XIII-2 will arrive in America on January 31, Square Enix announced today at Tokyo Game Show. Europe's version will follow on February 2. Japan's release is set for December 15, with an extra option (above). The first Final Fantasy XIII was accompanied in Japan by the lovely white and pink Lightning Edition PS3. With another Final Fantasy XIII game comes another limited edition, Japan-exclusive system -- this time in "pearl black." There's still a lot of pink. The Lightning Edition Ver. 2 PS3 will include a 320GB hard drive, the game and a controller when it ships in Japan, at a price of ¥37,960 ($495).%Gallery-133857%
PlayStation Vita's Torne app pulls in live TV streams served up from a PS3
Need another reason to be interested in the PlayStation Vita? Sony announced during tonight's press conference that it will tie in with the only-available-in-Japan Torne DVR adapter (PlayTV in Europe and nonexistent in NA) for the PlayStation 3. Once synced up, it allows users to remotely tune into live TV streams Slingbox-style, browse listings and remotely schedule recordings via an app on the portable device. It should be ready to go at launch, while the ability to export recorded shows to the Vita like one of Monsoon's boxes will be added later. For now however, we can only look on in envy and hope rumors of a PlayTV 2 eventually come true, and come out here.
We get up close and personal with the Nintendo 3DS Slidepad attachment
As per usual, Nintendo's skipping out on the Tokyo Game Show, despite being kind of a big deal in Japan. But that doesn't mean that the Slidepad -- the 3DS' bizarro circle pad attachment -- is skipping the show as well. Capcom had Slidepads equipped on two Nintendo 3DS units at its TGS booth, and we headed over promptly this afternoon to check it out. Here's the skinny: it's another circle pad on a 3DS. Shocking? Not exactly, but the circle pad attachment feels fine, if a bit bulky. For reasons unknown, Capcom wasn't allowing TGS attendees to use the Slidepad with any games, so we can't say for sure how it'll change gameplay. That said, the circle pad itself is identical to the already existing circle pad on the left side of the 3DS. More interestingly, the attachment also adds triggers and bolsters already existing shoulder buttons, giving the entire console more of an actual controller feel. No doubt about it, the Slidepad is bulky and, for sure, kind of silly looking, but it also makes the portable feel more substantial in terms of control. We'll reserve our final judgment until we can spend some real time with the attachment in the coming months. That is, if it even heads to North American markets -- the Slidepad is currently slated for a December 10 launch in Japan.%Gallery-133856%
PlayStation Vita's slick augmented reality demoed in Reality Fighters, we go hands-on (video)
Back in January, we caught a glimpse of a hilarious PS Vita title dubbed Reality Fighters, and as the name suggests, it's a Street Fighter-like game that makes use of the device's augmented reality feature. Well, SmartAR, to be precise, which has already been proven to deliver slick AR in large space without the need of a marker, and that's exactly what we experienced earlier today at TGS 2011. What happens in this game is that you can first create your own fighting avatar -- not only does it let you map your face using either camera on the Vita, but there's also a whole range of body shapes, facial features, weapons and fashion accessories to add to your character. Once you have your fighter ready, you then have three options: use the current surroundings as your battle backdrop, or use one of the many default backdrops (and the final version of the game will allow players to create their own backdrop), or use a marker. We only managed to try the first two AR modes with the brief hands-on time we had, but both worked seamlessly for us -- see for yourself in our hands-on video above. Surprisingly, this game only uses just one of the four CPU cores on the Vita! But then again, we've already seen SmartAR running smoothly on the Xperia Arc, which goes to show how relatively little number crunching power is required for SmartAR. Expect to see this funny game to come out in February.
Street Fighter X Tekken media assaults TGS 2011
Because that crazy cutscene with Rufus wasn't enough, Capcom let loose some more Street Fighter X Tekken media for TGS 2011. Beyond crazy Rufus, we've got some footage of Rolento, Heihachi and a slew of other fighters. Plus, more farting Kuma! %Gallery-133757%
PlayStation Suite SDK beta coming in November, offering new games in spring 2012
We haven't heard much about the PlayStation Suite for quite some time, but at the TGS 2011 opening keynote today, Sony announced that it'll finally be rolling out an SDK for said cross-platform framework in November. Furthermore, Sony's expecting new games and apps to be available for the PlayStation Suite in spring, which means willing C# developers will be busy over the next few months should they wish to deploy their software across certified devices -- these currently include the PS Vita, Xperia Play, Tablet S and the upcoming Tablet P. Of course, we're also hoping that Sony will convince at least one other manufacturer to get its NVIDIA Tegra devices certified for the PlayStation Suite, otherwise it'll be tough to get the ball rolling for everyone.
Torne application on PS Vita allows for remote TV recording and viewing
Sony's hardware-based Torne service is heading to the PlayStation Vita, albeit in application form. Sony head of worldwide studios Shuhei Yoshida introduced the application live on-stage during today's second keynote, demonstrating the ability to navigate television listings, remotely set up recordings, and stream television, all via the PlayStation Vita and its Torne application. Yoshida never stated an exact release date, but he implied that the application would launch with the Vita in Japan this December. And as you might expect, the application is thus far only slated for the Japanese market.
Nintendo 3DS extended slide pad add-on, first hands-on
Nintendo may be AWOL on the TGS show floor (as usual), but that's not stopping Capcom from strutting the big-N's hardware in its stead -- we dropped by its booth for a gameplay-free handling of the 3DS extended slide pad add-on. The control-extending cradle is every bit as bulky as it looks, killing any hope we had of cramming the rig into our pocket. The trade-off? It's much more comfortable to hold than the naked 3DS, giving our meaty hands a smooth, contoured surface to grip. The new right-hand circle pad feels just as solid as the handheld's dedicated pad, and didn't significantly obstruct our access to the 3DS' face buttons. All in all, the cradle is a comfortable, if awkwardly large extension to the 3DS that doesn't seem to compromise the handheld's existing input. Hit up the gallery below to size up the plump peripheral for yourself. %Gallery-133843%
PlayStation Suite SDK arrives this November
Ever since introducing the PlayStation Suite back in January, Sony has been slowly meting out information on the cross-platform service. But Sony blew out the service this morning during the company's TGS 2011 keynote, revealing that the Suite's software development kit will become available for devs this coming November. A brief demo of a basic sidescrolling shooter, named "Zero Gravity," was also shown, demonstrating the cross play between PlayStation Vita and the Xperia Play. Unfortunately, no price or exact date was given for access to the SDK, but Sony reps did demonstrate the ease of using the SDK for cross-platform development. A simple animation was created using a Sony tablet, which was then pushed across a variety of Sony and Android platforms -- "No play, no life," it read. We tend to be more of the "no food/air, no life" crowd, but we'll accept Sony's statement for the sake of demonstration.
Square Enix head Yoichi Wada sees a gaming future in the clouds
Tokyo Game Show 2011 is officially on, with today's keynote, delivered by Square Enix prez Yoichi Wada, kicking things off. Despite Mr. Wada's position at the JRPG giant, he's here speaking as the chairman of the Computer Entertainment Software Association, which means he had some pretty high level content to get through in his speech. In fact, his keynote is named, "The Nature of the Industry Revolution of Games." First and foremost, he's all about the cloud. No, not that Cloud, but the one that allows for remote gaming. "I think the cloud is a real revolution," Wada explained. In his eyes, he's got a variety of electronics with "huge processing power" -- processing power that could be harnessed for new gameplay experiences. "If you could concentrate such processing power on the cloud, then there's going to be a huge paradigm shift," he added. As for when this "paradigm shift" will happen, Wada is less clear. According to his presentation, he expects a move in that direction anywhere between now and 2015. In the meantime, he believes we're only just now experiencing the first in several new waves of change in the game industry.
Diabolical Pitch gameplay demon-strated at TGS 2011
We haven't yet gotten our hands on Grasshopper's upcoming Kinect throw-em-up, Diabolical Pitch, but that didn't stop us from grabbing some shaky-cam footage of the first trailer and of someone giving the game a whirl at the developer's pre-TGS shindig. Check out the trailer above. A gameplay demo is all wound up after the break.
Lumines: Electronic Symphony preview: Vita's got a pulse
Seven years ago, PlayStation Portable (or PSP) and Lumines were essentially synonymous. If you had a PSP, it was because of Lumines. It may not have been reason enough to spend $250 for Sony's then unestablished handheld but, for any PSP owner, it was an essential part of their collection. I'm not prepared to say that Lumines: Electronic Symphony is reason enough to plunk down $250 (or more) for Sony's unestablished PlayStation Vita, but it's still fun for all the same reasons (and a few more). %Gallery-133707%
We're live from the Tokyo Game Show 2011!
That's right! We're back in Japan for this year's Tokyo Game Show, and obviously we'll be getting intimate with the closer-to-final PlayStation Vita along with, hopefully, some of its just announced launch titles. While Nintendo's absent as usual (though it did throw its own party on Tuesday), we're still expecting some fresh goodies from the Xbox and PlayStation folks that should keep us entertained for awhile, plus we'll be scanning the show floor for the eccentric peripherals and other odd pieces, so wish us luck. Oh, and be sure to also check out our sister site Joystiq to get your extra dosage of TGS -- you know you want it. To follow all the action from TGS, use the tag TGS 2011.
New Ninja Gaiden 3 trailer, details on 'world of ninjas' multiplayer
During its pre-TGS event, Team Ninja lifted the veil (or mask) over Ninja Gaiden 3's competitive multiplayer mode. The mode will connect up to eight players in a sort of ninja tournament, in which the goal is to beat all the other ninjas, rank up and ultimately surpass Ryu Hayabusa. It's a "world of ninjas," as online engineer Ueda put it. At the event, producer Yosuke Hayashi also introduced the new "play style system." In addition to the normal and hard difficulty levels, Ninja Gaiden 3 offers a choice of two "play styles," Ninja and Hero. Ninja is the familiar style of gameplay, but Hero adds things like auto-block and auto-dodge, to let new players just "enjoy the story." That is, the story of a blood-crazed, cursed ninja putting swords into people. This system is also being added to the Vita release of Ninja Gaiden Sigma. After the break: the latest, anguished trailer for Ninja Gaiden 3.%Gallery-133725%
Dead or Alive 5 in development, heading to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012
There's a brand new Dead or Alive game in development, and it's heading to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Team Ninja head Yosuke Hayashi offered "a glimpse in the future" of the DOA franchise during tonight's TGS 2011 Tecmo event, during which he asked that we shut off all recording equipment (thus the lack of a thrilling image above). In a teaser trailer of a pre-Alpha (read: very early) build of Dead or Alive 5, Ninja Gaiden's Ryu Hayabusa faces off against rival Hayate on top of a brightly lit urban area -- perhaps the Shibuya digs we're currently writing this from? Hayashi teased dramatic new levels, and even went as far as to call the game "fighting entertainment," rather than "just a fighting game." (Note: It's a fighting game.) Update: We've added the first teaser trailer above and a ... tantalizing image just after the break. Keep it cool, big guy!
Two new PlayStation 3 bundles (in blue and red) headed to Japan
Sony hasn't stopped trying to pique your interest in importing a flashy, Japan-exclusive PlayStation 3, announcing "Scarlet Red" and "Splash Blue" PS3s today during its Tokyo Game Show 2011 presser. Hitting stores on November 17, the freshly colored PS3s will pack 320GB HDDs and an asking price of ¥29980 ($389.85) They might not have fancy embellishments from popular RPGs, but they sure are purty.
Grasshopper Manufacture bringing Frog Minutes, two more to Mobage worldwide
Mobile game company DeNA is bringing its social game service Mobage to the rest of the world, and three Grasshopper Manufacture games are coming along for the ride, the company announced at a pre-TGS showcase. One series you know -- Frog Minutes, the super-serene frog feeding game first released on iOS this year. The Mobage game is considered a sequel to the iOS release. The other two are new: Humans vs. Zombies and Alien Busters, both expected to be released in winter 2012. Akira Yamaoka joked that these are totally different from GHM's other bloody, zombie-filled games.
Grasshopper Manufacture's Kinect/XBLA game Diabolical Pitch revealed
During a pre-TGS event, "video game band" Grasshopper Manufacture unveiled Diabolical Pitch, the Kinect title first announced last year as "Codename D." And it is absolutely a game about a baseball player pitching and batting balls at oncoming monsters. Two players are shown at once lobbing baseballs, lifting one another up for health support, and even joining hands in a DBZ-like "fusion" pose for a special attack, against what looked like a vaguely disco-esque baseball field.
Here's how you set up your PlayStation Vita
Wondering how you'll set up your PlayStation Vita come ... whenever it launches in the US? Well, it turns out that we've got this handy presentation straight from Sony's TGS 2011 presser earlier today, courtesy of our cohorts at Engadget. You'll get an idea of how to peel back a virtual page and, um, describe yourself. For instance, how old are you? Do you even know? You look so young!
Sony shows off PlayStation Vita's initial setup process and user interface (video)
While we're still months away from seeing the PlayStation Vita show up in the stores, Sony continues to tease us with more live demonstrations here at the SCEJ press conference -- what we saw just now was a quick walkthrough of the initial setup procedure, and our first look at the interface in action. Setup is simple and predictable: select your region, create or log into your PSN account, enter your birthday -- pretty standard for today's handheld gaming devices. The UI itself looks primed to make smartphone users feel right at home, spreading a cloud of large, friendly app icons across the Vita's five-inch touchscreen.Our hosts skipped through a few media applications, showing off a pair of movie trailers and concurrently running the device's music player and photo viewer. We didn't see it live today, but Sony suggested that cross-app multitasking is compatible with games as well, stating that a player could hop out of a game session, pop-into a Twitter app, and then jump right back into the game. We'll give you a more detailed account once we've hit the TGS show-floor. Can't wait? Peek our gallery below, or see Sony's live demo above.%Gallery-133574%
