Search This Blog

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Puzzle? brings three new word games to the Xbox Live Indie Games channel

puzzle xbox 360Utilising a word list of over 430,000 words in three exciting word games Puzzle? will prove entertaining and educational as you expand on your vocabulary exploring new words that you never thought existed.

Additionally if you fancy a bit of a timeout from word games, why not try out either single or local two player tic-tac-toe, which comes with Puzzle?

You can purchase Puzzle? today from the Xbox marketplace for only 80 Microsoft Points (US$1).

EyePet The next generation virtual pet for PlayStation 3 with screenshots

EyePet The next generation virtual petWhat makes a pet real? Introducing EyePet, the virtual pet that follows your every movement and command…

EyePet comes with an impressive array of abilities all made possible by Playstation Eye, the next-generation camera for PlayStation 3 slim (PS3). A loveable, simian-like pet, EyePet lives in an on-screen picture of your sitting room as captured second by second on Playstation Eye.



Working in ‘Augmented Reality’, EyePet is fully aware of people in the room and will interact with you and your environment. Place an object in front of the camera that EyePet hasn’t seen before and it’ll know exactly what to do with it, give it something new and it’ll examine it thoroughly. Tickle it by waving your fingers in front of the camera: it laughs, poke it: it jumps, roll it a ball: EyePet chases around the screen after it.

An incredibly lifelike little critter, EyePet gives you all the lovable benefits and interaction of a real-life pet without tearing up your sofa or making a mess on the rug. Kids and adults alike will love to customise, dress it and watch its facial expressions that range from the sweet to the cheeky to the hilarious. It’s all made possible by the power of PS3 which has enabled EyePet’s developers to achieve incredible graphics and animation in its facial reactions, lifelike fur and incredibly intelligent interaction with you, your environment and anything you choose to place in front of it.

EyePet will be available in late 2009, so prepare to bring a furry ball of mischief into your home and a new friend into your life.

Experience the first virtual pet who doesn’t just live on screen, he lives in the living-room. Using the PlayStation® Eye camera, EyePet will interact with users and the environment to deliver entertainment and fun for the whole family. With EyePet players will learn to care for their new pet, including teaching, feeding, and playing with them. Additionally, players can compete in daily challenges to make their EyePet more intelligent and agile, and to earn special rewards.



Features

EyePet Reacts to Every Move and Command – Place an object in front of the camera and EyePet will interact with it. Tickle EyePet by waving your fingers in front of the camera and he will laugh. Poke him, and he will jump. Roll a ball and EyePet will chase after it.
Customize Your EyePet – With over 250 unique collectibles you can customize your pet’s look by styling his fur, changing his clothes, and giving him new toys.
Graphics and Animation That Only the PS3 Can Deliver – EyePet features Pixar-like fur technology and facial expressions. Watch EyePet change as he evolves over time.
Create and Share With Friends – Draw new toys and watch EyePet interact with them as they spring to life on-screen.

Platform: PlayStation 3 system
Genre: Family
Rating: “RP” for “Rating Pending”
Peripheral: PlayStation Eye

Frank Lampard joins Rooney as cover athlete for upcoming EA video game 'FIFA 10'!


Electronic Arts Inc. today unveiled the global cover athletes for EA Sports FIFA 10. Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard joins Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney as the face of FIFA 10 worldwide on each available platform— the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system, Wii, PC, PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, Nintendo DS, PSP (PlayStation Portable) system and mobile.

FIFA 10 marks the fifth year the 23-year-old Rooney has been featured on the global pack cover of the FIFA franchise while the 31-year-old Lampard is on the cover for the first time in the FIFA franchise history.

“It is an honour to be part of the EA Sports FIFA franchise. Being on the cover of this fantastic football video game with such a rich history is really a great achievement for me”, said Lampard.

The two football greats will be joined by numerous stars from all over the world on regional packaging, including Karim Benzema in France, Xavi Hernandez in Spain, Giorgio Chiellini in Italy, Bastian Schweinsteiger in Germany and many others all over the world.

A full playable demo of FIFA 10 for the PLAYSTATION3 will be available for downloadable at the PLAYSTATION Store, for the Xbox 360 on Xbox Live Marketplace and for the PC at www.easports.co.uk/fifa10 as of September 10 in Europe and September 17 in North America. Play as Chelsea, Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Marseille, and Chicago Fire (MLS) and discover a football experience that will deliver a new standard for authenticity with gameplay refinements and innovations that will make it the most complete and intelligent simulation of football. In addition to playing an exhibition match, for the first time in a FIFA demo users will be able to upload created in-game videos to EA Football World.

Heavy Rain PlayStation 3 exclusive video game - a dark, emotional thriller where decisions can have dramatic consequences

heavy rain ps3 exclusive head shot of Heavy Rain is a dark, immersive and emotionally-engaging experience; one that expands upon the innovative ideas of 2005’s acclaimed Fahrenheit to create a noir-thriller where decisions are charged with importance and actions can have drastic and unforseen consequences.




Breaking with traditional game conventions where necessary, the gameplay will be based around story, emotional involvement and the player’s decisions and interactions, rather than high-scores, combat and competition. Intuitive gameplay and controls are also fundamental to the experience – ensuring that the game is mature but accessible, and avoiding alienating players with obscure stats and complex interfaces.




In Heavy Rain you don’t watch the story – you play it. The dynamic narrative unfolds through the players actions - not cut scenes - and every action has a consequence. The choices you make and the way you interact with other characters have repercussions throughout the storyline. With unprecedented responsibility over the fates of the game’s characters, players will find Heavy Rain an emotional experience unlike any other. It dares to tackle subject matter and themes rarely touched upon in video games, making it a genuinely mature game for a new world of adult gamers.

Heavy Rain has been unveiled at Games Convention 2008 in Leipzig with a teaser trailer consisting of actual gameplay footage, demonstrating Quantic Dream’s use of stunning animation and motion-capture technology to create an atmospheric and thrilling experience.

Founded in 1997 by David Cage, French developer Quantic Dream has achieved international renown for its innovation within the games industry, particularly in the areas of interactive narration and emotional content. The studio’s record speaks for itself: in particular Quantic Dream was responsible for 2005’s award winning Fahrenheit (known as Indigo Prophecy in the US and Canada), a paranormal, interactive blend of film and gaming that was widely praised for re-imagining the adventure game genre.

Heavy Rain is the place where action gaming meets film-noir head-on, in an adventure unlike any other. A game where your mind, emotions and human nature will be put to the test like never before, Heavy Rain takes interactive entertainment down a dark, compelling path rarely ventured in the gaming world.

Join the reading revolution:digital reader coming to PSP and PSPgo (PlayStationPortable)

sony pspgo reader spiderman comic on screenSony announce the digital reader for PSP and PSPgo (PlayStationPortable), a new service that will allow PSP owners to access a range of media on their PSP. The digital reader service will be launched with Digital Comics this December in select countries, the U.S, and regions in Europe with other PAL territories to follow in 2010, putting PSP owners in control of a huge library of Digital Comics from provider partners including one of the leading comic publishers, Marvel Entertainment. Content from other partners such as IDW Publishing, iVerse Media and others, as well as graphic novels for bite-sized entertainment on demand and on the go will be available.

The new Digital Comics service will let you download hundreds of classic and new comics from PlayStation Store to your PSP, to read page by page or frame by frame wherever you are. The service lets you take a huge collection of comics out and about with you, allows you to pick up the latest edition from any Wi-Fi hotspot, and gives you a brand-new way to use your PSP for entertainment on the go.

sony psp reader spiderman comic
sony psp reader comic viewer

The digital reader for PSP will offer the biggest names in comics, including content from Marvel Entertainment‘s Spider-Man, X-Men and the Fantastic Four, from IDW: TRANSFORMERS and Star Trek and in partnership with iVerse Media, brands like Archie Comics, and Image Comic's Proof, whilst other content will include graphic novels, comics from a variety of local publishers and the latest underground sensations. More and more titles will arrive on PlayStation Store with monthly content updates, offering a huge choice of quality titles at your fingertips, allowing you to take your favourite comic characters with you on the move.

“This is a great new service that offers PSP owners even more options for entertainment on the go and makes PSP a must for comics fans,” says Isabelle Tomatis, European Marketing Manager, Hardware and Platforms, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. 
“Digital Comics will sit alongside the new PlayStation®Network video delivery service as yet another way that PSP offers a whole world of entertainment in your hands.”

“PSP’s new digital reader offers an unprecedented consumer experience that will extend the world of Marvel from print pages into the hands of fans around the world. We are excited to be part of this launch,” said Ira Rubenstein, executive vice president, global digital media group, Marvel Entertainment.

The intuitive Autoflow feature allows you to zoom in and move from frame to frame on each digital page, mimicking the way your eyes would move across a print page from left to right. It’s straightforward and simple to use, and thanks to PSP’s high contrast LCD screen, your comics will be looking better than ever as the stunning graphics leap out from the screen.

Digital Comics will be launching on the UK, US, Irish, Australian, New Zealand and South African PlayStation Stores this December, with other PAL territories to follow, and with more and more comics and graphic novels arriving every month. Consumers will first need to connect their PSP via Wi-Fi to the PlayStation Store to download the digital reader. Once downloaded, they can return to the Store to choose from a wide variety of comics available.

Gran Turismo 5 damage mainly cosmetic? Kotaku take to the Tokyo roads...

gran turismo 5 tokyo road race subaru impreza damageSony had a playable version of Gran Turismo 5 at GamesCom, a brief and very limited demo that offered a look at one feature fans have been requesting for years-car damage.

Well, we certainly damaged that Subaru Impreza.


Read the full post here on Kotaku...

Tesco to sell PSPgo at discount in UK at under £200 (still more expensive than a PlayStation 3 slim)

sony PSPgo showing gamezplay.org website on screenTesco, the UK retailer has listed the PSPgo for £199.97 ($329.98) that's less than Sony RRP of £224.99 ($371.34).

Most of the other retailers have stayed with RRP. The supermarket have not only undercut the price they also offer Free delivery on all pre-orders. So, the PSPgo will be more expensive that the PlayStation 3 slim!

Their release date is listed as October 2nd 2009 (one day later than Sony's).

Tesco listing...

The new PSP Go system is a sleek and lightweight system that is more than 50 percent smaller and more than 40 percent lighter than the original PSP system that launched in 2005. The sophisticated and stylish design incorporates a sliding 3.8-inch display screen, delivering the same high resolution and vibrant visuals as the current PSP-3000 model.

Leveraging PlayStation Network and digital content exclusively, PSP go system features 16GB of internal memory as well as expandable storage via Memory Stick Micro (M2) to store plenty of games, videos, photos, and music.

The PSP go system is designed for the digital lifestyle, offering on-demand entertainment to consumers who want to download content directly to their device anytime, anywhere over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth

Could Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 could become the best selling game of all time?

call of duty 4 download contentThat's what US retailer GameStop think...

"Although we have seen some title slippage, we still see a strong fall line-up, led by Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, Assassin’s Creed 2, and Halo 3 ODST, and expect that Modern Warfare 2 could be the best-selling title of all time," said Julian Paul Raines, chief operating officer, in a conference call to investors.


Pre-orders for the game are strong, said GameStop, with consumers upgrading from the standard and Hardened editions, priced at USD 59.99 and 79.99 respectively, to the Prestige Edition, which ships with night vision goggles for USD 149.99.

"We believe that Modern Warfare 2 has a chance to be the largest title of all time and obviously we are basing that on the reservation activity that we are seeing in our stores, so we continue to see strong reservation activity," added Tony Bartel, executive vice president.

"We have very strong reservations on the Call of Duty Prestige Edition and that’s obviously a price point. There’s a lot of excitement around the goggles on that, so we have a very strong demand that we are seeing in our reservations. Once that was announced, we had a lot of reservations move from the base version to the Prestige version, which is a very good sign."

The company also gave an indication of titles it expects to boost sales in the first half of next year, including Halo Reach, Final Fantasy XIII, Gran Turismo 5, God of War III, Metal Gear Solid, Super Mario Galaxy II, Bioshock 2, Splinter Cell Conviction and Starcraft 2.



"Those are great titles, close to a dozen great titles that we have that will impact us favourably and impact the entire industry favorably in 2010," offered Bartel.

And following a number of high-profile delays, CEO Daniel DeMatteo added that it was unusual for retailers to have a clear indication of titles for the following year, which leads the company to believe 2010 will start with a bang.

"I never remember a time when we had as much knowledge this far in advance of titles that are going to be releasing into the following year," he told investors.

"Many of these titles have moved either because of they just weren’t complete or not ready, which I believe are probably the majority, or some of them may have moved just because of the competition in the back half of the year and maybe the economy."

He also said that hardware sales should start moving again now that Sony has announced a price cut for the PlayStation 3, and the company is assuming that competitors Microsoft and Nintendo will follow by reducing their own hardware.

"The recently announced Sony price cuts and most likely others should get the installed base growing again.

"Historically what has happened is that manufacturers follow the others with a price reduction. We assume in our forecast that some time in Q3 that that will occur, but we don’t have any data on that. We have an assumption it will," he concluded.

Source: GamesIndustry