Phantasy Star Universe video game top in Japan

Sega's Phantasy Star Universe for the PlayStation Portable has held on to the top spot in the Japanese software sales chart for the second consecutive week, according to information from Media Create for the week ending August 10.

It sold just fewer than 150,000 units in its second week on sale, holding off competition from new entry Fire Emblem on the Nintendo DS, which sold around 145,000 units.

Rhythm Heaven Gold fell one place to third, still selling 130,000 copies, while the Xbox 360 received a welcome boost with the release of Tales of Vesperia - the Namco Bandai game sold 108,000 units to take fourth place.

Dragon Quest V continued to sell well, breaking through the 1 million lifetime barrier, while the other new entries in the top ten followed - Sangokushi Taisen Ten and Summon Night 2, both for the DS, took sixth and seventh places.

Wii Fit edged ever closer to the 2.5 million lifetime mark in eighth, followed by Mario Kart Wii, while the PlayStation 3 edition of Soul Calibur IV rounded off the top ten.

The full top ten is as follows:

1. Phantasy Star Universe (PSP)
2. Fire Emblem (DS)
3. Rhythm Heaven Gold (DS)
4. Tales of Vesperia (360)
5. Dragon Quest V (DS)
6. Sangokushi Taisen Ten (DS)
7. Summon Night 2 (DS)
8. Wii Fit (Wii)
9. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
10. Soul Calibur IV (PS3)

Source: Games Industry

Sacred 2 - Fallen Angel RPG video game - play it at Gencon

Gamers are invited to get hands-on with the PC and Xbox 360 versions of the sequel to 2004's "RPG of the Year"

cdv Software Entertainment USA is inviting gamers to come check out their exciting action-RPG, Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, at this week's GenCon event in Indianapolis. Sacred 2: Fallen Angel will be available for hands-on play time on PC and Xbox 360 all day during the convention on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, August 14 through 16, 2008. Gamers looking to check out the upcoming title from cdv Software Entertainment USA and Ascaron Entertainment should visit the Atari area (Exhibit hall D, booth 129) at the show.

For more information about Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, please visit http://sacred2.com or http://www.cdvus.com.

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel is an Action RPG with a rich story that takes place in a giant, open-ended and seamless world. This world contains hundreds of dungeons, treacherous opponents and a variety of challenging quests. Intelligent enemies, steadily adapting in number and difficulty based on player progress, challenge in heroic single- and multiplayer battles.

Sacred 2: Fallen Angel provides numerous unique items that can be gathered in this mystical world. A deep reward system further enables advancements in character, individual attributes and character-specific fighting styles, each designed to keep players returning to the world of Sacred 2: Fallen Angel to discover what is around the next bend. Drop-in styled cooperative multiplayer gameplay ensures players will enjoy the game alone or seamlessly with friends at any time. Five unique multiplayer modes round out the experience and offer a refreshing, first-class gaming experience in Sacred 2: Fallen Angel.

Sony PSP Redesign Confirmed By FCC

The FCC has come through again, giving up testing info on Sony's upcoming PSP-3001 redesign. It's still the same generation PSP and still has most of the same parts (802.11b Wi-Fi) and still plays the same games, so we're guessing most of the changes will be internal and focused on lowering costs and making the thing harder to hack.

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Rock Band 2 Bundle on Xbox 360 delayed until October

While the Rock Band 2 game and individual instruments are set for an exclusive Xbox 360 release on September 14, it now appears that Harmonix's Special Edition bundle will not make it to stores until October 19, a full month later.

The official Rock Band store and retailer GameStop both list the bundle as shipping on October 19--the same day the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and Wii versions are set to arrive.

Full story on Shacknews...

Ragnarawk video game free RPG - wins BAFTA

Ragnarawk is a rhythmic RPG adventure game set in a fantasy world based around the many genres of music, developed during Dare 2007 by Voodoo Boogy. The player takes control of Rift: a young, aspiring guitar player who through a twist of fate has found himself swept up in an epic battle of good vs. evil. Wielding a mystical guitar Rift must battle and defeat an evil that is slowly consuming the land. With the teachings of Stratos, an ancient Rock God and the support of “Save Girl” – Rift’s one and only fan – can you defeat the source of the evil and save the day? If this sounds like your sort of game, you can play it here for free.



Voodoo Boogy’s success story with their game Ragnarawk
Voodoo Boogy are an extremely talented group of young games designers from a range of disciplines. Malcolm Brown and Robert Clarke are graduates in Computer Games Technology, Peter Carr and Finlay Sutton are graduates in Computer Arts, and Lynne Robertson is currently in her fourth year of Computer Arts. Voodoo Boogy have won no fewer than three awards for their game Ragnarawk: the Dare to be Digital Award for Commercial Potential, the Dare ProtoPlay Audience Award and the much coveted BAFTA Ones to Watch Award.

Free download here at Dare to be Digital...

Heaven to Ocean video game

Description: Heaven to Ocean (H2O) is a 2D puzzle platformer physics game where the user mnipulates the game environment in order to move a drop of water across the screen. The objective is to drive the droplet into the ocean while preserving as much of the water’s original volume as possible.

This is a student entry into the Dare to be Digital video game competition from the UK. Here are some notes on this game:

The storyline: your are a drop of water (more like a cupful, actually) just released from a cloud onto some sort of construction site. Your mission is to find your way back and re-unite with the Ocean (actually, a sink on the ground floor which, we assume, drains into the ocean).
The droplet size: occasionally you may extend your droplet in such a way that it will separate into multiple parts. The camera will always focus on the largest chunk. You can manoeuvre the parts so they’re back together however be careful; once any of the other parts drifts out of camera view they are lost for good. Your goal is to get as much of the droplet to the end as possible.

Vapor and snow: should you come across a source of heat (or refrigeration) your droplet temporarily turns into either vapor or snow. Vapor levitates, which could get you out of a tight spot, but since it drags upwards rather than downwards your controls are temporarily reversed. When your droplet turns into a (rather large) snowflake it moves about the environment easily and does not splinter into parts.
Interaction with the environment: you will need to set certain events in motion in order to be able to progress further.

Production qualities: are generally very good.
This game is very accessible and fun. It is the type of casual game that can be picked up instantly without a huge learning curve. The reason I am giving it 4.5 rather than 5 stars it that it is very short (I was able to finish it in about 15 minutes); however, the game allows for loading and playing other levels, even when only one is available, so I will keep my fingers crossed that new levels are released in the future.

Compatibility: Windows XP, VISTA.

Sword of the Stars: A Murder of Crows PC video game

A Murder of Crows, the latest add-on to their highly acclaimed 4X space strategy game Sword of the Stars (PC). This exemplifies Kerberos Productions' continued commitment to the dedicated Sword of the Stars community. Players are required to have either Sword of the Stars: Collector's Edition or Born of Blood in order to play this new addition to the franchise. A Murder of Crows will be available at retail stores across the United Kingdom in September 2008 and is available for purchase online at www.GamersGate.com.

GAME SUMMARY

While the four civilized races battle back the voracious Zuul and seek advantage over each other, a ghost from the past returns to the galaxy in the form of the manipulative Morrigi. Already known for their dark crow-shaped attack drones and deadly traps, this race once thought long extinct, returns looking for vengeance.



Using never-before-seen weapons, ships and tactics, the Morrigi fall upon the other five races of the Sword of the Stars universe, who must now adapt to the ancient masters of space or be destroyed.



Time is of the essence as world after world falls to the black winged ships that surge out of the dark like A Murder of Crows.

FEATURES

• A New Sixth race – The Morrigi, who appeared as a series of mysterious random events in Born of Blood (the first Sword of the Stars expansion pack), continues to evolve the ever-expanding Sword of the Stars universe • New Ship Sections - Over a dozen new ship sections for all races to match against your opponents • Unique 'Grav Flock' Drive System for Morrigi Ships – The more Morrigi ships in a fleet, the faster they can travel, continuing the racial diversity unique to the Sword of the Stars gameplay experience • 15 new weapons • 27 new technologies and the new Xeno-Cultural and Drones tech trees • Sword of the Stars gameplay continues to deepen with Civilian populations, independent worlds, Espionage options, and demands for planetary surrender
• Drone carrying ships in all three size classes • Construction ships, a variety of orbital stations, spy ships, Police Cutters, and more • A whole new set of GUI enhancements and additions

Wizard101 School of Life Magic

There are six main schools of magic and a meta-school that modifies the use of the other six. The three external schools are Fire, Ice, and Storms, and they relate to the ancient Titans that ruled the world in the Days Before (dragons, giants, and tritons). There are three internal schools, Myth, Life, and Death, which encompass the internal powers of the mind, body, and spirit. The school of Balance blends all of these. Each of the six major schools exhibits a feel and philosophy, in rhythm with its own nature. In addition, each of the three inner schools dwells in the midst of two outer schools, drawing some small part of themselves from those framing forces.

Inner Schools
The spells of the inner or internal schools focus their energies on channeling your own power, drawing on your life force to create what you need. Each school has its own particular method of doing such, but each one is fed by an internal force.

School of Life (Spirit)



"As we have been Created, so must we Create."

Life is spirit, the force of awareness and existence. Practitioners of the Life Arts, known as Theurgists, are positive, enthusiastic people who seek to appreciate the simple pleasures. At times, however, they can be too flighty or frivolous when circumstances demand otherwise. Theurgists use Songs to breathe life and spirit into a vessel. Life sits between Fire and Storms, for the spark of life comes from those two forces.

About Wizard101
Wizard101 is an elaborate 3D virtual world in which magic and sorcery come to life as players embark on a quest that involves a massive cast of good, evil and frequently silly characters. Designed to fill the void between online play sites for the very young and Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games with mature ratings, Wizard101 puts players in the fantasy role of a Wizard apprentice at the Ravenwood School of Magical Arts.

X-Blades coming to PlayStation, Xbox and PCs

Fearless Treasure Hunting Beauty To Fight Darkness On PLAYSTATION 3 Computer Entertainment System, Xbox 360 and Windows-Based PC

Anime-inspired X-Blades follows Ayumi, a brave and beautiful thrill seeker, whose obsession with hunting lost treasures lands her in a fight for her life.

"One of the greatest challenges we face with multi-platform games is how to deliver an equally fantastic experience across each platform," said John F. Kaiser, III, Producer at SouthPeak Games. "With X-Blades, we've taken time to ensure the same intense hack-and-slash gameplay is delivered seamlessly on all platforms."



Ayumi, a stunningly seductive yet tenacious heroine, travels the world hunting highly coveted artifacts. After finding an ancient treasure map she sets off on the most dangerous adventure she's ever faced and quickly finds herself outmanned and outgunned. Armed with only her fighting skill, magic spells, guns and blades, Ayumi must fend off rival treasure seekers, hordes of evil creatures and powerful dark forces in order to survive.

Colour Cross unique puzzle game on Nintendo DS

Colour Cross set to be part of a two pronged assault on casual DS owners.

Rising Star Games will be unleashing a double assault on casual Nintendo DS owners this autumn with Colour Cross backing up the previously announced Cradle of Rome. Both titles will be released on the same day in early November 2008 and available in all PAL territories.

Colour Cross is a unique puzzle game where the goal is to uncover the hidden picture by applying the right colour to the appropriate square. Utilising the familiar paint by numbers mechanic, completing a grid will reveal a portion of a larger hidden image as well as unlocking increasingly difficult challenges. With over 150 individual grids to unlock, Colour Cross provides hours of brain-teasing gameplay which is colourful in more ways than one.

Yen Hau, product marketing assistant: “Both these titles represent a different part of the casual gaming spectrum, with Colour Cross a brain teasing game requiring thought and puzzle solving skills. On the other hand, Cradle of Rome is a highly addictive, fast-paced casual game ideal for those pick-up-and-play moments. These titles are also the first non-Japanese developed projects Rising Star Games will publish and represent an opportunity to expand our catalogue to encompass all types of gamers.”