Thursday, October 16, 2008
Backwards Compatible PS3s Are Pricey
11:20PM Brian Ashcraft | Now that the Tokyo Game Show is over, Game|Life’s Chris Kohler is wandering the streets of Tokyo, looking at stuff. Stuff like Shibuya’s Cafe Danmark, which he passed by Monday morning. During one of his Akihabara crawls, he spotted higher prices for used backwards compatible PLAYSTATION 3s. The 20GB and 60GB launch consoles were backwards compatible, but the feature has since been removed from the machines. At used game shop Trader, a second-hand 60GB with a “big scratch” is going for ¥56,800 (US$832). Quite happy to own a PS3 with backwards compatibility, and while Sony’s business decision to remove b.c. is understandable, it’s also a damn shame. Want a Back-Compat PS3 in Tokyo? Pay Up [Game|Life] More »
BioShock PS3 Already Getting A Patch
11:00PM Brian Ashcraft | BioShock PS3 isn’t out in North America until October 21st, but publisher 2K is already releasing a patch. According to 2K community manager, the patch will include “a fix for an issue where large blocky pixels would show up whenever viewing the Bouncer and Elite Bouncer variants of the Big Daddy”, and “an issue where white/discoloured bars would show up at the right and bottom sides of the screen during the plane crash / water scene at the beginning of the game.” 2K does not have an exact date for the patch, but it needs to be first tested and cleared with Sony. 2K does not know if it will hit until after the game launches. Expect more details from 2K to come. More »
News
Yep, Far Cry 2 Has DRM
11:00PM Brian Ashcraft | EA boss John Riccitiello totally hates DRM, but the company uses SecuROM DRM for Spore to fight piracy. Publisher Ubisoft is also using DRM for shooter Far Cry 2, but slightly different DRM. According to the game’s official forum: More »
News
Unlike Dead Rising, XBLA Games Need To Be Playable On Small, Crummy TVs
11:00PM Luke Plunkett | Remember when Dead Rising first came out on 360? If you had a HDTV, it was great. Nothing but zombie-killing good times. But if you had a small, CRT TV, you were in trouble, because a lot of the game’s critical text was unreadable on low-def TVs. Seemed a strange thing to design for. And is something that would/could never happen for an Xbox Live Arcade title, with Introversion disclosing that part of the service’s certification process involves ensuring games are playable on a television setup from 1994. Or, in other words, a 14″ CRT TV hooked up via a composite cable. It’s a charitable condition, but you have to wonder whether the cost in terms of presentation is worth catering for that chunk of the market. 360 Arcade games HAVE to run on a 14″ TV [CVG] More »
Is This The First BioShock 2 Trailer?
10:30PM Luke Plunkett | The freshly-released PS3 version of BioShock has a little treat tucked away within; it (seemingly) includes the first trailer for BioShock 2. Watch it above (though be warned, it’s in s-s-s-s-s-hhhaky cam). If legit, the game’s called BioShock 2: Sea Of Dreams, and if we were forced to give our $0.02 worth, we’d say that little sister doesn’t look so little anymore. We’ll no doubt see a better quality version of this sometime soon (or can at least confirm this is real, since there’s always an element of doubt when it comes to s-s-s-s-haky cams); we’ll update when we do [via VG247] More »
News
See Kojima Fondle His Sackboy
10:00PM Luke Plunkett | On the first day of TGS, during a presentation on their booth’s stage, Sony went and announced a couple of LittleBigPlanet guest stars, in the form of playable Snake and Sephiroth sackboys. On hand for the announcement was Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima, who was given a replica Snake sackboy for him to cuddle. Which he promptly did. Look at him snuggle! Melts your heart. More »
Microsoft Says Xbox 360 Can ‘Handle’ Metal Gear Solid 4
9:30PM Brian Ashcraft | In the wake of Konami telling a Japanese investor site that it was “looking into” an Xbox 360 version of MGS4, Microsoft is now quoted as saying that the Xbox 360 can “handle” MGS4. With Final Fantasy XIII now multi-plat, that argument seems like it could very well hold water. According to John Schappert, the firm’s corporate vice-president of Live, Software and Services: More »Here Is The Dragon Quest IX TGS Trailer
9:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Watch it while you can! (And before Square Enix strongarms Game Videos into taking it down.) Someone snuck a camera into the Square Enix booth and filmed the Dragon Quest IX trailer, which looks great. Wasn’t that excited about this game until I saw this. See Square Enix, people filming your trailers is a really good thing! More »
Cave Story Graphics Comparison, PC v Wii
8:30PM Luke Plunkett | In case you missed it, Cave Story is coming to the Wii. As a WiiWare title. If you don’t have a PC and don’t mind paying for a free PC game, there is no question, you should get this game. But just in case there are any questions, know that the Wii version isn’t a straight-up port. It’s having its graphics tarted up. Like a HD remix, except, not really in HD. Above is King. On the left, King from the PC version. On the right, King from the Wii version. After the jump, same thing, except for Toroko. Looks great, a lot more like the character art from the cutscenes, but I’m sure some people will still find some reason to complain about this graphical treason. More »
