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It's not often (in fact it's never) that you see a game tagline line this: "Make music with a disc of 510 067 420 km² = the Earth." But that's what Oterp, a hombrew PSP app by Antonin Fourneau does.
Oterp uses the PSP GPS add-on to track your relative position on the planet and alters music in real time based on your movements. Its developer has also hard-coded numerous "collection" spots around the globe into the software. Travelling to these locations will unlock new music and effects, similar to unlocking characters via GPS in the Japanese release of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. Sounds pretty cool, huh? More videos of it in action can be found at the Oterp site.
Rumors that Devil May Cry would be theatrically shooting its way onto the PSP are about as old as the PSP itself. As far back as June 2005, Capcom discussed bringing Devil May Cry to the PSP along with nine other PSP titles; at that time, GameSpot wrote, "Devil May Cry [for the PSP] could see the light of day before 2006." By the time 2006 rolled around, still no sign of Devil May Cry for PSP, save for a mention on Capcom's Japanese website.
So here we are, two years on, and again we're seeing a mention of Devil May Cry for PSP on Capcom's Japanese site. Included at the top of a list of recently released and not-yet-released PSP games, "Devil May Cry" is alone in its absence of a release date, a price, or a linked website. Hit the Source link to see if it's still there or, just in case they've noticed that Dante crawled out of his cage and taken it down, we've got a screengrab after the break. Just a reminder: Capcom's E3 press conference is at 10:30ET on July 15th. Just saying ...
EA Sports has apologized for putting "The Soldier's Song," traditionally sung at United Ireland games, in place of Northern Ireland's national anthem, "God Save the Queen," in UEFA Euro 2008. Northern Ireland's Londonderry Sentinel reports fans were surprised to hear the anthem representing their country's victory in the game.
What we're surprised to hear is that it took until now for this faux pas to come out. UEFA Euro 2008released back in April. Was nobody playing as the Northern Irish team?
We hope you opted to use pencil when scribbling the release date for Rockstar's latest non-felony related driving game into your Niko Bellic pinup calendar. Midnight Club: Los Angeles - the fourth installment in Rockstar San Diego's pimp-your-ride racing game - has jettisoned the old September 9 release date in favor of a new October 7th date (October 10 for you Europeans). Ostensibly, the extra time is being used to put that final coat of Turtle Wax on the open-world, track-less, load-time-less title but we like to imagine they're having difficulty getting the LA traffic experience just right. %Gallery-21084%Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
IT security firm Sophos reports that someone has been messing around with the official US PlayStation website. "Messing around" as in fitting its SingStar and God of War pages with fake ads that tried to make (and may have succeeded in making) visitors believe their computers were riddled with viruses.
Phobos says that the bogus pop-ups prompted those who saw them to purchase what turned out to be equally bogus anti-virus software. The "scareware" has since been exterminated by Sony's IT jockeys, but we can only wonder how many hapless gamers were drawn into the hacker's insidious ... web of lies before it was too late.
With all the recent buzz surrounding big-budget film adaptations of major video game licenses, we began to wonder -- if films based off of games can find funding with movie production companies, why couldn't a film based off of a video game news column? As our minds began to race with thoughts of cross-promotional T-shirts and licensed cereals, we recklessly ran to our laptops, and wrote out a hasty plot synopsis for "Japanese Hardware Sales: The Movie". We're pretty proud of it, and the agent we hired at a local flea market is convinced we can eventually squeeze a trilogy out of the initial concept. Don't worry, gentle readers. We won't forget you when we make it to the big time.
The still night air wafting over the Hardware district of the bustling metropolis of Salesbury, Japan, is punctuated with the crackle of gunfire. The town's many residents realize with a start that Sunday's midnight hour has come, and quickly retreat into their bullet-riddled homesteads. From the shadows of the city's seemingly endless alleyways emerge the six gangs who fight weekly for the unspoken control of Salesbury: the powerful reigning champs known as the "Park Street Pistols", the young and lively contenders known simply as "The Wii-vils", the once invincible "DoorStep Lighteners", the mercenaries of "The Third Order of Private Soldiers", their once-parent organization "The Second Order of Private Soldiers", and the mysterious, poorly-funded outfit known as "The Xterminators of 360th Street".
Who will come out on top at the end of this four-hour-long cinematic masterwork? Only time, and the purchasing habits of the people of Japan, will tell. Starring Samuel L. Jackson as Coolidge, the leader of the Park Street Pistols; Kevin James as Archie, his carefree sidekick; Rose McGowan as Belladonna, the feisty captain of The Wii-vils, and a guy who kinda looks like Bruce Vilanch as the menacing "Red Arrow".
For most of our younger readers, school's no longer in session in observation of the midsummer months -- though we're certain that our studious readers won't allow their minds become dull as rusty butter knives during their valuable vacation time. That's why we turn your attention to a fascinating article written by PS3 Fanboy's newest columnist, Ph.D candidate and gaming enthusiast Kylie Prymus, who examines the effect that the Escher-esque Echochrome can have on our perception of our own three-dimensional world.
Prymus posits that Echochrome's unique, manipulatable 2D perspective is not only jarring when compared to the robust 3D engines we've become accustomed to seeing in most games, but it also points out the "frailty of our own perceptual apparatus", which is fundamentally two-dimensional. Those who still possess unblown minds might want to give the article a read -- if only to give you some Hawking-quality discussion material with which to impress your gaming cohorts.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Ah, this is the image that launched a thousand murmurs across the sea of internets. We were tipped off early in the week from (possibly) eager developers willingly gushing about Sony's trophy system. At the moment, this image and others like it should still be taken with skepticism. We suppose it can't (read: definitely won't) be too long before we see something official. In the meantime, read up on what else we Sony Fanboys have been writing about this past week. Our top headlines are after the break.
"What Echochrome does, quite brilliantly, is tweak our perception of dimensionality in an interactive way not possible with Escher drawings or Penrose triangles."
"Take into consideration that almost everything you can see, you can get to. More importantly, note that almost every building in the game can be entered as well, maximizing the playable area within each territory."
Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) was granted a patent on Friday for a "hand-held [sic] device with touchscreen and digital tactile pixels." It'd be a stretch to say any of this is explicitly indicative of a PSP 2.0 or PSP phone, but it is interesting to note that "game device" is listed as one of the potential applications, alongside a plethora of other sony handhelds: phone, portable media player, email device, web browser device or navigation device.
As for defining "digital tactile pixels," claims 19 through 30 of the patent suggest that vibration acts as the "tactile" response. As our friends at PSP Fanboy point out, it could be a long time before we see anything to do with this patent (assuming we ever do).
Fun fact: The patent lists former Sony executive Phil Harrison as the inventor. Harrison, now the Directeur Général Délégué at Infogrames, was with the company when the patent was originally filed in January 2008.
Sony has provided a peek at some of the "lifestyle" applications it has in store for PSP in FY08. The company hopes these non-gaming titles will get a PSP into the hands of - you guessed it - non-gamers. Unfortunately, they all use peripherals not currently available in the US. They've all been previously announced for European release; hopefully their inclusion in the latest business update from SCEI head Kaz Hirai points to a pending E3 announcement regarding US plans.
The lineup includes Go!Messenger, which uses the PSP camera add-on for VoIP video chat; Go!Explore, which uses the PSP GPS to ... well, it's GPS mapping software; Go!Cam, which turns the PSP into a digital camera; and, finally, Go!View, which uses the PSP antenna peripheral to turn the handheld into a wireless video-on-demand receiver. Sony is partnering with Sky in the UK for Go!View content. Sadly, our suggestion of Go!Just Go!, an application for handling difficult breakups, didn't make the cut.
SCEI boss Kaz Hirai provided some new numbers for the gaming masses to look at and commence with the "wow," "um," "huh," and "yay?"
Peering into the abyss that is a collection of PowerPoint slides, we've concluded a couple of things. First, PS3 is hurtin' for games, with a mere 475 having been released in total at the outset of FY07. Second, PS3 is certainly selling a lot better. Here's how things look on whole.
The PSN update this week is nothing special, but we're still too busy sifting through the MGS4 Database added in last week's update to really care. Beyond the surprising amount of depth the database gets into, it's interesting to see some flat-out confirmations of some arguable points in the MGS canon -- like the whole Raikov being gay thing. The other additions this week include the normal rhythm game additions and Medievel Resurrection for PSP. The full PSN update can be found after the break.
The MGS4 Database is the big deal this week on the European PSN update, get the full details on the update over at PS3 Fanboy.
Tabletop gamers are no stranger to the game Blood Bowl, which we mentioned back in November. The game has spanned 22 years and multiple editions and expansion sets. The basic concept is "fantasy" football, literally. As in orcs, trolls, elves and the like playing an organized team sport where you try to tear your opponent's head off. Check out the newly released Warcraft-tastic trailer after the break.
Despite being an obvious consideration for Sony Ericsson, the nigh mythical "PlayStation phone" has spectacularly failed to materialize -- outside of some dodgy patent drawings. If a recent report by Marketing News is to be believed, the project's current status is up in the air, flitting between sharply dressed men sitting in a board room.
According to the publication's sources, the relationship between Sony and Sony Ericsson has become "frosty," with alleged insider conversations asserting that the gaming giant will "never give its PlayStation branding" to a cellular project. There's been some hesitance on this subject before, with Sony Ericsson's Peter Ahnegard stating, "Up until today we haven't felt we could launch a PlayStation phone because it wouldn't be recognized as a true continuation of that brand of products." Marketing News also notes that sources in Japan and Korea point to the PSP being "converted" into a phone.
Is the PlayStation-branded phone's future in flux? Is such a thing even in development? Will we have it in our mitts during Christmas 2009? This one's too confusing to call.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Those hoping to engage in some frantic side-scrolling shooting, or perhaps read an entire CD-ROM's worth of stilted text with religious overtones, will be pleased to learn that PlayStation classics, Einhänder and Xenogears, are now available for purchase and download on the PSN. And if you'd like to maintain that joyous feeling, you'd better not read the rest of this post, which goes on to append "Japanese" to "PSN."
Gamasutra reports that the cherished Square pair, along with four other titles, Astronaka, Rakugaki Showtime, Raystorm and Fighters' Impact, are now available on the Japanese PSN (we warned you!) for ¥600 ($5.56) each. An unconfirmed NeoGAF translation of Dengeki PlayStation magazine asserts that these games form the first half of 12 classic Square Enix titles to be committed to PSN.
According to Square Enix USA, there are currently no plans to bring any of the titles to the American network.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
In what could be the least impressive PSP firmware update ever, version 4.01 has arrived to ... well, to make version 4.00 not broked, in short, improving the Internet Search and Video features. We were so enjoying that clean .00 ending and we barely get to savor it before that stupid 1 has to come along and spoil the whole party.
If this update were adding any new features, this would be the part of the post where we would explain them, or make some disparaging comment about their usefulness. Instead, it's the part where we come to an awkward, joyless close.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Beginning at 11AM Eastern (9AM Pacific) the PlayStation Network will be down for six hours due to routine scheduled maintenance. We have confirmed with Sony that this is not the PS3 v2.4 update, which will add in-game XMB and trophies.
During the maintenance there will be no access to the PlayStation Store or online play through the PSN. Those who had online plans, feel free to take the opportunity to catch up on your Joystiq reading, we've got plenty of features to burn six hours on.
After the New Games crown was sullied by Jimmy Threenames last week, Justin McElroy has pulled a Kerafyrm and awakened from his slumber, seething with rage. But, before the rampage could even begin in earnest, the beast has been soothed by the music of loads of new games.
You've got Battlefield: Bad Company, Alone in the Dark, Supreme Commander, Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath, Guitar Hero: On Tour and it's the middle of June! What's going on here? We don't know, but whatever it is, we hope it never ends. %Gallery-17120%
The gaming journalism world is an ever-changing maelstrom of high-stress deadlines and headline-making breaking news, so it should come as no surprise that we here at Joystiq absolutely adore routine. Like a freshly-fluffed down pillow, we find comfort in mundane repetition, as it so rarely comes our way. For nearly three months now, we've sat down to compile the sales figures of consoles in Japan, and as sure as the turning of the tide, Sony's gaming handheld would come out on top. It was a simplistic sort of routine, and one we found great solace in.
Alas, this repetition is no more -- with the recent release of a particular cutscene-laden stealth title came an onslaught of PlayStation 3 purchases; a swell that billowed above the trustworthy handheld, cascading over its unsuspecting crown. Will the new king hold down the fort in the following weeks? It is too soon to tell, but regardless, the damage is done. The PS3 has burgled this week's link from the PSP's expansive chain -- and as any blacksmith worth his salt will tell you, a chain with a missing link is not a chain at all, but rather, multiple smaller chains. Unless that link was at the beginning or end of the chain, then we guess it's still a chain. Blacksmiths say that kind of stuff all the time.
Yes, the c-c-c-c-combo is broken. It lies sundered, torn in twain -- as do our hearts.
We've had a love/hate relationship with past iterations of titles featuring our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, though one aspect of every title that we felt was never quite right was the manner in which the beloved web-slinger placed the beatdown upon unsuspecting thugs. Sure, certain games have had entertaining, intuitive combat systems, but none truly captured the way the arachnid protagonist whips up on baddies as he does on ink and paper.
"We're looking into Wii and PSP as a company," Darrah revealed, although "nothing's been decided." BioWare is also intent on broadening its portfolio, Darrah says.
While its forte is definitely in the RPG genre, we have seen solid effort from BioWare in the action category with MDK2 for Sega Dreamcast and PlayStation 2. Company co-founder Greg Zeschuck has previously told Joystiq that he's keen to take another stab at the genre ... it's just a matter of clearing its already very full plate first and catching the right idea.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Sony's CEO Sir Howard Stringer told shareholders today that the company's top priority is to "to restore profitability in our television and game businesses," reports Bloomberg. The games division saw a profit during the last holiday season, and Sony expects PlayStation HQ to report an annual profit for the fiscal year ending March 2009, as well as at least
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Mass Effect creator BioWare likes console development. In fact, it would like to do more of it - on more platforms - so implies Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood project lead Mark Darrah in an interview with Gamasutra.
