Yakuza 3 coming to North America!

Skeptics and rumors can now be tossed into the wind regarding a western release of Sega's 'Yakuza 3' as it would appear that it will be doing just that.

Sega's assistant community manager Aaron Webber announced today on the official Playstation blog that Yakuza 3 will indeed be coming to North American in March as (you guessed it) a Playstation 3 exclusive.

An interesting thing to note is that the game will not be localized with English voice acting and will ultimately rely of subtitles to tell it's story with the Japanese voices intact.

I believe that this is the more realistic and far better approach that Sega could have made as an English cast could have totally ruined this game's credibility on the market.

12/09/09 Colton West

PSP Minis will soon be playable on PS3?

I would not be too surprised if most other PSP gamers found the 'PSP Minis' on the PSN to be a bit pricey just like I do and considering they are only playable on the PSP, does not make them top priority among PSN shoppers especially when you could just buy a PSone Classic or UMD Legacy title in their place. But what if they could also be played on your Playstation 3?

According to various sources that spoke with Joystiq, Sony may be in the process of exploring ways to expand the number of players who buy and play the 'Minis' by making them also available on the PS3. This change (according to the sources) will also be taking place very soon, even possibly before Christmas.

Furthermore, you will be able to play all existing and presumably all future releases as well in a higher resolution on the PS3 giving you a little more added incentive to purchase them.

However, it is unknown at this point whether the 'Minis' can be bought once and played on both systems like the PSone Classics are, or if you would need to purchase them individually for each platform.

It would be a really terrible idea on Sony's part if they decided to do this and charge us more, but I suppose only time will tell.

12/05/09 Colton West

White Knight Chronicles finally coming to North America next year

Could you believe that since 'White Knight Chronicles' was announced, developer Level 5 has released Jeanne D'arc, Rogue Galaxy, and two Professor Layton games and we still haven't been able to get our hands on it?

Could it be that White Knight Chronicles is one of those games similar to Fatal Frame 4 that won't get a North American release and leave all of us wondering "what if?" Well, it's actually coming and this time, we finally have an official release date.

According to the Official Playstation blog, White Knight Chronicles will be hitting our shores on February 2nd of next year in the form of an 'International Edition' that will contain a whole slew of extras. Below is a list of what you can expect to find on the disc.

• Over 50 disc-based online quests. You can complete these quests solo, or cooperatively with up to three other players to gain extra gear and experience.
• Voice Chat.
• The Georama. Build an online village for your character where you can invite friends to complete quests online and purchase unique items and gear.
• Live Talk: Leonard and his companions will have side conversations during gameplay, adding a little more character to your travels through the world of White Knight Chronicles.

12/05/09 Colton West

Massive PSN update this week!

The regular Playstation Network update will not only be arriving two days early this week, but it will also be a massive one featuring tons of new games and other goodies to quench your thirst for content. Below is a list of the games and other content that will be released in the new update, including a PSone game that is one of my favorites of all time.

This is a list of all the PSP content. Little Big Planet PSP and Tekken 6 will be arriving and both will set you back $39.99. Six PSP Minis will also be arriving including: Fortix ($4.99), Pinball Fantasies ($6.99), Blast Off ($2.99), Bloons ($3.99), Kahoots ($4.49), and Let's Golf ($6.99).

The PSone catalogue will also be updating with new games including: Command & Conquer, Dino Crisis, Reel Fishing, Fighting Force, Backstreet Billiards, and International Track & Field.

For the PS3 only, there's a sale on many titles running from now through next Wednesday, December 2. Dropping from $9.99 to $4.99 are Flower, The Last Guy, Prince of Persia Classic, Comet Crash (not to be confused with the newly released Gravity Crash, both of which also have demos available), and Bomberman Ultra.

And dropping in price from $14.99 to $7.49 is Smash Cars and Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao. There's also the sale on the Killzone 2 DLC to celebrate the franchise's five year anniversary, a temporary price drop on Fate Unlimited Codes to $14.99, and the Uncharted 2 Eye of Indra 2 motion comic for just $0.99.

Other new releases include Madden NFL Arcade ($14.99), Diner Dash ($9.99), Gravity Crash ($9.99), and the new Borderlands DLC ($9.99).

That isn't even all of it so if you have the cash to fork over for all this stuff, be sure to pick it up and if you can only afford a few, be sure to pick up Dino-Crisis, especially if you're a fan of survival-horror!

No More Heroes coming to Xbox 360 and PS3

One of the Nintendo Wii's most popular titles is making the switch to the more powerful consoles according to a recent issue of Famitsu magazine.

Not much information has been revealed, but it looks like No More Heroes will be coming to the Xbox 360 and PS3 in February 2010 for 5,800 yen. No information regarding the North American or European release dates has been mentioned, but this new version will be entitled 'No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise' and will contain new features such as Advance Mode, Japanese dubbing, and some Erotic Portrait (what?!).

Owners of these consoles who have a Wii should definitely put this one on their radar. That is, if it ever sees a North American release.

New costumes coming to Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2

Tecmo has recently announced that the PS3 port of Ninja Gaiden 2 entitled 'Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2' will receive a downloadable costume pack. Ayane's Venice Festival Outfit and Ryu's Special White Costume will be released, among others for $3.99 on the Playstation Network on November 19th.

The North American and Japanese versions of the pack will be released first, with the European pack following sometime after. Will this single costume pack be enough to make players go out and buy the game? I'm doubtful but still an interesting distraction.

11/14/09 Colton West

24k Gold Playstation 3. Wow!

They say that money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you a Gold PS3.

A company known as Computer Choppers has created a PS3 Slim console that has been dipped in 24k Gold. We can't even begin to imagine how expensive one of these things will be considering a 24k iPhone sets you back $1,399.

Going out on a limb, my only guess is that it would be over the $10,000 mark, minimum. Also put into consideration that only 5 of these beasts are being created in the first place. Suddenly $10,000 actually sounds a bit cheap right about now.

11/11/09 Colton West

Resident Evil 5: Alternative Edition will come in the form of DLC

A little while back, Capcom asked fans of the 'Resident Evil' franchise to speak their minds and tell the company how they wanted RE5's Alternative Edition to be distributed. Either in a disc or download form. Well, we spoke and Capcom has revealed the verdict.

The expansion pack will be released in North America in Spring 2010 on both the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 marketplaces, but will require the original RE5 disc to run so hopefully you decided to hang on to your copy.

Resident Evil 5: Alternative Edition focuses on events that take place prior to the story of Resident Evil 5 and allows players to play as Jill Valentine. Additionally, the Alternative Edition adds support for Sony's upcoming motion wand controllers for the Playstation 3.

11/10/09 Colton West

Halo Legends Blu-ray gets a release date

If anyone had ever mentioned the words 'Halo' and 'Blu-ray' in the same sentence, people would have laughed it off, but times have changed and the upcoming series of anime shorts based on the Halo universe entitled 'Halo Legends' will be released on February 9th, 2010.

The Blu-ray and DVD versions will both be released on the same day, but the Blu-ray edition will feature an exclusive overview of the series through 'Halo 3' which essentially means PlayStation owners get to finally play Halo. Well sort of.

Resonance of Fate has brand new features

Sega has updated their 'Resonance of Fate' blog with some very interesting new features that should more then please any gamer excited about this one.

Resonance of Fate (End of Eternity in Japan) is the upcoming RPG from tri-Ace, the company behind the popular 'Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope' and the not so popular 'Infinite Undiscovery'.

• SDTV-friendly text - Yes, for those of us who have not yet advanced in the HD world of gaming, Resonance of Fate will feature text that can be read easily on a standard-definition television set which is a life saver. A telescope is required these days to read any sort of text on-screen.
• High music production - The game’s soundtrack will be recorded with a full orchestra and be delivered in 5.1 surround sound. The music will actually change depending on how you are doing in battle.
• Fast load times - This has been promised for both Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions. The game will also support installations on both systems, but the code has be optimized to load quickly without installs.
• No disc swaps - One of the biggest issues on Xbox 360 when it comes to multi-disc games like 'Star Ocean 4' and 'Lost Odyssey' is that you had to constantly switch out the discs, but with Resonance of Fate you don't need to. A single DVD disc (Blu-ray for PS3) will hold the game and the designers say they achieved this by making the cut-scenes real time as opposed to pre-rendered.
• Battle retry option - Ever die in an RPG during a tough boss battle only to restart at your last save point which was at the beginning of the dungeon? Well in this game you will have the option of retrying at the game over screen.
• Quick save anywhere - Unlike many games today that rely on designated save points, Resonance of Fate will feature a save option at any time, even during battles.

Resonance of Fate will be released in Japan on January 28th, 2010, but the North American and European release dates have not been confirmed as of yet.

250GB PS3 now available

The largest capacity PlayStation 3 console has been released which contains a 250GB hard drive and comes in the same "Slim" form as the recently released 120GB model. The best part about this version is that it's only $50 dollars more then the original with a price tag of $349.99, and twice the capacity.

We think that's a pretty good deal, but we understand how people who just bought the 120GB version might be feeling right now.

The console is available through online retailers such like Amazon now.

11/04/09 Colton West