Final Fantasy VII & Metal Gear Solid released on the Playstation Network

Sony has recently released both Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy VII on the Playstation Network in North America for download on both the Playstation Portable and Playstation 3 consoles for $9.99 a game.

Sony has also begun to add many different Playstation games in their Classic Games section on the Playstation Network. Including games like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Mobile Light Force, Resident Evil, and many more.

Sony has also revealed it will be releasing at least 80 Playstation Classics by the end of 2009

The great news is that almost all the Playstation Classics will be available for under ten dollars. No more going on eBay to buy that one rare Playstation game for $100, when you can buy them without the hassle of disc loss and scratches for a great reasonable price!

FUEL by codemasters for the xbox360 and the playstation3

This was a race game that I thought I was going to pass on. It did not help the store I went to had more than thirty copies of the xbox360 version on the shelf. The reason my mind was changed I played a demo version at the store and there where a few kids wanting to play. When I went back to where the games where there was only five copies left. So it made me think is this a better game than I thought it would be.

The first thing to say about this game is the map is huge and there are lots of roads and trail to drive on, but you can also drive any where. Like across a field or through a tree covered forest. This includes in to buildings and trailers if they have a door that is open and under ramps I could not find any invisible walls this was something I like about the game. The vehicles have what I would call a MAD MAX look to them just make sure to pick the best vehicle for the race or challenge you are doing.

I would say I do not like how they did the vehicles wrecks some what disappointing they just respawn. I would say the graphics look very good considering the size of the map. I did not have anything suddenly appear no mater how fast I was going or freezes to load more of the map. The music for the game is a big disappointment it is basic and almost nonexistent so you will need a good playlist to drive with so you will go VRoemmmm (check the forum under music).

Next there is the racing it is easy especially on rookie I won every race the first time, but you can not complete the game at this level you must move up to expert and ledged to win enough stars you also get fuel. Getting stars opens up the map to more races and challenges. You can take short cuts in the race just don’t miss a check point. There is a gps witch does help but not there for all races and challenges. Doing challenges are not that and will help you get fuel witch you spend on vehicles.

By far the most boring and time consuming is getting the vista points and liveries, and the Doppler trucks, fortunately you do not have to do these to get stars. The hours you spend driving around getting them, look out for the drums of fuel they will help you buy vehicles. Watch out for the weather it does add interesting character to the game.

The part of the game that needs the most improvement is the online. The free roam is just driving around the map with other people nothing special. The online racing good luck finding a race a lot of times I got no race to be found, you also can’t select type or anything about the race just totally random. When hosting a race you can select a race you have a star in and you can not change any thing else like vehicles or laps. You can create your own race with more choices. Then if you want to race your friend in a ranked room they will have a hard time finding you.

What I liked

No invisible walls
The vehicles
The weather
The realistic terrain
Full freedom

What I did not care for

The music
Getting vista points and liveries
Could not set time in game (so the sun was always up it was dark at night)
Online all of it

So here is my verdict

Hours of gameplay per $: 10/10 NiSuTe’s Value System
Gameplay: 8/10
Quality: 7/10
Replay: 5/10

Over I give the game a 7.5

Lost Planet 2 demo coming ‘soon,’ features 4-player co-op

Yes we were jealous that Joystiq got their greasy, unworthy hands on a 4-player co-op demo of Lost Planet 2 during our ransacking of E3 2009, you can now cool your jets — according to producer Jun Takeuchi during an appearance on Famitsu’s “Midnight Live 360,” the same demo is coming to Xbox Live “soon.” Actually, Takeuchi’s exact words were, “soon, I guess,” a sentiment that doesn’t exactly fill us with optimism regarding the actual soon-ness of the demo’s release.

Takeuchi showcased a number of new features during the Famitsu program, such as computer-controlled bots, custom weapon sets and character customization, which he explained can be done using items you unlock in tandem with certain achievements. We don’t know whether any of these features will be present in the demo — but if it’s as similar to the E3 demo as Takeuchi says, it should be radical enough without them.

Well my guess is as good as yours but with the gamescon coming up… my guess is somewhere around that time.

Click on the image to discus on the NiSuTe forums

NES gaming review: Duck Tales

Duck tales is probably one of the easiest games on the NES.

The game is from Capcom and was released in Europe on December 1990, in Japan on January 1990 and in North America on September 1989.

When you start up the game, you hear the lovely music from the Duck Tales animated series where this game is based on.

And you also get to choose your game difficulty from the options: Easy, Medium and Hard.

The player controls the character, Uncle Scrooge from Duck Tales throughout the entire game, searching for high worthy treasures to become the wealthiest duck on the planet.

As for attacking the enemies, you can use your cane to pogo them into oblivion, the pogo cane can also be used to open treasure boxes and passages. You can pogo even higher on a treasure that is in the air (which would be most unlikely in real life, because I have never seen a floating treasure box in the air, have you?).

The five stages are basically known areas on the planet. The Amazon, African mines, Transylvania, and the Himalayas., but also the Moon.

Of course every stage has its own kind of enemies. Like the mummies in the Transylvania stage, spiders and other tropical animals in the Amazon and African mine stages, some yeti like creatures in the Himalayas, and some science-fiction like robot ducks at the Moon stage.

Every stage has their own boss you have kill, after they die they drop the stage treasure. After getting your hand on the treasure that drops from the boss of that stage, the stage is no longer playable.

After the stages are all completed, the game is done.

But there are 2 hidden treasures in the game, when you have found them and completed the game with at least 10.000.000 Dollars, you will get an alternate ending screen.

When crossing a certain spot (that is invisible) in the screen in a stage or kill an enemy, they will drop either food to regain health, or a small or big diamond to get more money.

There are some characters in the game you can just talk to that give hints throughout the stages, like non-player characters. Heuy, Dewey and Louie –Your nephews, who pop up in various places in the game, mostly to give hints or to restrict areas. Webby – Does about the same as the nephews, provides hints and restricts areas. Gizmo Duck – Comes for a brief moment to blast a wall open for you in The Moon stage. Launchpad McQuack – Helps you to get across a pitfall in the Amazon stage and is found in every stage except for Transylvania, where you have the option of returning to Duckburg. When you meet to certain of his conditions, you will enter a bonus round. Launchpad can only be used once per stage. Gyro Gearloose – (got to love his name, Gearloose ha-ha) can only be met in the bonus stage, where he launches diamonds at Scrooge. Mrs. Beakley – Turns up in certain stages and drops food for you to regain health. Bubba – He’s a caveman that provides you with an extra heart, if you free him in the Himalaya stage. Magica De Spell – You will get to fight here in the Transylvania stage, you can say she is like a boss. Flintheart Glomgold – You have to stop him and reach the treasure box before he does. The Beagle Boys – They show up occasionally in the game to either guard a passage or to take your nephews captive.

As I was growing up I used to love to game and I still do today, we didn’t own this game ourselves, so I had to borrow it from a friend. But it was totally worth it. If you like retro gaming, you should really try this game. The stages are nice, the music is good, over-all it’s just an excellent game.

Capcom has proven itself worthy of making games back then and today they still do with games like Resident evil, Devil may cry, Lost Planet and Monster hunter.

Joystiq: Sony considering iPhone competitor

Sony is considering a gaming/phone hybrid device as a direct competitor to the iPhone, according to Nikkei Business Daily (Via Reuters). Unless you’re new to the Sony Phone rumor mill, a gaming/phone hybrid has long since been rumored to be in development, but has been denied by the Japanese hardware manufacturer.

Sony currently develops mobile devices with Swedish partner Ericsson. In early 2009, MobileToday sources claimed Sony Ericsson had pitched the idea of a PlayStation-branded phone to Sony Corp, but was denied the rights to use the trademark. The rumor went on to further claim Sony only plans to license a PlayStation phone if the company plans to make handsets independently from Ericsson. In May 2009, Sony Ericsson president Hideki Komiyama stated that his company was destined to “lose” if they did not adapt to the “new technology and new market environment” — presumably referring to Apple’s iPhone.

According to the new rumor, Sony plans to set up a project team to develop the new device, which will combine functions of the PSP and Sony Ericsson’s mobile phones. A PSP phone? Just imaginehow much that mythical beast would cost.

ZeniMax Media Acquires id Software

News broke this morning that ZeniMax Media has acquired id software.  Geoff Keighley of Spike TV announced it today via facebook, and shortly posted the press release thereafter.

To say that this acquisition is huge would be a crime to the actual event.  This is one of the largest mergers to happen since Activision and Vivendi Universal brought franchises like Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and World of Warcraft together.

With id settled firmly in the family of developers under ZeniMax, franchises like Doom and Wolfenstein will be mentioned in the same breath with The Elder Scrolls and Fallout.

The release goes on, stating, “The acquisition by ZeniMax Media joins together two of the finest, most respected videogame developers in the world, combining the first person shooter (FPS) expertise of id Software with acclaimed role playing game (RPG) developer Bethesda Game Studios”

Could this mean that a joint effort between Bethesda and id bring the fully realized FPS / RPG that Bethesda has been aiming for since the release of Fallout 3?  It most certainly looks like it, and gamers are salivating for the chance at experiencing what these two studios could come up with.

Todd Hollenshead, CEO of id Software states, “This was a unique opportunity to team with a smart, sophisticated publisher like Bethesda Softworks where the interests of the studio and the publisher will be fully aligned in the development and marketing of our titles.  In addition, we will now have financial and business resources to support the future growth of id Software, a huge advantage which will result in more and even better games for our fans.”

John Carmack, the founder of id Software will continue to be directed by him.  To Carmack, this type of acquisition gives id Software the opportunity for growth as they are now backed by a publisher that features board members like Jerry Bruikheimer and Robert Altman.  The backing of this powerhouse publisher gives id plenty of financial resources as they work on their newest IP, Rage.

In an article on gameindustry.biz, Robert Altman offers his two cents, “We, along with many others, consider id Software to be among the finest game studios in the world, with extraordinary design, artistic and technical capabilities,”

John Carmack went on to tell Kotaku about past publishing woes, “We’re really getting kind of tired competing with our own publishers in terms of how our titles will be featured. And we’ve really gotten more IPs than we’ve been able to take advantage of. And working with other companies hasn’t been working out as spectacularly as it could. So the idea of actually becoming a publisher and merging Bethesda and ZeniMax on there [is ideal],”

The best part of this deal is that id Software will remain untouched.  This news is a silver lining to the torrents of layoffs that have happened with other publishers and developers.  Usually, horrific damage is left in the wake of an acquisition, but this development shows that mergers don’t always mean layoffs and cutbacks.

Discussion Topic

Danimal: Mecho Wars Review

Mecho Wars isn’t a title that attempts to redefine the turn-based strategy genre.  It isn’t something that will shatter the earth or make a man find religion.  What it is, though, is a title that will charm, enthrall and dazzle you with its simplicity.  Another thing that Mecho Wars is not, is simple.  Behind the facade of cute, yet twisted characters, is a deep strategy game that will keep you glued to your iPhone or iPod Touch on those long commutes.

Mecho Wars is the brain-child of Luc Bernard, creator of Eternities Child.  The stylistic presentation is quite faithful to EC with Bernard’s creative artistic blend of Tim Burton and Dr. Seuss.

Presentation

Mecho Wars is a turn-based strategy game, much like Advance Wars and Fire Emblem.  There are three modes in this game: campaign, challenge and multiplayer.

The campaign mode is your standard single-player romp through Mecho Wars’ story.  The game starts out simple by introducing players to the game mechanics.  I enjoyed this as the game allowed the player to become fully situated with how each unity works.  Most strategy titles seem to throw everything at the player after the 2nd or 3rd mission, so this is a great game for people playing TBS games for the first time.

Challenge mode is simply a single player skirmish.  Multiplayer mode allows for online play (coming soon) and device sharing.  Players trade the iPhone between each other to make their moves during these device sharing.  The menue system is very simple and clean.  Simplicity is often a good thing, but I felt that a small tutorial for explaining the tap feature would have been a nice addition.

The art style of Mecho Wars is fantastic.  You would be hard pressed to find a better looking title than this.  The world is quite detailed with charming characters and a land scape that seems to be very Wind Waker-esque.  The way I can best describe Bernard’s art style is that it is as if Tim Burton re-made “A Nightmare Before Christmas” while tripping balls on acid.  The game is not dark in any way, but more twisted, as if Bernard has a severe case of mania.  We’re only so lucky if that is the kind of glimpse we can get of what he sees in his mind.

Sean Beeson provides an industrial inspired soundtrack that has almost ethereal elements.  Mobile games have never impressed me with a soundtrack like Mecho Wars has.  In fact, I didn’t expect much by way of the sound.  I was pleasantly surprised.

Gameplay

Turn-based strategy games play very similarly to a game of chess.  Certain units can travel either a long distance or short distance, which is depicted by squares.  The radius of squares that surrounds the unit are the squares that it can move to.  Smaller units can move farther than larger units and air units can fly over water.

Mecho Wars combines turn-based strategy with unit and resource management.  The mechanic works well and the control of resources can really swing the flow of the battle.  Each side has a base with an HQ, factories and barracks.  Factories generate revenue at the start of each turn.  Barracks generate infantry every two turns.

Weather and terrain plays a major role in Mecho Wars as bodies of water will be frozen during the night.  This allows land based units to move freely over the water.  When the water melts, all units on the water will be destroyed.  Terrain also allows for movement or attack bonuses and units can use a cactus to recover.

The player uses his finger to manipulate the movements of troops on the battle field.  This works well for the most part, but I felt that some fine-tuning could still be used.  I found that a single tap was sometimes read as a double tap and that often made for some frustrating moments.  The A.I. is quite schizophrenic.  It often seems as though the A.I. has terrible prioritizing as I was able to capture bases without so much as a little bit of resistance.

For example, on one mission there were two land masses linked by 3 bridges.  The middle and right sides were at a complete stalemate, while the left side was left completely open.  I was able to take one infantry unit up that left side and capture the base without any resistance.  The enemy units totally disregarded my infantry unit and that took me out of the game a bit.

The Final Verdict

The Good: Awesome artistic vision, soundtrack and overall presentation.  The game runs smoothly with literally no hitches that I found.

The Bad: No Multiplayer. Tap feature needs some work. Single taps were sometimes read as double taps.

The Ugly:  The A.I. definitely needs some work on prioritizing units to engage with.

BUY THIS: Despite the A.I. flaws, this game is challenging and very fun to play.  It is currently $4.99 on iTunes which is an absolute steal for this caliber of a game. (10/10 NiSuTe’s Value System)

GamesCom Is Coming And We’re Going

With less than two months until Europe tries to transplant the tremendous success of the Leipzig Gamescon to the more centrally located Cologne Gamescom, the festival’s backers tell us things are looking good.

The 2009 Gamescom already has 300 exhibitors registered from 25 countries with more than 40 percent of them coming from abroad. The event, which will fill the 120,000 square meters of exhibition space at the Koelnmesse Trade Fair Tower, runs from Aug. 19 to Aug. 23.

“These figures confirm that Cologne’s trade fair centre, with its international network, its infrastructure and its connection to international transportation routes, is the ideal location for the games industry’s leading trade fair,” said managing director of Koelnmesse Oliver P. Kuhrt.

Among the confirmed developers for the show are Activision Blizzard, Capcom, Electronic arts, Microsoft, Square Enix, Take Two, Konami, Sony, Warner Brothers, dtp Entertainment, NCsoft and Funcom.

The show will also have gaming zones focused on different themes including, lifestyle, sport, action and adventure and E-Sport.

Finally, the show is going to trop and beat the cosplay world record, hoping to gather more than 400 cosplayers to the event. Yes, cosplayers in inhibition-free Germany!

Capcom to provide Lost Planet 2′s game engine to its external studios

Capcom’s practices haven’t changed much over the years. The company has been using MT Framework — an internal engine designed for multiplatform use — for quite some time now. It’s powered many games over the years, including Dead Rising, Devil May Cry 4, and Resident Evil 5. With the release of Lost Planet 2, however, the company is poised to introduce the next evolution of its multiplatform engine, MT Framework 2.0. Capcom has high hopes for 2.0, and is actually going to provide the engine to its external contract studios, RE5 producer Jun Takeuchi told Game Watch. This is a first for the company, which used the first engine as its be-all, end-all means for making games.

MT Framework 1 was always designed to be an internal engine; Capcom saw MT Framework 1 as an essential tool of its own to create games. After having great success with the engine over many years, however, folks started asking about using it. So, Capcom kept that in mind when creating the new engine, which the company said won’t be outsourced as part of its business (like Epic does with its Unreal Engine, for example), but, again, will be provided to its external contract studios for use.

Kotaku: Tales of Vesperia Anime Trailer

Here’s 90 second look at the Tales of Vesperia ~ The First Strike ~ film from anime studio Production I.G.

Voice actors include Mamoru Miyano (who voiced Light in Death Note and Riku in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II) as Flynn Scifo, Mai Nakahara (who voiced Rena in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and Nagisa in Clannad) as Estellise Sidos Heurassein, and Kosuke Toriumi (who voiced Junpei Iori in Persona 3) as Yuri Lowell.

The First Strike is set before Namco Bandai’s Tales of Vesperia game and opens in Japanese theaters on October 3.

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