This week’s new releases! April 11th -17th

Well it seems like we’re still in a bit of a rut as far as new releases go. Yes, it’s another week of re-releases, ports and casual gaming all round. Yaaaaaaaaaaay!  Oh, and for the absolutely minuscule number of people who would care, this week also sees the release of Super Robot Wars Z2 part 1 over in Japan. I bet you’re all very exited! What just me? Bah, philistines!

Noteworthy titles

Michael Jackson: The Experience (Xbox360/PS3)

Experience the resurrection on the king of pop in his new (slightly creepy) digitized form! In a way this rhythm action game has been out for quite a while, specifically on the PSP/Wii/DS since November last year. The response from critics wasn’t exactly enthusiastic back then, perhaps indicating that Nintendo’s post Kinect/Move motion tracking tech just doesn’t “wow” like it used to and that portable versions of console games still kinda suck. Not that it matters though, those versions still went on to sell well over 3 million copies in total. Considering the feedback from this new HD console edition has actually been rather positive so far, one can only assume that number is going to rise quite fast in the coming weeks.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable (PSP)

If you’re lucky enough to live across the pond in the USA then you’ve probably had easy access to this game since early July last year. Man, isn’t living in Europe awesome? Anyway, this re-release/make of the PS2 classic RPG features numerous improvements over the original: an optional female protagonist, the ability to control your teammates in battle (No, you couldn’t do that before. Yes, it was stupid.)  new music tracks, two new difficulties and a cameo appearance by Vincent, the protagonist of the hotly anticipated Xbox 360/PS3 title Catharine.  However it’s far from the “definitive” version of Persona 3, a lot of stuff has been scaled back in order to get it onto the now rather antiquated PSP: all the anime cutscenes have been removed, various graphical elements have been massively simplified (and they weren’t that great to begin with) and worst of all it lacks the extra story campaigns added in the PS2 “FES” expansion pack. Hopefully once the NGP hits we can say goodbye these sorts of compromises.

Patapon 3

The world’s best (likely only) rhythm action strategy game returns after a short hiatus, finally giving PSP owners who don’t live in/import from Japan something new to actually play on their device that isn’t a port or remake. Again though, it’s not exactly a “new” title as such; much like Patapon 2 it’s exceptionally similar to the original but now with a much bigger emphasis on multiplayer and RPG mechanics. That’s not exactly something to complain about as the original Patapon was really badass, but I have to wonder how much longer they can keep this up without any major changes….

Full Schedule

Multiplatfrom
Michael Jackson: The Experience (requires PlayStation Move/Kinect peripheral)  (PS3/Xbox 360)
WSC Real 11: World Snooker Championship 2011 (X360/PS3)

PSP
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable
Patapon 3

DS
Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy
LEGO Ninjago: The Videogame
Bookworm

PC
Elements of War Online
Men of War: Assault Squad

Wii
Spongebob Squigglepants (requires uDraw peripheral)

Xbox 360
Dead Rising 2 (Classics re-relese)
Kinect: Fantastic Pets (requires Kinect peripheral)

UK Charts: Crysis 2 Gets Knocked Off Top by Zumba Fitness

EA’s top dog Crysis 2 has now been knocked off top spot by Zumba Fitness. The release of the title last week for the Wii and Xbox 360 has topped the UK charts this week, due to this Crysis 2 has been pushed down to second.

Full top ten for the week ending April 9, 2011 is below.

Zumba Fitness (Pipeworks Software, Majestico Entertainment)
Crysis 2 (Crytek, EA)
LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (Traveller’s Tales, LucasArts)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters (EA Sports, EA)
Shift 2: Unleashed (Slightly Mad Studios, EA)
Homefront (Kaos Studios, THQ)
WWE All Stars (THQ San Diego, THQ)
Pokemon Black (Gamefreak, Nintendo)
Pokemon White (Gamefreak, Nintendo)
Dynasty Warriors 7 (Koei)

Playstation Store Updates (7th April 2011)

Here are all the latest updates to arrive to the Playstation Store this week for all European customers (subject to availability, which will be noted on certain products and titles).

Highlight this week is of course the SOCOM: Special Forces Multiplayer Beta, which hits the main store this week after being available exclusively to Playstation Plus users. It will be available for only a week so get your skates on. To read our impressions of the Multiplayer beta click here.

Special offers for Playstation Plus users come thick and fast this week, as the newly released Red Faction Battlegrounds, is available for free. Red Faction Battlegrounds is also available to general PSN users for a meagre £6.29. Dungeon Hunter: Alliance also arrives to the Playstation store, setting you back £9.99. But there is a 25% discount for all Playstation Plus users who wish to purchase.

An addition to Killzone 3’s excellent online experience comes in the form of the Steel Rain Pack, with all brand new maps to team up and gun down your foes. This add-on is free for all Playstation Plus users, but don’t fret if you don’t have a PS+ account, because you can get your hands on it for only £3.99.

Plenty to go around ladies and gents, enjoy!

Special Offers for a limited time (until 13th April 2011):

• Faery: Legends of Avalon (was – £11.99/€14.99 now – £7.19/€8.99)

• Spectral Souls: RotEE (PSP) (was – £13.99/€17.99 now – £9.99/€12.99)

• WWII: Battle over the Pacific (PSP) (was – £6.99/€7.99 now – £4.79/€5.99)

• StateShift (PSP) (was – £6.99/€7.99 now – £4.79/€5.99)

• International Athletics (PSP) (was – £6.99/€7.99 now – £3.99/€4.99)

• Skate Park City (PSP) (was – £6.99/€7.99 now – £4.79/€5.99)

• World of Pool (PSP) (was – £6.99/€7.99 now – £3.99/€4.99)

• Spinout (PSP) (was – £6.99/€7.99 now – £3.99/€4.99)

• Sports Superbike 2 (PSone) (was – £3.59/€2.99 now – £1.99/€2.49)

• All-Star Boxing (PSone) (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £2.39/€2.99)

• Ace Armstrong vs. The Alien Scumbags (mini) (was – £3.99/€4.99 now – £0.99/€1.19)

• Card Shark (mini) (was – £2.49/€2.99 now – £0.99/€1.19)

Brand New Price Reductions:

• Arcade Darts – Reduced to £1.74/€1.99

• Arcade Air Hockey and Bowling – Reduced to £1.99/€2.49

• Soccer Bashi – Reduced to £1.99/€2.49

• 101-in-1 Megamix – Reduced to £7.99/€9.99

• Fading Shadows – Reduced to £3.99/€4.99

Trial and Full Game Unlocks for the Playstation 3:

• MAG (£24.99/€29.99)

Full Games for the Playstation 3:

• Dungeon Hunter: Alliance (£9.99/€12.99)

• Red Faction: Battlegrounds (£6.29/€7.99)

• Penny Arcade Adventures: Episode 1 And 2 Bundle (£11.99/€14.99)

(Please Note: Not available in Israel, Kuwait and Ukraine)

Full Games for the Playstation Portable:

• Gods Eater Burst (£23.99/€29.99)

(Please Note: Not available in Australia, Israel, Kuwait, New Zealand and Ukraine)

Minis for Playstation 3 and Playstation Portable:

• Karoshi (£2.49/€2.99)

(Please Note: Not available in Israel, Kuwait and Ukraine)

Demos for the Playstation 3:

• SOCOM: Special Forces Multiplayer Beta

(Please Note: Not available in Germany)

• MotorStorm Apocalypse Single Player Demo

(Please Note: Not available in Germany or New Zealand)

Add-on Packs for Playstation 3 Titles:

• Killzone 3 – Steel Rain Map Pack (£3.99/€4.99)

(Please Note: Not Available in Croatia, Czech Republic and Greece)

• Stacking The Lost Hobo King (£3.19/€3.99)

• My Aquarium – Underwater Glamour Set 2 (£0.79/€0.99)

• Test Drive Unlimited 2

o Aston Martin DBS Carbon Edition (£0.79/€0.99)
o Aston Martin V12 Vantage Carbon Black Edition (£0.79/€0.99)
o Audi RS 5 Coupe (£0.79/€0.99)
o Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport (£0.79/€0.99)
o Caterham Superlight R 500 (£0.79/€0.99)
o Chevrolet Camaro Synergy Special Edition (£0.79/€0.99)
o Ferrari 612 Sessanta (£0.79/€0.99)
o Ford Shelby GT 500 (£0.79/€0.99)
o Jaguar Xxr Speed Pack And Black Pack (£0.79/€0.99)
o Pagani Zonda Tricolore (£0.79/€0.99)

• Hyperdimension Neptunia

o Black Heart Booster 1 (£0.79/€0.99)
o Compa Booster 1 (£0.79/€0.99)
o Green Heart Booster 1 (£0.79/€0.99)
o If Booster 1 (£0.79/€0.99)
o Neptune Booster 1 (£0.79/€0.99)
o White Heart Booster 1 (£0.79/€0.99)

• EyePet – Sealife Styling Pack (£2.39/€2.99)

• LittleBigPlanet – MotorStorm Apocalypse Mini Pack (£2.39/€2.99)

• ModNation Racers – El Snake-O Pack (£1.39/€1.75)

• Splatterhourse

o Lost Island (£1.19/€1.49)
o Survival Arena 4-Pack (£2.99/€3.59)

(Please Note: Not Available in Germany)

• Yoostar 2

o Rueben Commits A Dating Foul (£1.39/€1.75)
o Row, Row, Row Your Boat (£1.39/€1.75)
o I’m Done Being A Rogue (£1.39/€1.75)
o I Ask You For Justice (£1.39/€1.75)
o Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolates (£1.39/€1.75)
o I Know What Love Is (£1.39/€1.75)
o Inside Dr. Lecter’S Cell (£1.39/€1.75)
o You Lost My Bag! (£1.39/€1.75)
o Khaaan! (£1.39/€1.75)
o Dorothy Meets The Cowardly Lion (£1.39/€1.75)
o You Work Under An Alias? (£1.39/€1.75)
o Turquoise Lagoon And Waterfall (£0.59/€0.75)
o Star Trek 5-Pack (£4.39/€5.49)
o Blockbusters! Scene Pack (£4.39/€5.49)

(Please Note: Not Available in Belgium, India, Netherlands, Portugal, Russian Federation, Turkey and Ukraine)

• Rock Band 3

o The Loco-Motion – Grand Funk Railroad (£0.99/€1.49)
o We’Re An American Band – Grand Funk Railroad (£0.99/€1.49)
o Freeze-Frame – J. Geils Band (£0.99/€1.49)
o Love Will Tear Us Apart – Joy Division (£0.99/€1.49)

(Please Note: Not Available in Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, India, Israel, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Poland, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, South Africa, Turkey, Ukraine, UAE)

• Def Jam Rapstar

o Eve – Who’s That Girl (€1.49)
o Young Money – Every Girl (€1.49)
(Please Note: Not Available in Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom)
o Ghostface Killah – Chercez Laghost (£1.19/€1.49)
o Method Man & Redman – How High (£1.19/€1.49)
o Raekwon – Ice Cream (£1.19/€1.49)
o Wu Tang Clan – Protect Your Neck (£1.19/€1.49)

(Please Note: Only available in Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain and United Kingdom)

Add-on Packs for Playstation Portable Titles:

• Buzz UK Culture Quiz Pack (£3.19/€3.99)

(Please Note: Not Available in Croatia, Czech Republic and Greece)

• Lord Of Arcana – DLC Pack 4 (free)

(Please Note: Not Available in Israel, Kuwait or Ukraine)

Firstplay by Official Playstation Magazine UK:

• FirstPlay Episode 52 (£0.99/€1.20)

(Please Note: Only Available in Ireland and UK)

Avatars for Playstation 3:

• Blue Toad Murder Files Avatars (£0.20/€0.25 each)

o Antique Shop Owner
o Baker
o Barmaid
o Blue Toad
o Butcher
o Chef
o Clerk
o Colonel
o Constable
o Cow 1
o Cow 2
o Dick Dickenson
o Doctor
o Hannah Dakota
o Hotel Manager
o Inspector Bragg
o Jeweller
o Lady Snobbish
o Lambert Vanderbosh
o Librarian
o Majorie Maple
o Mayor
o Miller
o Moses
o Mrs Bothersome
o Mrs Gossip
o Postman
o Sheep 1
o Sheep 2
o Station Master
o Vicar
o Watson

• Absolute Supercars (£0.20/€0.25 each)

o 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa V1
o 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa V2
o 1962 Ferrari 250 Gto V1
o 1962 Ferrari 250 Gto V2
o 1963 Ferrari 250 Lm V1
o 1963 Ferrari 250 Lm V2
o 1967 Ferrari 330 P4 V1
o 1967 Ferrari 330 P4 V2
o 1969 Ferrari 365 Gts4 V1
o 1969 Ferrari 365 Gts4 V2
o 1970 Ferrari 512 M V1
o 1970 Ferrari 512 M V2
o 1970 Ferrari 512 S V1
o 1970 Ferrari 512 S V2
o 1984 Ferrari Gto V1
o 1984 Ferrari Gto V2
o 1987 Ferrari F40 V1
o 1987 Ferrari F40 V2
o 1989 Ferrari 348 Tb V1
o 1989 Ferrari 348 Tb V2
o 1993 Ferrari 348 Challenge V1
o 1993 Ferrari 348 Challenge V2
o Ferrari 365 Gtb4 Competizione V1
o Ferrari 365 Gtb4 Competizione V2
• Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower (£0.20/€0.25 each)
o Anakaris Avatar
o Baby Bonnie Hood Avatar
o Demitri Maximoff Avatar
o Donovan Avatar
o Felica Avatar
o Felicia 2 Avatar
o Hsien-Ko Avatar
o Jedah Dohma Avatar
o Jon Talbain Avatar
o Lilith Aensland Avatar
o Lord Raptor Avatar
o Morrigan 2 Avatar
o Morrigan Avatar
o Oboro Bishamon Avatar
o Q-Bee Avatar
o Rikuo Avatar
o Sasquatch Avatar
o Victor Von Gerdenheim Avatar

• Dead Rising 2 (£0.20/€0.25 each)

o Chuck Avatar
o Fat Lady Zombie Avatar
o Zombie Cop Avatar

• Beat Sketcher Avatar Bundle 4 (£0.79/€0.99 or £0.20/€0.25 each)

o Paint4
o Paint5
o Paint6
o Paint7
o Paint8

• Motor Storm Apocalypse (£0.20/€0.25 each)

o SA Urban Avatar
o MSA Burning Avatar

• Tales From Space: About A Blob (£0.20/€0.25 each)

o Angel Cat
o Cow
o Devil Cat
o Green Blob
o Hungry Blob
o Orange Blob
o Piano Puss
o Scientist

Premuim Themes for Playstation 3:

• Premier Manager

o Soccer Theme 1 (£1.19/€1.49)
o Soccer Theme 2 (£1.19/€1.49)
o Soccer Theme 3 (£1.19/€1.49)

Dynamic Themes for Playstation 3:

• Smobile Themes

o Abstract Smoke Theme 3 (£1.25/€1.59)
o Abstract Theme (£1.25/€1.59)

• Yakuza 4 Character Theme (£1.99/€2.49)

• MotorStorm Apocalypse Themes

o Pro Dynamic Theme (£1.59/€1.99)
o Rookie Dynamic Theme (£1.59/€1.99)

Wallpapers for the Playstation 3:

• Space Ace Wallpaper (free)

Videos of Playstation 3 Titles:

• Crysis 2

o Be Fast Trailer
o Be Invisible Trailer
o Prophets Journey Trailer

• Dragon Age 2

o Launch Trailer
o TV Spot

• Deus Ex: Human Revolution – Freedom of Choice Trailer

• Ridge Racer Unbounded – Debut Trailer

• Need for Speed Shift 2 Unleashed – Authenticity Realism Trailer

• Might & Magic Clash of Heroes – Gameplay Trailer

No, the Japanese earthquake disaster is NOT delaying NGP outside of Japan!

Back on Tuesday we reported that Sony Computer Entertanimed America president Jack Tretton was quoted as suggesting the damage caused by the recent natural disaster “may be the straw that says ‘maybe we get to just one market [with the NGP] by the end of the year’’ which most people interpreted to mean “Sorry guys, but Japan will be getting the NGP way before you English speaking folks”.

Well it looks Mr Tretton has now been put in his place by a spokesmen from Sony Computer Entertainment Japan who claims that Tretton’s statement was simply “wrong” and that the true official word on the matter is that “So far we see no impact from the quake on our launch plan,” meaning that at the moment they’re on track to launch the NGP globally by the end of the year. Damage control, another example of Sony’s poor communication between divisions or perhaps a bit of both? Who knows. I guess only time (or yet another E3 info leak) will tell.

Japanese earthquake disaster delaying NGP outside of Japan?

It seems like every day now we hear more and more Japanese game companies announcing that their titles have been either delayed our outright canceled becuse of “various reasons” which is quickly become an extremely unsubtle and unnecessary code phrase for “That natural disaster that just killed thousands of people and severally damaged our countries infrastructure”.

So I have to hand it to Sony (America) President Jack Tretton for just straight up admitting that the destruction the earthquake/tsunami combo dealt to their Japanese factories “may be the straw that says ‘maybe we get to just one market [with the NGP] by the end of the year’’”. Hmm I wonder which market that will end up being? The one where the PSP is much loved and managed to outsell the newly released 3DS or the other markets where it’s quickly becoming irrelevant?

Don’t quote me on this, but I think it’s a pretty safe bet that we won’t be seeing the NGP over in the English speaking world quite as soon as we would have hoped. But at least if Sony keep to tradition and don’t region lock the device then there’s always the import option for those with very little patients…… (read: me)

I suppose there’s one possible silver lining to this dark dark cloud; by the time the NGP’s eventual English release comes around, publishers will hopefully have had enough time to throw together a line up of launch titles that don’t suck. Nintendo’s worldwide mass market appeal is enough to let them  get away with having a lackluster selection of early titles on any platform they put out. Sony on the other hand? Not so much.

If you want to help out with the Japanese Tsunami relief effort, Red Cross is always a good place to start. Alternatively PlayStation users can donate directly through the PSN.

This week’s new releases! April 4th-10th

I’m not going to lie to you, I’ve been doing this article every week for 5 months and this is by far the worst release schedule yet, and that includes that one week back in January where literally nothing came out. Sure there are some good titles on this week’s list, but they’re all just re-releases of stuff that came out months (if not years) ago. The lack of new titles could possibly be part of some sort of calculated strategy by the publishers, although it’s not as if they have much to compete with from last week so perhaps it’s just a really annoying conicidence.

Noteworthy titles

No, not that Duke Nukem! The other one! Jeez it’s really hard for me to not feel so damm sorry for Critical Mass and not just because it’s constantly overshadowed by it’s bigger brother. This third person shooter seems to have been stuck in development hell since at least 2008, nearly got released under the name Extraction Point: Alien Shootout when 3D Realms went under, and is also supposedly part of the massively under publicized Duke Nukem Trilogy for the DS and PSP (which had possibly the best trailer in the history of E3).

Considering after all these years of development it still looks like an extremely low budget PS1 game, I wouldn’t hold your breath on ever seeing the other two members of the trilogy. In fact, the only reason I can think of that this title is seeing a release at all is so that the publishers can attempt to cut their losses by riding the hype surrounding Duke Nukem Forever. Hell I’d be surprised if they even got around to releasing the PSP version once this DS one hits the bargain bins.

What you want more? uhh….. Kinect: Carnival games! The shovelware classic that somehow became the Wii’s most popular 3rd party title FINALY makes it’s way to the Xbox 360. Enjoy over TWENTY carnival themed minigames including batting cages, hot air balloon racing and fortune telling! It’s fun for all the…… fam………. ugh… whatever. Just have a nice week guys, hopefully I’ll have something more interesting to talk about next time around.

Full Schedule

Multiplatfrom

Brunswick Pro Bowling (PlayStation Move/Kinect compatible) (PS3/Xbox 360)

PSP
LocoRoco 2 (PSP Essentials re-release)
Namco Museum: Battle Collection (PSP Essentials re-release)
ATV Offroad Fury Pro (PSP Essentials re-release)
Echochrome (PSP Essentials re-release)
Fat Princess (PSP Essentials re-release)
God Of War: Ghost Of Sparta (Platinum re-release)

DS
100 Classic Games
Magical Zhu Zhu Princess: Carriages & Castles
Duke Nukem: Critical Mass
Disney Friends

PC
Tales Of Monkey Island: Collector’s Edition (PC & Mac)
Tales Of Monkey Island: Premium Edition (PC & Mac)
Wildlife Park 3

PS3
PlayStation Move: EyePet – Move Edition (Platinum re-release)

Xbox 360
Kinect: Carnival Games – In Action!

The spirit of Odin Sphere returns with Grand Knights History

Looks like Japanese developers Vanillaware are ready to give us a first look at Grand Knights History for the PSP, which alongside 2009’s Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii) looks to be another much warranted spiritual successor to their lusciously beautiful cult classic Odin Sphere.

There’s not much in the way of gameplay details at the moment other than it’s a turn based RPG in which you customise one of 3 orders of knights in the realm of Ristia. Regardless of how it plays, you can always be fairly certain that anything Vanillaware puts out is going too look beautiful, which is an expectation that these screenshots go a long way to support.

It’s currently scheduled for release sometime this summer in Japan and possibly North America/Europe at a later date as all Vanillaware’s RPGs have manged to reach English shores in the past. That said, with the PSP struggling to stay alive outside of Japan and the NGP set to replace it at the end of the year, Grand Knights History getting an English translation is far from a dead cert.

For more information in the form strange mythical runes, head over to the official site.

This week’s new releases! March 28th – April 3rd

Looks like things have calmed down quite a bit after last week’s rather cramped schedule. Probably for the best as everyone is likely still busy either playing Crysis 2 multiplayer or lamenting the small range of decent titles on their kick-ass 3DSs (spoiler: that situation has not improved this week). However there’s still a few interesting titles to be found if you’ve already had enough of shooting dudes or pining for Mario.

Highlights

The much delayed Motorstorm Apocalypse finally hits the shelves this week after recovering from some rather serious distribution issues, namely that Sony kinda felt that selling a game about a city decimated by natural disasters would be in somewhat bad taste less than a week after an earthquake/tsunami killed thousands of people in Japan. We might actually see quite a few foreigners importing this game from Blighty (wow that makes a change) as the US release date is still TBA and I think we can rule out any Asian version for the foreseeable future.

So what about the game itself? Well it’s just more of the same Burnout style vehicular mayhem but in a post-apocalyptic setting and with ……….a story mode? Not to sure about how that’s going to work in a racing game, but at least it’s something different I guess.

What would a release schedule be without the traditional ultra niche simulation game for the PC? Boring as hell, that’s what! So I present to you Driving Simulator 2011: Vehicle Collection, a truly groundbreaking title that simulates the experience of driving a car. I can’t really think of much else to say about it other than that, and evidently the publishers couldn’t either considering the press release listed “a uniquely constructed 3D world” as a feature. I was under the impression that sort of thing was expected of all games these days.

If that still wasn’t enough to sedate your desire for digital motorcars then we’ve also got Need For Speed Shift 2: Unleashed (or simply Shift 2: Unleashed depending on where you’re from) which is supposedly going to “redefine the racing simulator genre”. So does that mean Driving Simulator 2011 is going to be obsolete on day one? Damm, better cancel my pre-order then. While Shift 2 is probably going to offer a radically different experience from the smash hit Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (the one from 2010, not 1998) EA are at least going to reuse its “Autolog” social networking system, a wise move considering Hot Pursuit just won a BAFTA for multiplayer content.

Now there’s probably a few of you wondering what the hell The 3rd Birthday is. Well basically it’s the third game in the Parasite Eve series, a much loved RPG franchise that’s been on an 11 year hiatus since the late PS1 era. I can only assume Square Enix decided not to call it Parasite Eve 3 because they evidently have some kind of policy that dictates all their portable games must have utterly ludicrous names.

As a massive fan of Parasite Eve 2 I was overjoyed when I first heard 3rd Birthday had shifted development to the PSP instead of the originally intended Japanese mobile phones. However that enthusiasm diminished somewhat when I realised Square made the rather curios decision of taking the series away from it’s Resident Evil inspired survival horror roots and instead turned it into a third-person cover based shooter with body swapping mechanics. Oh god, that exact combination of words brings back deeply unpleasant memories.

The only other thing I can see worth much of a mention in my book is the ultra perverted and ridiculously named Ar Tonelico: Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel, an RPG I incorrectly documented in last week’s list. My bad!

Full Schedule

Multi
WWE All Stars (PSP/PS3/PS2/Xbox360/wii) [Yes, it’s coming out on PS2. No, I don’t get it either.]
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters (WII)
Need For Speed Shift 2: Unleashed (PC/Xbox360/PS3)

PS3
PES 2011: Pro Evolution Soccer (Platinum re-release)
Ar Tonelico: Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel
Motorstorm: Apocalypse

PSP
The 3rd Birthday: Twisted Edition [FYI: All European versions are considered the “Twisted Edition”]

PC
Driving Simulator 2011: Vehicle Collection
Mystery Of Mortlake Mansion
ARMA II: Reinforcements

DS
Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship 2011 – Over the Nexus
Bejeweled Twist

3DS
Combat Of Giants: Dinosaurs 3D
Rabbids Travel In Time 3D

Xbox 360
Tekken 6 (Classics re-release)

Dissidia 012 [Duodecium] Final Fantasy Review

The god of discord and goddess of harmony have their warriors collide again but is their battle spectacular this time around?

Back in 2009 Square Enix released a fighting game pitting the protagonists and antagonists of the Final Fantasy series against one another for the Playstation Portable and the fighting was compared to the action seen in the CGI film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. In Advent Children the fighting was over the top and involved characters flying through the air and that is what you can expect here. Now Square Enix has released another in Duodecium set before the original title with a larger cast from last game. Where the previous games had a rival for each character playable, the new batch of characters are a selection of recognisable favourites who are implemented well and maintain the spirit of the play style from the Final Fantasy title they were taken. You get to play as characters like the summoner Yuna from Final Fantasy X whose battle style involves her summon monsters, Laguna from Final Fantasy VIII who has a selection of projectiles weapons like his guns from FFVIII and Lightning from one of the newest titles, Final Fantasy XIII, whose play style reflects the paradigm system with different roles to cycle through when playing her. All the characters bring a unique play style to the game and vary the roster.

As with the previous game the story mode takes you through the game’s narrative with cut scenes and battles taken place over board game like board. However this time around the characters are not like pieces on the board and are animated with their partner also appearing on the board and in addition to this there is a world map where the boards are accessed. The large world map allows the player with their character to talk to other characters aligned with them, collect power ups and look for items and treasure chests. It gives the story mode a much more Final Fantasy feel, seeing as the role playing Final Fantasy titles usual involve traversing over a world map being able to talk to the worlds inhabitants. All the tweaks make the experience more enjoyable as a whole as well as more akin to a traditional Final Fantasy title. However the sections on the board still seem a little out of place and break the story up from an otherwise well presented story mode.

The actual gameplay in the fights is a slightly tweaked version of the original Dissidia. The basic gameplay is mostly the same and involves brave points and brave attacks as well as health points and health point attacks. Brave attacks increase your bravery whilst dealing damage to brave points and your health point attacks deal damage depending on how high your bravery is. There are a variety of brave and health moves that can be chosen on character customisation, as before, along with weapons, accessories and summons which provide varieties of bonuses. Some moves cause a character to chase another in the air, like previously, but seem to happen a lot faster than the previous title, speeding up the collisions in the air. It’s fairly easy to pick up and play but can take some time to master tactics against opponents.

Of course crazy over the top moves, like original Dissidia, can be pulled off in EX mode, offering the character a stronger transformed state, once the EX meter is full, from attacking the opponent or collecting EX cores on the stage.  The largest changes come from the addition of partner characters. An extra bar for partners is shown under the health bar and builds up as you perform brave attacks. One bar is a brave attack; two is a health point attack. They come in handy in times of need and can appear to stop enemy combos as well as perform their moves. It really makes the game more of a back and forth battle, allowing players to recover from a stream of enemy offence.

Aside from the previously mentioned story mode there are other modes to enjoy such as battle mode featuring quick battles for fun and an arcade mode with a several different gauntlets of enemies to run. There is also the communications mode to battling other players with a variety of different modes including online, as well as group battles and the means to battles ghosts of your opponents too. There is also the ability to create tournaments so plenty to enjoy with other players. There are also a few extra features that add bonuses through answering questions on different days in the form of the mognet and play plan with day bonuses of experience for the player. Extra unlockables that can be purchased in the PP store include extra costumes, extra stage music, icons are all taken from or referencing the Final Fantasy universes which is great for any fan.

The graphics of the game are pretty much on par with the first Dissidia and are still quite impressive for the PSP. The facial animations are quite simple though in comparison to another Square Enix title released the other year, Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, with similar character designs. It would have been nice to see greater graphics for a title this year. The CG cut-scenes are on par with all Square Enix titles though, and are more than a joy to watch. One other element of the game that needs a mention is the sound. The voice acting comes from a great selection of renowned voice actors that suit the characters well for example Liam O’Brien as Kain Highwind is a good fit for the dark Dragoon knight. The other element of sound of course is the music and there is a wonderful selection of original music as well as popular themes, battles and boss tracks taken from the Final Fantasy series. Overall the game is worth a purchase for anyone for it’s unique battle style that has been tweaked for improvement and full of spectacular attack moves and definitely a great purchase for the Final Fantasy fan for the references as well as the Final Fantasy feel.

The Good

• Unique and expanded fighter –  Different style of fighter with expanded roster and beneficial gameplay tweaks
• Story Mode: World Map – Great RPG feel added to the story mode
• Sound – Great music and voice cast
• Multiplayer – Large selection of battle modes to enjoy with other players

The Bad

• Story Mode: Board – Feels out of place in the game and pulls away from the story
• Graphics – Great and impressive but underwhelming compared to other older PSP titles

Dissidia 012 [Duodecium] Final Fantasy
• Developer: Square Enix
• System: Playsation Portable
• Genre: Fighter
• Players: 1-to-2

Other Recommended Titles

• Dissidia: Final Fantasy (PSP)
• Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep (PSP)
• Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 (PS3/360)
• Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 (PS3/360)

Revoltin' Youth – New IP from the makers of Mad Blocker Alpha

Open Emotion Studios, developers of the excellent PS3/PSP mini title ‘Mad Blocker Alpha’ are working on a new IP titled ‘Revoltin’ Youth’. This is in addition to ‘Ninjamurai’ which is already in development.

Revoltin’ Youth is a puzzle-platformer inspired by Dreamcast classic ‘Jet Set Radio’ while Nijamurai is described by Open Emotion as a cross between Shionobi and Sonic.

Mad Blocker gained critical praise and was a hit with gamers thanks to its retro feel and excellent gameplay. Hopefully the Ireland-based developers can offer the same nostalgia-tinged fun with their upcoming releases.

Thanks to The Gaming Liberty