Win a free GPS from Gadling!

Unlock the Uncharted Trophies beginning Aug. 22


TalkPlaystation.com has allegedly confirmed that Trophies will be added to Naughty Dog's Uncharted Drake's Fortune on August 22. Despite a form of "achievements" originally being part of Uncharted, we'd been told previously that the Trophies will not be retroactive, so prepare to play the adventure all over again.

Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells mentioned previously that adding the Trophy patch for the game was "incredibly easy" because of the medal system the company already implemented in the game. Now that's thinking ahead.

England, Wales prisoners lose access to 18-rated games


The Prison Service in England and Wales will not allow prisoners to play 18-rated games after September 30. The BBC reports that well-behaved residents and those at risk of suicide will still be allowed to play games -- we hope the suicide folks aren't playing Persona.

The government apparently spent £10k ($19,763 USD) last year on consoles and games for inmates. Effective immediately, inmates will have to buy their own consoles and games. Those who can't afford the video game distraction are sure to occupy their time with more constructive ventures ... like shiv production.

[Via GI.biz]

PSN Thursday: Fall victim to Siren: Blood Curse; select PSN titles on sale for $5

i
It's a big week for the PSN update, with a nice sale going on, Parappa the Rapper available as a downloadable PS1 Classic and the addition of a PSN original, Siren: Blood Curse. Let's start with the PS3's first survival horror game, Siren: Blood Curse, which has one of the most unique cost models we've ever seen. The television show game comes in 12 episodes that players can download in four-episode packs at $15, or just buy in its entirety for $40. We've yet to actually play the game, so we can't make a recommendation, but there's also a demo available, which is certainly worth trying first. The full game fills up a whopping 9 gigglebytes on the PS3's hard drive.

Select PSN games are available for $5 this week only, including: PixelJunk Monsters, PAIN and Rocketmen. Don't forget to download the PixelJunk Eden demo! There's plenty of other stuff too, check it all out after the break.

The European PSN update can be found over at PS3 Fanboy. Tragically, our European writer has been watching the Big Brother house non-stop, so he can't give us a report on Siren either.

Continue reading PSN Thursday: Fall victim to Siren: Blood Curse; select PSN titles on sale for $5

Splinter Cell: Conviction delayed until at least April '09


No, no, no, don't cry, Sam! Oh, now look, you've ruined your mascara. It appears emo Sam Fisher is going to be sitting on the sidelines a little longer as Ubisoft announced today that Splinter Cell: Conviction is being delayed until the company's next fiscal year. For those who don't tell time through corporate fiscal calendars, that means Conviction won't be released until after April of 2009.

Rumors of Conviction's delay have been floating around for months, kicked into overdrive by the game's no-show at Ubidays and E3. Back in May, the development team said it would be showing the game in "forthcoming months." Well, there's still Tokyo and Leipzig ...

Kaz Hirai isn't rushing Home


Kaz Hirai, Sony Computer Entertainment's "Big Boss," tells MCV that the company is taking its sweet time to make Home. Hirai explains that if Home is good, it won't matter when it launches, "so long as it's in a reasonable time frame." By our estimates, "reasonable time frame" left a while ago on a trip around the world and, if we think in a circular fashion, should bang back around sometime soon.

Hirai goes on to say that if the competitors decide to follow what the company is doing with Home, it would be their prerogative -- we're sure Linden Labs is thinking the same thing about Home. Anyway, Hirai is "confident" that the Home open beat is something that'll "resonate" with consumers.

Reggie believes Wii storage is a 'mainstream' problem


Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime acknowledged, "from an Americas-centric perspective," that the Wii's storage capacity is becoming a "mainstream" problem as the regional consumer base embraces WiiWare and the Virtual Console. He tells MTV there is an "urgency" to finding a storage solution, and even states that Nintendo is working on a solution, albeit one that isn't ready to be announced yet.

Meanwhile, we can't help but notice that USB external hard drives with plenty of space are pretty cheap, but would that solution be too simple? We wouldn't to want make things easy ... that's just too complicated.

PixelJunk Monsters dev teases Trophy patch


Buried deep down on a PlayStation Blog post about PixelJunk Eden and the Trophies available in the game, is an odd little paragraph about possible Trophy support for PixelJunk Monsters. Dylan Cuthbert, president of Q-games, developers of PJM and PJE, mentions he's been "inundated" with requests for Trophy support in Monsters. He says the company is looking into it and will badger the game's producer at Sony, Deborah Mars, "to get some dates set."

The information is a bit ambiguous and we're guessing is designed as a tease for an incoming PJM patch. Cuthbert also says the patch will "implement XMB music and a couple of other things." Considering we know PlayStation Blog posts are "checked," information like this doesn't just slip by. Looks like we're going to have to stop playing PJM Encore and wait 'til that Trophy patch gets added, because we're guessing the achievements won't be applied retroactively.

GameTap Thursday: Fallout, Battle Chess, Aveyond 2


All you need to know about this week's GameTap update is encapsulated in one word: Fallout. There, we've said our bit. No word yet when Fallout 2 will make it onto the smorgasbord.
  • Fallout (Windows) - "A post nuclear role playing game."
  • Aveyond 2 (Windows) - A relatively new RPG that looks like an old-school Squaresoft game.
  • Battle Chess (Windows) - Play chess, but watch the pieces on the board beat the pixels out of each other. Oh, how we long for an HD remake of this game.
Knights of the Round gets added to GameTap's selection of gratis games this week. The full list of free ad-supported titles from the service can be found after the break.

Continue reading GameTap Thursday: Fallout, Battle Chess, Aveyond 2

First footage of A Kingdom for Keflings


It appears NinjaBee is ready to talk a little about its upcoming city builder, A Kingdom for Keflings. Teasing the title in a viral video last month, the company finally gave some details to IGN, details which make the game look and sound like a cross bee-tween SimCity and Gulliver's Travels.

It appears the player takes on the roll of a Gulliver-esque character and must build a kingdom for the Keflings, with the final goal being to create a castle. The game features 50 buildings, a tech tree and optional quests. Isn't it interesting that all the different smaller-scale city builder games, like Hinterland and My Life as a King, are releasing this year? Check out video for A Kingdom for Keflings after the break.

[Via X3F]

Continue reading First footage of A Kingdom for Keflings

C-list celebrities + Gamespot party = Awkward


The latest episode of Glitch in the System makes it horribly obvious that the "celebrities" attending Gamespot's E3 bash had no idea who was hosting the party. That street probably goes both ways because, straight up, we had to Google almost every single one of the "celebrities" that we saw in the video. Check out the cringe-inducing footage o the red carpet interviews after the break.

PS: Thanks again to the 300+ people who attended -- or used astral projection to attend in spirit -- our Joystiq E3 meet-up. Watching something like this makes us appreciate you all even more.

Continue reading C-list celebrities + Gamespot party = Awkward

1942: Joint Strike E3 shirts now available for purchase


The 1942: Joint Strike shirts from E3, featuring Street Fighter's Cammy doing her best bomber nose art impression, are available now from Meatbun.com. The shirt will cost $26, plus shipping, and is available worldwide in the three colors seen above. A close-up of the shirt's image can be found after the break.

Fun fact: Yoshiki Okamoto created both 1942 and the Street Fighter series, so the shirt's image with Cammy isn't an entirely random cross-promotion.

[Thanks Jared, Via John D's blog]

Continue reading 1942: Joint Strike E3 shirts now available for purchase

Zero Punctuation visits Conan in Hyboria


No matter how much the hardcore MMORPG crowd may want to deny it, almost every game in the genre wants to be, or wishes it could have been, World or Warcraft. This week's Zero Punctuation says as much, with Yahtzee trying to enjoy his Hyborian adventure but wandering into familiar -- but not quite right -- WoW territory.

Check out the NSFW review of Age of Conan after the break.

Continue reading Zero Punctuation visits Conan in Hyboria

Ticket to Ride's Europe expansion boards next Wednesday


XBLA's excellent Ticket to Ride is ready to cross the Atlantic to receive the Europe expansion board next Wednesday. According to developer Playful Entertainment, the new continent will cost 600 MS points ($7.50) and add new gameplay elements like ferries, tunnels and train stations.

In the retail board game world, Ticket to Ride and Ticket to Ride: Europe -- which are sold separately -- would cost over $60, so we're not that sore about getting both on XBLA for $17.50. No word yet if the painfully close red/orange color blending will be fixed on the new board.

PixelJunk Eden demo available tomorrow


We just got off the phone with Sony, trying to see if we could get more info on Fat Princess, and were told that the demo for PixelJunk Eden will be available tomorrow with the regular PSN update. We're looking forward to people finally being able to test the game out for themselves, instead of us trying to explain its simple and addictive gameplay. If you can, grab a friend and play co-op, since the title is even more enjoyable with a companion. The full game will be available next Thursday, July 31. The price for the full game has not been confirmed.

Iwata 'sorry' for Nintendo E3 briefing; Wii supplies may still be tight this holiday


Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata has apologized for the approach the company took at this year's E3 press conference and the perception that it has abandoned the "core gamers." He tells Forbes that the feelings of neglect Nintendo fans might be feeling is a "misunderstanding" and the company wants to "get rid of that misunderstanding by any means." Iwata explains "big titles" require time and Nintendo didn't think this was the year to announce any.

The other thing Iwata's conversation with Forbes covers is the continuing Wii supply shortage in the US. The CEO expresses that Nintendo is 100% committed to having Wii be available this holiday, but can't make any guarantee. He believes the best he can do right now is say the company is doing its best to supply the States with consoles.

Next Page >

    Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in: