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Sony announced today that it will drop the price of its PlayStation Portable device by $40 to $129.99.

The price drop is effective February 27. PSP Entertainment Packs, meanwhile, will be sold for $159.99.

The company is also adding new games to its Greatest Hits and Favorites Collections. New additions to Greatest Hits, which sell for $19.99, include "Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines," "Dissidia Final Fantasy," "LittleBigPlanet PSP," "Metal Solid Gear: Peace Walker," "Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters," "Resistance: Retribution," and "Toy Story 3: The Video Game."

Click to continue reading Sony slashes price of PSP to $129.99


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Japanese newspaper Nikkei revealed some major details concerning the PSP2, reporting that the portable system will include 3G connectivity to the NTT DoCoMo network. While this particular network is exclusive to the Far East, the included 3G connectivity means we can expect the same thing for the American launch of the PSP2. With 3G connection speeds, the PSP2 would be capable of downloading data over a phone network, instead of being limited to wi-fi connections.

Also, Nikkei broke news that the PSP2 sports an OLED touch-screen, and an all-new processor for delivering cutting edge handheld performance. All will be confirmed January 27th, when Sony officially unveils the PSP2 to the world.

Read More | Kotaku via Nikkei



During the Conference 2010 in Japan just yesterday, Nintendo revealed a glimmer of hope for fans of the Mega Man Legends series. That is, Mega Man Legends 3 Project has been officially announced in development for the Nintendo 3DS platform. “We have wanted to create a new installment in this series for a number of years,” said the title’s Executive Producer, Keiji Inafune. “It is great that we now have the opportunity to bring this title to the Nintendo 3DS.”

Resident Evil fans will be delighted to know that Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D will also be a 3DS title, and will feature missions from Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5. Those familiar with the mercenary modes from these games know that it is a race against the clock to kill as many enemies as you can while racking up points. The Mercenaries 3D will add some new modes and characters from throughout the series into the mix as well. Aside from being a completely 3D experience, the 3DS’s WiFi connectivity will allow for online co-op play around the globe.

Check out the video and screens of Mega Man Legends 3 and Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D below.


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Sony PSP2

While has made sure to carefully tip toe around any questioning concerning a possible PlayStation Portable successor, Netherrealm Studios Executive Producer Shaun Himmerick revealed to Industry Gamers that they “have a PSP2 in the house and we’re looking at the engine, like what can it support.”

Himmerick went on to describe a few key details about the PSP2’s power. “Always a big thing for us is the performance,” he added. “We’re running at 60 fps, what can we do and do we have to build all the art assets over. We’re definitely looking at them. PSP2 looks like it’s a pretty powerful machine.”

While Sony is mum on the subject, it seems that the PSP2 is a reality. However, since no official specs have been released, the power and functionality of the machine is pure speculation at this point.

Read More | IGN via Industry Gamers


Epic Citadel iPhone

While waiting to get their hands on Epic Games’ (Gears of War, Unreal Tournament) iOS only game - Project Sword - Apple gamers will be able to explore just how well the Unreal Engine runs on their iOS device. Compatible with and 3GS, 3rd and 4th gen , and the ; the Unreal Engine tech demo, dubbed Epic Citadel, lets gamers explore a castle interface with all the bells and whistles of the Unreal Engine. Such as: bump offset mapping, real time lighting, texture mapping, global illumination, and more. Epic citadel was created in eight weeks and can be downloaded for free from the App Store.

More screenshots after the jump.

Click to continue reading Epic Citadel teases Unreal Engine on iOS

Read More | Epic Citadel

Street Fighter 3DS

According to the head guru in charge of Street Fighter, Yoshinori Ono, the 3DS version of Street Fighter will be a “perfect port” of the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions. This means that all of those modes and features you have come to love on your console version will be included on Nintendo’s handheld. In addition, the 3DS version will have a few new aspects to hold over console gamers’ heads. 

In order to attract a newer crowd to the Street Fighter arena Ono is utilizing the unique visuals and control scheme of the 3DS. Stereoscopic 3D has been applied to give fighting matches much more depth and attract gamers interested in trying out the new 3D phenomenon.

“When you put the 3D slider on max the game will be between looking into the (game world) and the characters jumping out at you, so you can distinguish the background and characters very clearly”, states Ono.

What’s more, new control schemes will enable younger players not familiar with Street Fighter to play the game in an all new way, while veteran Street Fighters will still be able to make use of their years of training using the classic control scheme.

“We are currently working hard on researching the possibility of having two control options,” says Ono. “One would be targeting people my age, entering 40, who played on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It will allow them to play it as they used to on the Super NES…By providing two different options we hope to reach a broader audience.”

Read More | Kotaku

R4 CardIn an attempt to thwart rampant piracy of their line of video games, Nintendo has been combating the use of the R4 card and other methods of pirating for years. Finally, has seen a tremendous victory come about in the form of the banning of R4 cards in the United Kingdom.

Previously, the R4 card was used (or supposed to used at least) to install homebrew games that indie developers would cook up for the DS. However, the R4 could also be loaded with easily accessible retail versions of Nintendo DS titles from major developers posted online. This posed a big problem to not only Nintendo, but to the developers who saw a decline in their sales. With digital downloads of their games available online, and easily transferable to one of these R4 cards, it seemed that their games didn’t stand a chance at retail. Why purchase something when you can get it for free?

In light of this misuse of R4 cards, a UK court has ruled in favor of Nintendo, making the R4 card illegal in the UK. While this comes as a huge victory to Nintendo, we must shed a tear for the indie homebrew developers who actually used the R4 cards for its intended purpose.

Nintendo had this to say:

“In the UK alone, there have been over 100,000 game copying devices seized since 2009. Nintendo initiates these actions not only on its own behalf, but also on behalf of over 1,400 video game development companies that depend on legitimate sales of games for their survival.”

Read More | MCV UK

Are you an user who is jealous of all those users’ jailbroken ability to play classic PS1 games? If so, then ZodTTD and Yongch have provided a green-eye curing elixir in the form of PSX4Droid. The duo which has brought you game emulators for iPhone and have now managed to have their PSX4Droid emulator available to Android users in the Android App store for $5.99. This means that no jail breaking is needed in order to get your hands on classic games such as Final Fantasy 7, Ridge Racer, Crash Bandicoot, and more!

While paying $5.99 for an emulator that you can find online for free may seem silly, it is still a good deal for those who don’t want to risk jail breaking their phone. And also for those who need something a bit more handheld in comparison to a netbook when gaming on the go.

Features for the Android emulator include:

  • Uses formats BIN,ISO,IMG,PBP,Z,ZNX, and Eboot (compressed too)
  • WiiMote controller works
  • Trackball d-pad
  • Memory card & save states
  • Virtual control overlays
  • Scaling modes

Nintendo DSi XLYou know, when I look at the Nintendo DSi XL, I can’t help but notice the similarity in form factor to ‘s iPad (though the DSi XL was released first - thanks for catching that, astute readers!). Nintendo recently announced the US release of the n-th iteration of the DS, now focusing on a bigger screen. Come to think of it, both companies have a penchant for constantly releasing new SKU’s of existing hardware every few months with minor tweaks to inexplicable demand by an attention-deficit public, all while making the people who just bought their newly-outdated hardware feel small and relatively ashamed.

Either way, we got our hands on one at the GDC in San Francisco. Hit the jump for relevant deets.

Click to continue reading Nintendo DSi XL: Hands on


Nintendo DSi XL

Earlier today, announced that their new DSi XL will be launching in North America on March 28, 2007, selling for $190. The DSI XL is basically a jumbo sized Nintendo DSi, boasting two 4.2-inch LCD displays (up from the smaller DSi’s 3.25-inch displays.) At launch, the DSi XL will be available in two colors: burgundy and bronze. The new model also comes preloaded with a few games, including a couple of Brain Age DSiWare titles, Photo Clock, the DSi web browser, and Flipnote Studio. Europe gets in on the fun as well, as the XL launches bear on March 5.


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