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News Roundup: Minecraft on Molyneux’s Brain, Nintendo Says No, NGP Gets Metaphysical

Rothtana Ouch — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 15:10:00 +0000

In this news roundup, we take a look at Peter Molyneux gushing over Minecraft. We also get Reggie Fils-Aime’s washing his hands clean of indie developers, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) Chief Andrew House discussion on the future of NGP with musings on NGP game distribution.

It’s all informative and very fun.

Molyneux Mined

“I think Minecraft’s the best thing I’ve played in the last ten years,” said Peter Molyneux in an interview with IGN. “And what’s so brilliant about it – and I’ve met Markus and he’s a real inspirational person. He did everything on his own, and I think how brilliant and inspirational that is, to not need the full force of publishers and marketing people.”

Incredible, the best thing Peter Molyneux has played in the last ten years is a title he didn’t even develop. We’re thinking Fable might have been a little over hyped now. In all seriousness, Minecraft is a favorite of ours too, we even hope to name our children Minecraft one day.

Nintendo vs Indies

In an interview with Gamasutra, Reggie Fils-Aime says Nintendo is maintaining a clear distinction between independent developers and “hobbyist.”

“Where we’ve drawn the line is we are not looking to do business today with the garage developer. In our view, that’s not a business we want to pursue,” said Fils-Aime.

Maybe, Fils-Aime needs to sit down with some Minecraft and a Peter Molyneux consistently yelling at him how Minecraft is the single sweetest video game developed by one man. Now and again everyone needs a hug. Molyneux give Fils-Aime a hug. After all, without garages there would be no Microsoft or maybe that is Nintendo’s point.

NGP Same Day Release

Sony’s NGP, the worse kept industry secret is shaping out to be an interesting successor to the PlayStation Portable. The two owners of the original PSP will recall that certain titles released in retail never appeared on PSN, we’re looking at you Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep. Sony is making that problem go away by offering all NGP retail releases available on PSN same day.

“One thing we learnt from PSP, is that we want to have simultaneous delivery in digital and physical for NGP,” said SCEE Chief Andrew House in an interview with MCV. “Just to clarify that, all games that appear physically will be made available digitally.”

Awesome news, just to clarify for our readers, SCEE Chief Andrew House just said, “All games that appear physically will be made available digitally.”

We’re simply repeating it for clarity and for future evidence. During the interview House also acknowledge that PlayStation Suite could extend pass Android.

Readers, share with us your best Minecraft is awesome story, your PSP heartaches and your thoughts on Nintendo’s fear of disease from indies.

iPhone Developer Embraces Lameness to Mock PSP

Jared Newman — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 01:23:32 +0000

Sony thinks the iPhone isn’t a platform for serious gaming, but as developer Bradley Johnson proves, it’s a perfectly capable platform for making fun of Sony. Back in August, Sony released an ad calling out the mobile game “Lame Castle” as an example of how smartphones don’t compare to the PSP for gaming. Of course, Lame Castle didn’t actually exist — until now.

Lame Castle is now available in the iPhone App Store for $0.99. It’s a simple side scroller in which you jump over obstacles in pursuit of a high score. In other words, it’s exactly the kind of game Sony was mocking.

Still, Lame Castle’s existence shows that while Sony gets bigger games from major developers, the iPhone can execute even the smallest game ideas for a fraction of the cost. Meanwhile, it’s only a matter of time before the major developers come calling. [via TouchArcade]

Leaked: Black Friday Gaming Deals for Best Buy and Target

Jared Newman — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 17:57:29 +0000

With two weeks to go until Black Friday, it’s time to start planning your video game strategy. Thanks to BlackFriday.info, we’ve got some early intel on gaming deals at Target and Best Buy for Black Friday 2010. After the jump, we’ll break it down by console.

Nintendo Wii

Best Buy will sell the Wii with one Wii Remote Plus, one Nunchuk and two games — Wii Sports and Wii Sports resort — for $170, in white or black. That’s $30 off the current price. For games, you’ll want to hit up Target, which will sell Super Mario Galaxy 2 for $35, NBA Jam for $27 and the Wii Fit Plus bundle with Balance Board for $67.

Playstation 3

Best Buy’s PS3 bundle costs the same $300 as a standalone 160 GB console, but includes two games and one Blu-ray movie (unspecified). Target lists a “PS3 160 GB Holiday Bundle” whose contents are unclear. From Best Buy, consider grabbing Medal Gear Solid 4 for $10, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Limited Edition for $35 and Madden 11 for $35.

Xbox 360

The Xbox 360 bundle at Best Buy is all about LEGO. It’s a 4 GB console with LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Batman & LEGO Indiana Jones, for the same $200 as the console alone. If building blocks aren’t your thing, consider Target’s 4 GB Xbox 360 bundle for $200, which comes with a $50 gift card. Also from Best Buy, there’s Halo: Reach for $40, Tekken 6 for $10 and Splinter Cell: Conviction for $17. Target will have Fable 3 for $35.

Nintendo DS

Best Buy is bundling the $150 Nintendo DSi with a free copy of Mario Party. No word on bundles from Target, but you can get Dragon Quest IX for $17 and Lego Batman for $7.

Sony PSP

No PSP deals whatsoever at Best Buy. Bummer. Fortunately, Target’s got you covered with a $127 doorbuster, which includes a PSP-3000, Little Big Planet, the Karate Kid movie remake and a 1 GB Memory Stick. I don’t see any deals on games.

I haven’t listed every game on sale, just the deals that seem the best, so head to BlackFriday.info’s pages on Best Buy and Target for more November 26 strategery. [Image]

Dingoo A330: The PSP Knock-Off that Plays Emulators

Jared Newman — Mon, 17 May 2010 16:52:40 +0000

“Johnson, we need a new strategy for our handheld classic video game emulators. The Dingoo A320 emulator never really took hold in the marketplace (see below), and it clearly had nothing to do with our company being named ‘Dingoo’ or our products being available only through Chinese retail and wholesalers such as Etronixmart. How will we save the Dingoo A330 Mini Game King emulator from the same obscurity as last year’s model?”

“I hear you loud and clear, sir. What we really need is a model that looks exactly like Sony’s PSP.”

“The PSP?”

“Of course! That handheld is fading from relevance as well. And the people that do own PSPs are loading them up with pirated content all the time. Who will be able to tell the difference?”

“But is it really a good idea to shamelessly rip off a major console maker?”

“Look, sir, we’re already pissing everyone off by providing on-the-road access to Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Genesis, Game Boy Advance, Lynx and Neo Geo ROMs. Why not go the extra mile? Besides, ThinkGeek already offers a pocket game emulator for the same $100 as we will with the A330. Cloning the PSP is our best — or perhaps our only — option. That’s why I’ve already taken the liberty of having the A330 designed and produced. It’s ready to sell right now!”

“You’ve convinced me, Johnson. Call Etronixmart and tell them to stock the A330 immediately!”

“On it like a fly on poo … sir.”

Update: Dingoo says the A330, as it appears here, is a fraud (not just of the PSP, but of the Dingoo brand as well). There’s no sense in trying to work that into whatever ridiculous narrative I wrote up there, so here’s your clarification for the record.

Patent filed by Square Enix, Nomura offers glimpse at new PSP game

Lawrence Sonntag — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 22:48:29 +0000

A recent patent request by Square Enix, which credits Square luminary Tetsuya Nomura as inventor, may offer a glimpse at the next big thing from the mind behind Kingdom Hearts.

As described in the patent diagrams, the game is an action RPG in which the player can possess different characters. While controlling a character, the player is able to use that character’s abilities. After a certain amount of time, the player is snapped back to the main character, but retains some of the temporary character’s abilities.

A deeper look at the documents reveals that this project may be Final Fantasy related. A graph detailing skill inheritance lists ability names like “Fire,” “Cure,” and “Blizzard,” which tap the Final Fantasy nomenclature. What’s more, diagrams describing camera movement show an iconic ostrich-like creature that is most likely a chocobo. The diagrams also describe how this process can influence hit points (HP), though that reference is more generic.

While the documents don’t specifically reference a platform, they describe a “portable gaming apparatus.” This narrows it down to the DS, PSP, and cellphones, and an included image of a system looking very much like a PSP doesn’t leave much to the imagination. Nomura’s plate is currently quite loaded, as the man is working on Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, Final Fantasy Agito XIII, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, The 3rd Birthday, and multiple unannounced titles, so it may be a while before this game sees the light of day.

[Siliconera via MTV Multiplayer]

Sony Gains PS3 Sales, Loses Profits

Lawrence Sonntag — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:18:49 +0000

First the good news – the introduction of the PS3 slim sent unit sales skyward for Sony, increasing second quarter 2009 unit sales to 3.2 million, a %33 jump from 2.4 million units in Q2 2008. Don’t break out the party poppers yet, though, because the rest of Sony’s quarterly earnings announcements aren’t so rosy. The company took a ¥63.2 billion ($696 million) shortfall in the quarter, mainly attributed to an appreciating yen, an expensive company restructuring, and declining Sony Ericsson Mobile profitability. The company’s other gaming platforms sagged as well, with quarterly year-on-year numbers falling from 2.5 million to 1.9 million for the PS2, and 3.2 million to 3.0 million for the PSP. These numbers indicate that consumer sentiment echoes the less-than-favorable reception of the PSP Go from critics. Perhaps an economic recession is a bad time to introduce a handheld with fewer features, is harder to use, and costs more than a previous model – but I’m no economist. [via Gamespot and Sony Global]

On Price, PSP Minis Don’t Match iPhone Versions

Jared Newman — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:41:40 +0000

Steve Jobs and the rest of the Apple gang should take note: Sony’s “PSP Minis are more expensive compared to the same games being sold for the iPhone and iPod Touch. MTV Multiplayer ran a comparison on a handful of titles, and found that the PSP versions run from $2 to $5 more than their App Store counterparts. For instance, a full version of Funky Punch (pictured for iPhone above), costs $3.99 through the Apple’s App Store, and $6.99 on the PSP. Tetris costs $4.99 on the iPhone, and a staggering $9.99 as a PSP Mini. Keep in mind that PSP Minis are supposed to be cheaper and smaller in scale than most games for the handheld. That may be the case, but they’re certainly not going toe-to-toe with what Apple is selling. [via MTV Multiplayer]

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Details Go Drip, Drip

Jared Newman — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:48:15 +0000

We’re finding out a little more about Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker thanks to new reports in the Japanese media. Famitsu magazine has a list of characters that will appear in the PSP exclusive: Amanda, Huey, Chico, Strangelove, Coldman, Cécile, Miller, Paz and Gálvez. You may remember Master Miller from Metal Gear Solid for Playstation, where he acted as Solid Snake’s training instructor. However, it was revealed in that game (SPOILER) that Miller was killed years earlier, and Liquid Snake had been acting as an impostor. Peace Walker takes place before any of this would have occurred, so it seems we’ll get a chance to see Miller in his true form. Then again, I’ve long since given up on following all this (and actually, so has creator Hideo Kojima). In general, we know Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker pertains to the formation of the mercenary state Outer Heaven, so stick to that and enjoy the ride when the game comes out next year. [via 1UP and Kotaku]

No Network Support, DLC for PSP Minis, Sony Says

Benjamin Opal — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:34:39 +0000

Did you think that with games like Air Hockey and Bowling that PSP Minis would have wireless multiplayer? Too bad. Sony has revealed that PSP Minis — smaller-scale games that are downloadable to Sony’s portable game console — won’t wireless multiplayer, or downloadable content to boot. Speaking to Gamasutra, SCEA senior account manager Justin Cooney said those features had to be cut to reduce quality assurance time.Cooney said a PSP Mini game takes three to four days to approve, while a full-featured PSP game can take 14 days. “[Allowing those features] would defeat the purpose of having a dedicated service for smaller content,” he said. The only multiplayer you’ll see will be turn-based, just like the old days. [Gamesutra via Edge]

GamerCrave.com » PSP

News Roundup: Minecraft on Molyneux’s Brain, Nintendo Says No, NGP Gets Metaphysical

Molyneux Mined

Nintendo vs Indies

NGP Same Day Release

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