via Joystiq


And we thought the announcement of a returning feature from a previous game was exciting. In an interview with IGN, Vicarious Visions' Karthik Bala revealed that the Wii version of Guitar Hero 5 won't bother you for Friend Codes when you try to play online.


GH5 on Wii is now at "full feature parity" with the other versions, Bala said. It includes eight-player online play (no longer limited to two Wii consoles), and also adds a couple of Wii-exclusive features like a "Roadie Battle" mode and DS control of aspects of the (updated) Mii Freestyle. ...

via IGN


We now have a five-some! Final Fantasy XIII's playable cast has increased by one thanks to information in the latest Famitsu.

Joining Lightning, Snow, Sazh and Vanille is Hope Estheim, a young boy who lost his mom during a purge.

If you've played the Japan-only Final Fantasy XIII demo, you'll recognize Hope as the little boy who's too scared to join the ranks of Snow's resistance. His mom is the lady who fights alongside Snow, only to die at the demo's end.

The death of his mom left Hope just a bit on the angry side with Snow. With Hope now confirmed as a major character, we'll have to see how their relationship develops.

Screenshots in Famitsu show Vanille consoling Hope after his mother's death. It's unclear if the two knew each other prior to the purge incident, although in the demo they were shown in close proximity to one-another.

Hope, like the other four characters, is a l'Cie, or a human who's been chosen by the fal'Cie for a certain purpose. All l'Cie learn about their mission in the form of a vision.

Remember that scene from the early trailers showing the cast walking around in a frozen underground lake area? Famitsu says that this scene takes place after the party of five have descended to the lower levels of Cocoon. They begin to talk about their visions. It appears that Hope isn't quite certain about the meaning of his.

Another trait shared by the l'Cie is a marking of some form on their body. Famitsu provides a first look at Sazh's marking, as we can see it partially sticking out from his shirt on his upper chest.

Lightning, Snow and Sazh were all playable in the Japanese demo, so we were able to get a grasp of their basic fighting style. Famitsu at long last introduces us to Vanille's combat style, and gives a sneak peak at Hope's as well.

Vanille's weapon of choice looks like a multi-wired fishing rod. She does damage to distant enemies by swinging the wires, then pulling back on the rod once the wire needles have struck their target (you have to admit, this would probably hurt with a real fishing rod).

Like Vanille, Hope can take aim at enemies from a distance using his trusty boomerang. With the obvious possibility for multiple hits, could this weapon help to build up your chain gauge quickly?

Both characters look like they'll bring some unique options to combat. But what other surprises await?

Square Enix appears to be increasing the information flow on FFXIII as the Tokyo Game Show approaches (just two months!). Expect frequent updates on what could be the biggest JRPG of the generation. ...

via Games Industry


Lower the price of the PlayStation 3 would have made a difficult year even worse for Sony, according to Epic Games' vice president Mark Rein. However, the platform holder "will get around to it in their own good time".

"

The Epic VP also expressed his view that gamers are nowhere near ready for a new generation of consoles.


Instead, Sony and Microsoft will rely on their new respective control systems, the motion controller and Natal, to deliver new experiences.

...

via Computer and Video Games


Following last week's news that Sega's awesome tactical action game, Valkyria Chronicles, would be getting a sequel on PSP, comes the first batch of shots.

Sega Europe hasn't got any info on a UK release but we fully expect to see one, even if the first one was overlooked on PS3, which is a crying shame.

The screens have been lifted form the just-opened Japanese website. If you can read it, let us know what it says. We're dying to know more.


Screenshots here ...

via Eurogamer


Guerrilla Games will launch the Napalm & Cordite add-on for Killzone 2 this Thursday on the PlayStation Store.

Word comes direct from Killzone HQ, complete with fleshed-out descriptions of the new maps and weapons on offer.

Those, remember, are the VC1 Flamethrower and Boltgun 4400 from the main campaign, plus multiplayer areas Suljeva Cliffside and Arctower Landing.

There's still no word on price, however, although previous Killzone 2 DLC has cost GBP 4.79 / EUR 5.99 a pop. ...

After what seems like forever, I personally bring to all the latest sales figures for games consoles in Japan below.


Nintendo DSi: 46,855
Playstation Portable: 32,849
Nintendo Wii: 24,971
Playstation 3: 11,196
NintendoDS Lite: 7,507
Xbox 360: 5,876
Playstation 2: 3,734


As I haven't kept up with the trends lately, I can't say what's gone up or down from last weeks' reading but I can safely say that sales are still slow with the recession and all. Figures obtained from Media Create. ...

via Gizmodo


The 1.0.4 update for the Palm Pre just got released, but along with patching some security holes, kills the homebrew ability that made everyone so excited.

Why, Palm, when your SDK isn't available until late summer, would you go and patch the homebrew? At the very least, developers have the leaked SDK to work off of, even if it's not final. ...

via IGN


If you were looking forward to watching Biography: Lindsay Lohan or an episode of Dorm Life on Hulu today via your PlayStation 3, it looks like you're screwed. Although PS3 owners have been able to access the free video site for quite some time, clicking on videos through the web browser on Sony's system now brings up a screen that reads "Unfortunately, this video is not available on your platform. We apologize for any inconvenience."

It's unclear why things have suddenly changed, and messages with Sony and Hulu were not immediately returned. We'll update this article as soon as someone gets back to IGN with a comment. ...

via Joystiq


By now, you're probably familiar with the ambitious, multiplayer puzzle-platformer, Trine. Shacknews is reporting that the upcoming PC version of the game will have an "official" price of $40, with Steam pre-orders available for a discounted $30. (Check out a downloadable demo at BigDownload.) Those who want to experience Trine in the most affordable way possible will want to download the PSN version of the game, priced at $20.

Obviously, that's a rather high price point for a downloadable game. However, developer Frozenbyte says the high production values merit the sticker tag. "Trine is far from a game created by a solo hero developer (we have over 20 employees and Trine has contributions from a double amount of people) ... we are very confident that we can deliver a full retail experience with Trine."

Our early impressions of the game suggest Frozenbyte is right. We'd much rather buy this than, say, the equally priced Watchmen: The End is Nigh. While an official PSN date isn't set, the publisher is expecting a July release. An Xbox 360 version of the game, which will support online co-op (a feature not included in the initial PC or PSN releases), is also in the works. ...