via kotaku

I just got back to Denver from my trip to San Francisco and visiting Ubisoft, EA, Sega and checking out Halo 3's multiplayer, and now I'm off to San Diego to check out Sony's Gamers Day.

The three day event will include, I'm told, a bit of mingling tonight, a whole lot of PS3 and PSP news tomorrow, and a bit more on Thursday morning. There are supposed to be a slew of first and third party games on hand and perhaps we'll be getting some announcements. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and hope for a Playstation Portable Store announcement so I can finally start to buy triple-A movies and TV shows directly to my PSP. Comes on store...

I suspect I'll be traveling a lot more going to events now that I don't work full time for the Rocky. Freelancing has really cleared up my schedule. I've also been asked to become a Game Critics Judge, which means I'll be one of the people helping to select the Best of E3 winners.

I've always been a little confused about how that whole thing worked, so this should give me interesting insight. Last week, was in fact, a way for all of the judges to get some time with a bunch of games. A collection of companies flew out all of the judges to the events, including me. So the process is underway already.

Make sure to check back tonight and later this week for all of the Sony news as it happens. ...

via kotaku

I just got back to Denver from my trip to San Francisco and visiting Ubisoft, EA, Sega and checking out Halo 3's multiplayer, and now I'm off to San Diego to check out Sony's Gamers Day.

The three day event will include, I'm told, a bit of mingling tonight, a whole lot of PS3 and PSP news tomorrow, and a bit more on Thursday morning. There are supposed to be a slew of first and third party games on hand and perhaps we'll be getting some announcements. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and hope for a Playstation Portable Store announcement so I can finally start to buy triple-A movies and TV shows directly to my PSP. Comes on store...

I suspect I'll be traveling a lot more going to events now that I don't work full time for the Rocky. Freelancing has really cleared up my schedule. I've also been asked to become a Game Critics Judge, which means I'll be one of the people helping to select the Best of E3 winners.

I've always been a little confused about how that whole thing worked, so this should give me interesting insight. Last week, was in fact, a way for all of the judges to get some time with a bunch of games. A collection of companies flew out all of the judges to the events, including me. So the process is underway already.

Make sure to check back tonight and later this week for all of the Sony news as it happens. ...

via kotaku

IGN is currently running with a rumor that the long-running, internally published magazine Nintendo Power may be ceasing operations within the year. The site's sources tell them that "mass layoffs are underway and that employees are being told to look for new work by September."

IGN's Matt Cassamassina speculates that the magazine may be shutting down due to the company's recently discussed relocation of certain operations outside of Seattle and competition from other publications.

The officially sanctioned Nintendo magazine saw its first issue go out to the NES faithful in the summer of 1988. I was one of the original subscribers and pored over that issue with the obsessively nerdy intensity only a preteen Nintendo fanboy can. ...

via kotaku

IGN is currently running with a rumor that the long-running, internally published magazine Nintendo Power may be ceasing operations within the year. The site's sources tell them that "mass layoffs are underway and that employees are being told to look for new work by September."

IGN's Matt Cassamassina speculates that the magazine may be shutting down due to the company's recently discussed relocation of certain operations outside of Seattle and competition from other publications.

The officially sanctioned Nintendo magazine saw its first issue go out to the NES faithful in the summer of 1988. I was one of the original subscribers and pored over that issue with the obsessively nerdy intensity only a preteen Nintendo fanboy can. ...

via kotaku

IGN is currently running with a rumor that the long-running, internally published magazine Nintendo Power may be ceasing operations within the year. The site's sources tell them that "mass layoffs are underway and that employees are being told to look for new work by September."

IGN's Matt Cassamassina speculates that the magazine may be shutting down due to the company's recently discussed relocation of certain operations outside of Seattle and competition from other publications.

The officially sanctioned Nintendo magazine saw its first issue go out to the NES faithful in the summer of 1988. I was one of the original subscribers and pored over that issue with the obsessively nerdy intensity only a preteen Nintendo fanboy can. ...

I found this about a month and a half ago, so you may have seen it now - but if not, check out Ecolis, an incredibly appealing RTS for the DS. I am absolutely not an RTS player, but looking at these screens makes me want to buy the game right now. Cute sprite things in isometric 3D backgrounds with a chunky pixel map on the top screen...I'm sold! The character design is really solid too.

This is actually an internally-developed game from Interchannel (I believe it's internal anyway), which is what's left of the NEC gaming legacy. NEC had NEC Avenue for internal development before, and Interchannel for publishing and development...then Avenue disappeared. Then NEC Interchannel started to die as the dreamcast fell...then it got sold, and just became Interchannel. And now here we are, crossing our fingers that Ecolis is the second coming. It's coming at some point in 2007...

Screens/More details at Insert Credit ...

Balancing budgets, reducing pollution, and addressing traffic congestion sounds about as exciting as watching grass grow. But Will Wright's SimCity proved that building and managing your own city could be both fun and addictive when it released in 1989.

The new version - scheduled to release in June 2007 - injects an assortment of DS-centric gameplay features, adding some flare to this pocket-sized iteration of the PC classic. You'll blow in your microphone to put out fires and kill rampaging monsters by tapping on them with your stylus. We also saw a special event where Santa Claus came to town. Tapping him with the stylus will force the jolly St. Nick to drop gifts for your sim-citizens.

Screens Here ...

via gamesradar

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII is simply the most exciting playable game at the entire Square Enix Party 2007. It actually delves deep into the mythology of that RPG classic from ten years ago, offering up a story that was only hinted out in its sprawling confines. And beyond that, it's the best-looking PSP game to date. Simply put, it's living up to its potential and, unless Square Enix is hiding something, should even erase the sad memories of Dirge of Cerberus.

We were able to both catch a new trailer in the Closed Mega Theater and get plenty of hands-on time with the playable demo, so we've got lots of info for you. The game stars Zack, a member of SOLDIER, the military force run by the Shinra Electric Power Company, the malevolent corporation that controls the entire city of Midgar in FFVII. Zack has a strange relationship with Cloud, FFVII 's main character, and of course Cloud appears briefly in every movie we've seen so far - this was no exception. But the latest trailer and demo proved that this is truly Zack's story and judging from what we've seen it has very little to do with Cloud directly.

Full Details at link above ...

Last month, Germany's interactive entertainment game rating board passed judgment on an unannounced game called Prince of Persia Classic for the Xbox 360. The game is unannounced no longer, because Ubisoft today confirmed that it will indeed find its way to Xbox Live Arcade early this summer.

As one might expect, the game is a remake of Jordan Mechner's 1989 computer game, albeit with a layer of next-gen polish. The level design, swordfighting, and time limit of the original will remain the same, while character designs, animation, and other graphical overhauls provide a twist on the familiar. There will also be some new puzzles, traps, and enemies added to the mix.

Perhaps more surprising than the game's announcement is its developer, mobile gaming specialist Gameloft, publisher of Paris Hilton's Diamond Quest (nee Jewel Jam). While the company is new to the Xbox 360, it has handled the Prince of Persia style of gameplay before, specifically in 2003's Prince of Persia Harem Adventures for mobile phones.

Prince of Persia Classic has been rated T for Teen. According to Ubisoft, the game has not yet been priced.

via gamespot ...