Sony Computer Entertainment announced that it will update the PlayStation Store today with Namco's Tekken: Dark Resurrection for download. The game is a PlayStation 3 translation of the PSP title and features full 1080p support. Tekken: Dark Resurrection will retail for $19.99. We'll have our full review of the game soon, so keep an eye open for that.

SCEA also announced that it will post a new MotorStorm video featuring a behind-the-scenes look at the game's development. The video features footage from Evolution Studios' shoot in Utah's Monument Valley and includes interviews will the designer and producers. MotorStorm is set to launch on March 6th in stores nationwide.

A new trailer for a Warner Bros. film will also make its way to the store, though Sony didn't mention which movie it will be for.

via ign ...

Heres an excerpt

Here are some words we won't be using in this preview: "hi-octane", "adrenaline-fuelled", "Penguin". That's because, unlike the flagrantly unimaginative language we tend to haul out when a new arcade racer rears its ugly head, EA's Burnout series has just about managed stay the right side of hackneyed. Despite annual updates, Burnout has successfully tweaked and reinvented its formula with each new iteration, constantly surpassing itself to keep its rightful place as king of the speed-obsessed pack.

So then, it seems only fair that Burnout Dominator should take a congratulatory look at its heritage and reinterpret one of its most popular past features to form the heart of the new game. Of course, we're talking about Burnouts, last seen in Burnout 2. As Nick Channon, senior producer on Burnout Dominator explains, "With Dominator, we felt there was the opportunity to go back a little to the essence of the Burnout experience: driving as dangerously as you can, avoiding the crash. We wanted to return to that sense of weaving in and out of traffic, doing near-misses, really controlling with long drifts. The one thing we've been itching to do for a while is bring back Burnouts. Not just bring them back though, but build the game around it".

Full article at IGN ...

via ps3fanboy

That's right -- the complaints about the PS3 dev-kits and all being really limited and tough to work with must have been grounded in some kind of fact, or else Sony wouldn't have released an all new set of tools for developers working on PS3 titles. This new kid, called PlayStation 3 Edge has "been put together by three first-party technology teams within Sony, the WWS Europe Advanced Technology Group, WWS America ICE team (a technology group based at Naughty Dog that specialises in graphics systems and tools for the PlayStation 3), and WWS America Tools and Technology group."

This new thingie is described by Sony: "rather than an overarching engine, these teams have chosen to create specialized systems that demonstrate best practices of SPU and RSX utilization." So, is this a step in the right direction for PS3 software development? We submit that it certainly is. With better technology and tools made available to developers, not only will their game development costs decrease, but games will begin to look better and better, do more and more at once. Maybe next-gen titles will drop to $50 as a standard in a year or so. Oh, wait... the Wii already has them at that price. Well, those'll drop to $40 and below at that point. Pricing wars are fun. ...

via next gen

Anecdotal evidence from US brick-and-mortar retail outlets suggests that the 20GB version of the PlayStation 3 is heading for extinction, but Sony tells Next-Gen that's not the case--at least for the time being.

"The type of model found in stores is completely up to what the retailer orders, so if they don't see a big demand for a particular SKU, they simply don't order it from us," explained Sony Computer Entertainment America PR head David Karraker. "We continue to manufacture both."
"At this time there are no plans to change our US model offerings," Karraker stated. ...

via dsfanboy



Capcom released a ton of screens today for the new Megaman ZX sequel, Rockman ZX Advent, and they show exactly what we want to see in our Megaman games: running from left to right and shooting at robots, all delivered in gorgeous hand-drawn 2D. We could look at stuff like this all day. Coincidentally, that's kind of our job.

In the first ZX, kids use "Biometals" ("Livemetals" in the Japanese version) to transform into robots similar to X and Zero from the Megaman X series, as well as a fused ZX form. The kids from last time, Vent and Aile, have been replaced by a pair of functionally-identical crimefighting children, called Grey and Ashe.

They operate a new Biometal, called Model A, which enables transformation into a dual-wielding robot seemingly based on Axl from Mega Man X7, a game that we're glad is on the PS2 (so we don't have to like it).

Screens Here ...

via dsfanboy

We're puzzle junkies. Yes, we love the genre and are always keeping our eyes out for new and interesting puzzle games. Tetris, Puzzle Fighter and Lumines are some of our most favorite games of all time. That's how even with the Disney theme stamped all over this title, we're still interested in Meteos: Disney Magic. Sure, we kept a realistic head about us and kept thinking of how it wouldn't be better than its predecessor. But then they changed how the game would be played and we became interested again. Then we forgot about it for a bit, but Mizuguchi's interview came and our interest was renewed yet again.

Now, the game has released and although many of the reviewing outlets haven't made their determination on the game's worth, we wanted to start this topic in the hopes that anyone who has gotten their hands on the game would speak up and let us know how it compares to the original. So, without further delay:

IGN (80/100) says the game improves on the original: "Meteos: Disney Magic does a really good job moving the design forward. Now let's bring back the alien worlds and take this sucker online."
Nintendo Power (75/100) sees the experience as being improved also: "Meteos: Disney Magic does more than provide a Mouseketeer-friendly facelift to one of the DS's best puzzle games; thanks to the ability to move blocks horizontally, the sequel has a thoroughly different dynamic than the original block launcher." ...

via dsfanboy



Eventhough he owns a PSP, Joystiq reader Zach sent in this beaut to the fine folks over there, looking for some props on his masterpiece. Well, he gets them here at DS Fanboy (we'll overlook the PSP) as we wouldn't mind one bit fusing a DVD player with a NES. It's just yet another way we could instill more Nintendo into our lives (never a bad thing).

What do you guys think? Senseless butchering of a timeless console or an ingenious method of putting some life back into dead technology?

Photos Here ...

Via wiifanboy

This looks like it's going to be one issue that doesn't go away, at least, not for a while. Since the advent of the Wii browser, some sites have taken it upon themselves to provide Wii-optimized content, and shockingly, some of those sites specialize in adult content. Some individuals have made the point that this content is directed at children. One site initially posed this theory last month and has (unsurprisingly) been deluged with comments. The folks at The Porn Talk keep reviving the issue, and they even made a page dedicated to the porn threat in living rooms around the world. In the wake of the backlash following that move, they've asked a question of gamers: "So what advice would you have for parents that don't understand technology? What advice would you give to Moms and Dads in regards to internet porn and Wi-Fi devices like the Wii? Is porn exposure to kids even an issue in your opinion?"

Well, let's see if we can't provide a few answers.

Let's start with the last question first, because the rest seems to hinge on that. Do we think kids and porn are a good mix? The short answer is no, we think that adult material should pretty much be for adults (see what we did there?). Of course, it's up to parents to decide how and when to educate their children, in most cases, and we're not trying to tell anyone how to raise their kids. In general, however, we do think that pornography should not be readily available to children.

Now that we've established that we're on the side of the good guys here, we can discuss issues that are important to parents before making any major entertainment/electronics purchase for their child or children. There are a few important questions parents should ask themselves about any form of entertainment -- specifically, questions about where boundaries are drawn. This seems to come easily for most parents with movies and television, it's almost as though there is some sort of disconnect for many parents when it comes to gaming and computers. Web content, gaming, music -- these forms of entertainment are really no different from movies. If you don't allow your child to watch R rated movies without supervision, the same should probably apply to other forms of electronic entertainment, particularly when they have online content. Supervision is good. Be involved with what your child is taking in.

Many parents do try to take an active role when it comes to such boundaries: they set up parental controls on their cable units, disallow certain kinds of rentals at the video store, and limit the types of television shows children are allowed to watch. Setting up a filter on a PC or parental controls on the Wii (or any other system that features them) is really no different. Sure, maybe some parents are a little shaky with the technology ... but isn't it worth the twenty minutes it might take to figure it out if it protects your child? The Wii is designed to be simple, and this simplicity extends to the parental controls.

In fact, we tested the parental controls settings to see how difficult it might be for those who aren't so tech savvy. It's an extraordinarily simple interface, and twenty minutes was a generous estimate of the time it might take a parent to set up filters. Simply open the Wii menu in the lower left corner of the starting screen, choose settings, and then parental controls. Everything from there is explained, screen by screen, and restricting the Internet Channel completely is as simple as clicking a "yes."

So what would we tell Moms and Dads who are concerned about the Wii? We'd tell them to research anything that might allow content they're not sure is right for their children. They need to be able to take an active role in establishing what's okay and what is not.

While we're on the subject of what should not be okay -- it's important for people to remember that the Wii is being marketed for everyone. Everyone is not limited to "children" or "families." Everyone includes just that: everyone. This includes adults who have every right to browse pornographic material from their computers, their cellular phones, and yes, even their gaming consoles. It's time we got past the idea that gaming is a children's hobby -- because that simply is not the case. In trying to demonize the Wii, it seems that people are asking the world to tailor itself to children. Should we ban all movies that are not PG? Should we scrap the Internet all together? Certainly, the 24 hour news channels will have to go, because images of violence, war, and general poor taste are probably not healthy, either.

Just as broadcasting pornographic material on a public billboard would be in bad taste, so too is asking that everything be dialed down to the level of a child. And that is what we would tell mothers and fathers about the Wii. Enforce standards in your homes that are best for your families. Don't ask the world to enforce those standards for you, not when it's ...

via palgn

Sometimes, fiddling with your new toy can be useful. And it seems that by fiddling with their PAL Wii, some clever chaps have achieved something not thought possible with an un-modified console. A user of a certain forum (that we won't name because of some questionable activities there, legally speaking) who goes by the handle 'dolqube' apparently decided to experiment with his Wii console's GameCube boot function. And he found that it's actually possible to run original NTSC GameCube discs on a PAL Wii console without modification, and without the use of Datel's Freeloader software.

The method goes like this: Pop a PAL GameCube disc into the Wii, and head to the 'Disc Channel'. A GameCube logo should be up on the screen. Point the Wii Remote's cursor over the 'Start' option so it's highlighted, and while keeping your hand steady, press the eject button on the Wii. For about one second, the 'Start' option will remain active. In this window of time, hit the A button on the Wii Remote and then swap out your ejected PAL GCN disc with an NTSC (Japanese or USA) disc, which the Wii will accept into the drive.

If you get it right, the Wii should boot up in GameCube mode and run your NTSC game! We've tried it with several different games from both the USA and Japan, and after learning the timing, we got every game running on our PAL Wii first time.

What's great about this trick is that unlike many 'disc swap' import tricks in the past (such as those that worked on the Sega Saturn and the original PlayStation) this one doesn't require any physical modification of your console, and probably won't even harm it since the Wii is simply using its own disc loading mechanism the whole time. Apparently the reason it works is that the Wii takes a couple of seconds to power itself down to GameCube mode, but for the sake of brevity it tells the disc to boot before the transformation is complete. It is the window between the two that allows this trick to work.

But will it work with imported Wii discs? PALGN's resident 'import crazy man' Chris Sell has tried and can't get it to work. So it seems not for now, but we'll keep you updated. ...