Via Eurogamer

We've obviously been having some fun with our PlayStation 3 since it turned up last week, and we thought we'd snap a few screenshots of the games we've been playing so you can join in.

First up is the MotorStorm gallery, where you can see how the game's incredibly destructible cars fall apart at high speed and how the screen gets all blurry when you're going really fast across those bumpy tracks.

Second is Ridge Racer 7, looking mighty shiny. Just look at those glistening rocks. It's sort of like racing through an angry upside down glacier.

Then of course there's Insomniac's Resistance: Fall of Man, with its alien (or is it mutant?) packed English towns that need cleansing. We're particularly proud of the man-standing-on-his-head picture.

Obviously all the code we have is preview builds and not necessarily representative of the final games yadda yadda. Watch out for more on each of the games, and some others Sony's been nice enough to give us, in the near future.

Screens Here ...

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Via IGN

Anyway, while playing through the first two cases of the game, I realized that this is the old Capcom at work. The Capcom that would churn out sequel after sequel with little to nothing added. Nearly everything about Gyakuten Saiban 2 is the same compared to the first game. The graphics, the interface (for the most part), hell, even the packaging is nearly the same. Then again, that's exactly what I wanted. Save for the packaging, of course.

The latest remake for the DS is pretty much the same thing, as players assume the role of Phoenix Wright as he fights for truth and justice over the span of several cases, each containing several hours of play. The first case of the game is your simple introductory case, much like the first game had a tutorial case. Of course, it's done in a roundabout way; Phoenix is assaulted during a break and has to be held by the hand by everyone in court. Sure, it's totally corny and by god is it ever painful at times, but it gets the job in introducing newer players to how cases play out, but it would've been awesome if Capcom allowed those who had played the first game to skip it altogether. Fortunately things do get much better in the second and third cases.

A couple of new characters are introduced in the sequel. The first that you'll meet is Maya Fey's little cousin, Pearl, who will be vital in times of need, since she has the same channeling powers as her older cousin. The second new character is Franziska von Karma, who is the daughter of Manfred von Karma, the prosecutor during the Edgeworth trial in the first game. Due to her father's defeat, she's out to get revenge and desires to bury Phoenix Wright and tarnish his undefeated record while maintaining her own perfect score. New additions to the game actually make the investigating portion much more interesting. Psyche-locks are basically testimonies outside of the court, where Phoenix has to unlock whatever secrets a person may have. By using an item called the Magatama, he can see locks on topics that a person may not want to answer, so it's up to him to find evidence and clues to get what he wants. Your informants may have up to three or four Psyche-locks each, but it depends entirely on the secret they carry. Of course, if you make a mistake while grilling someone, you'll be penalized, which is why the "lifebar" has also been changed. In the first game, you had a set number of points but now you have an actual lifebar that depletes if you screw up. Of course, the worse you screw up, the larger penalty you'll receive. The lifebar is concurrent throughout the entire case, so if you have a really nasty fight in court, that will result in fewer chances while investigating. By unlocking Psyche-Locks, you can refill this meter, however. Finally, the last change is the ability to present profiles as evidence, which makes things a lot more interesting because you literally have double the amount of evidence to utilize, thus making cases more complex. The stories do get a little far-fetched, I admit, but if you're able to suspend your belief a little, they're quite entertaining.

Speaking of the cases, aside from the first one, they're a lot more difficult to figure out, and they actually require a level of intuition that wasn't present in the first title, even with the later cases. Starting with the second case, which is split up into five parts, the amount of twists and turns in the story is baffling, and it would've been boring as hell if the localization was trash. Thankfully, like the first title, the script has received a wonderful translation and contains a lot of humour and references that even some of the most hardcore might miss. The Zelda reference from the second case was especially awesome. The most disappointing thing about the port is the soundtrack, which isn't nearly as strong as it should be and at times it doesn't even fit the mood of the scene. During the tensest moments of a trial, the music should have a strong, dramatic tone to it, and overall the game fails to deliver.

Word on the street is that the U.S. version of the game is hitting stores sometime in January, so if you can stand the wait, do the right thing and support Capcom USA when the game is released in the US. Does it stand up to the original game? It certainly does, and the new features make things more entertaining. Just don't expect it to help you out with your law class anytime soon. ...

Via IGN

Just a few weeks ago Ubisoft revealed that the company had been working on a Star Wars game tailored for both the PlayStation Portable as well as the Nintendo DS. In that announcement, the company only had screens and details ready to go on the PSP rendition, leaving DS owners in the dark on what their version's going to end up becoming. Today, Ubisoft let us in on what's happening with the dual-screen portable version of Star Wars: Deadly Alliance shipping this December.

The game's in development at Ubisoft Morocco, the development team that worked on the Nintendo DS version of Peter Jackson's King Kong last year. In Star Wars: Deadly Alliance, players are thrust into an era between Star Wars Episode III and Episode IV, just before Princess Leia secured the plans for the Death Star. You're actually put into the role of Rianna Saren put to the task of securing those plans for the Princess and the Alliance.

The game's all action, running on the Nintendo DS in full 3D. Players will run through many familiar areas of the Star Wars universe, including such locations as Mustafar and Tatooine, as well as new locations on Despayre, Danuta, and Alderaan. Duke it out with the all-star cast including Boba Fett and Darth Vader.

The Nintendo DS version will have special touch-screen mini-games between the action, as well as a four player wireless multiplayer option. The current, official boxart indicates that the game might go online, though don't be surprised if it's a feature that gets the axe before the game's release. ...

Via IGN

The fastest blue mammal in the history of entertainment wants to burrow in your pants. Sonic the Hedgehog is just intrusive that way. He takes his 90s "attitude" and red shoes and rockets just about anywhere he pleases. But that's a huge part of why the gaming public has stuck with him for so long. Now SEGA stands ready to preach the Sonic gospel to PSP owners everywhere with the upcoming Sonic Rivals.

The PSP title has more in common with the original 16-bit Sonic than the upcoming next-gen version. Players control Sonic as he dashes along a two dimensional track. Only it looks far better than before, since the developers made the game look three dimensional - a lot like Viewtiful Joe. The gameplay follows a strict 2D track but the environments and characters benefit from 3D modeling. The effect works well and makes the game look the part of a next-gen handheld game. But visuals will only take a game so far in this industry. If a title places style over substance - few will take the bait.

It looks like Rivals wants to sidestep this dangerous practice. SEGA representatives strolled into the IGN office the other day to show off the latest build of Rivals. It has undergone improvements across the board, most noticeably in the framerate, though. The early demo on display at E3 2006 did a good job of showing where the game would end up, but this latest version had all the pieces in place. One such piece, the actual story, shows up in full form. It still has everything to do with the maniacal tendencies of Dr. Eggman -- just as any Sonic fan would want. This time, he has blasted through the world capturing all of Sonic's fans and trapping them.

This sets Sonic, along with cohorts Knuckles, Shadow and Silver, on the road to sweet justice. As fate would have it, this road has a lot of racing in it. Even though developers are quick to note that Rivals is not a racer, that's practically what you spend most of your time doing. Having said that, there's a lot more to Rivals than slamming on the accelerator and hoping for the best. Each course in the game has a different theme and accompanying obstacles. Sonic and crew need to bounce on platforms and blast through barriers, not to mention deal with twists, turns and the ever-present spikes. It's a lot for a posse of heroic mammals to handle. Especially since, they need to fight each other along the way. Hey, it's not called Sonic Rivals for nothing.

The game splits into two main modes, the biggest of which is single-player. Here, you choose a character and jet through stages in linear fashion. The game has you go through themed zones, each of which breaks into three acts. And it's not just racing and obstacle avoidance, either - you need to contend with a string of nasty boss fights. Apparently, you fight these with full control of you character, not at all like the on-rails races that comprise most of the game. The look of the bosses is reminiscent of the old-school ones - something fans will certainly appreciate.

One of the strongest elements of Rivals, apart from the single-player element, is multiplayer. You can join or host races, as well as choose your character and the track you want to play. To make things more interesting, you can choose to wager certain cards (found during the game) in every multiplayer encounter. You can also opt to trade them, too, if gambling violates your principles - or if you just don't want your friends to gank your hard-earned cards. Multiplayer sounds fairly straightforward, but it offers a deal of fun.. ...

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