News via easports/nbalive08


Electronic Arts has just gave word that the Official NBA live 08 website is now up and running. Any sports fans out there that follow the NBA live franchise should definitely go check it out.

The site contains clips of the actual game NBA live08. Along with coverage of the athlete Gilbert Arenas, as he talks about his nickname and getting on the cover of NBA live08. Theres also various wallpapers for download.

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News via psp.ign

Making the jump from PC to PSP.

Thanks to 2K Games Australia, we have a small insight into the trials of porting an inherently PC title across to the PSP. Developer Monte Cristo's upcoming portable port of Silverfall, originally a PC-based action RPG, dives into how the team sidestepped not only hardware challenges, but several design quirks, too.

According to the developer diary, "One single character texture of the PC version equals the total memory we have on the PSP! But there would be design challenges too."

They elaborate, "One of the first to come to mind was controls. As you probably have already noticed, there is no mouse on the PSP. We had to change the whole system to allow for direct control, that is to say you don't click on a location to get your character there but move by yourself with the stick. You don't click on a monster to fight, you actually input the moves you want to make. We are not the first RPG on console to have made the transition - Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance did it, for example. But this small change in the controls would lead to more, as in a butterfly effect. The camera is consequently behind your character, with two different positions: the first one is a quite classical top down view, reminiscent of isometric games; the second is a more third-person view as if you were in an action game… which incidentally gives you a much better view of how great your character looks!



"The other obvious difference is the HUD. There is a glaring difference between a 1024x768 screen and a 480x272 PSP screen. It's simply not possible to convey the same amount of information to the player. We spent a lot of time thinking about the organisation of the interface, ergonomics, and amount of data that can be displayed. But despite its limitations, the 9/16 format offers nice horizontal possibilities (designers, you can get your HUD laid!)."

In bringing the title to a handheld, the team stripped the gameplay back to the basics. "Silverfall is above all a hack 'n' slash. We had to focus on monsters and the way you get rid of them, on character development, on items, and on this so-difficult-to-catch-and-give-birth-to 'feeling of power'. It was decided to get rid of companions and have more enemies on screen instead. But to keep the tactical feeling a companion system provides, we decided to have very specific skills. The player is required to think through the moves they will use in combat, much like in Magic: the Gathering. Chained actions are at the core of the system.



"What's more, we are working on the PSP, a great machine that displays bright detailed 3D. Our artists managed to build a coloured and unique look and feel without outlining the models. Textures from the PC version were redone, reduced and enhanced. As a joke, we had Disney's colour scheme (and more precisely Kingdom Hearts) as a reference. The issue of visual look and feel was sorted.

"Finally, the PSP is above all a console - and a portable one. Action is needed, in manageable chunks that provide quick bursts of fun, so we could say goodbye to the open environments! We didn't want you to be lost in a middle of a level, not knowing what to do or where to go. Our levels are not linear but you will always know what to do and where to go thanks to the quest log and the navigation points that appear on the level map. The game is conceptually divided into 10 minute sessions which brings lots of rewards through combat and collection. This however doesn't infringe on the length of the game, which will last about 20 hours… if you don't go PvP or coop with some of your friends, and if you don't play the game again because you want to build a new mighty character!"

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Here's a new video of the developers on the upcoming video game Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This video diary of the developers focuses on the video game settings.

This video shows the games version of Hogwarts and how its put together. The developers tried to have Hogwarts stay constant to that of the Hogwarts portrayed in the previous movies and books. Here the developers show parts of the enormous castle and areas within the game.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is said to be released on DS, Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, and PC on June 25

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new release from TP

Here's what TP had to say-

I decided to take a break from Luanux today to clone a simple game called Robots. The concept: dodge the robots while making them run into each other. If they get too close you can teleport away.

Use the d-pad to move and press X to teleport but use the teleport ability only when you must; you might land right next to a robot.

It has a couple small bugs but nothing major. Sometimes only one robot dies when two collide. (I'm STILL tryin to figure out why...)

A screenshot:


I find it a very fun game myself. Try to beat 191 robots. (that's my highscore)

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Download via luanux ...

news via totalvideogames

US reports suggest that Electronic Arts could be using the caricatures in the upcoming football title...

Despite being used in the likes of Wii sports and Wii Play, Wii's Mii characters have so far been left on the periphery, forming their own parades between consoles and not doing much else. In a report from US-based Fortune however, it's suggested that Electronic Arts will use the little caricatures in a more active role later in the year.

According to the report, EA is planning to use Miis as players in the upcoming Wii version of FIFA 08. Further information on their appearance, including official confirmation, is yet to be made by Electronic Arts themselves - though representatives for the publisher has confirmed to TVG that further information on the Wii version will be released at a later date.

Supposing that their appearance in FIFA on Wii is accurate, where next for the Miis? How about behind the wheel of a souped up car in the Wii version of Need for Speed ProStreet? Or teaming up to form a Wii adaptation of PS3/Xbox 360 title Army of Two? One thing is for sure, their use by third-party publishers will at least raise the Miis' exposure beyond their current levels.

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news via gamepro

A report today from DigiTimes indicates that Taiwanese company Gemtek Technology is currently slated to produce a Nintendo-branded WLAN router to be exclusively used with the Wii. The news comes by way of market sources in Taiwan, who claim that the company could ship out as many as 50,000 of these router units per month within the second half of 2007.

The sources also claim that Gemtek is increasing production of the Wii's WLAN modules to reach a quota of two million units for the 2007 calendar year. This would represent a sharp increase from 2006's total of 1.2 million units.

The report did not name these sources, leaving the validity of these claims in question. When asked for a comment from Gemtek, the company declined in the interest of client confidentiality.

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news via gaming.monster

Four new games for the UK, including some Mega Drive classics.

There seems to be no shortage of Wii titles to download, ready to fill up all your channels, and certainly no shortage of demand for them.

This week’s headliner has to be Kid Chameleon and right behind it the classic SEGA beat ‘em up Streets of Rage 2 and ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Planet Funkotron. In a nice move Ninty has packaged all three of these beauts for 800 Wii points. Lastly, World Sports Competition, from the Turbografx collection, should add some sporty fun into your Wiikend.

All four games are available to download, bringing the number of downloadable games on the European Virtual Console to 92.

Virtual Console European Releases, June 1

Turbografx - 500 Wii Points

World Sports Competition (1992)

SEGA Mega Drive - 800 Wii Points

Kid Chameleon (1992)

Streets of Rage (1993)

ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Planet Funkotron (1993)

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news via wral

Nintendo Wii has not only changed the way people play games, thanks to the motion-sensor controller, it's also issued in a new digital delivery system that's taken the world by storm. The Wii Virtual Console now has 100 classic Nintendo, Sega and TurboGrafx 16 games available for people to buy and download.

And people have been doing just that--to the tune of 1,000 downloads per hour. Over 4.7 million classic games have been downloaded worldwide since Nintendo launched Wii. These old school games come from every Nintendo console ever made, as well as Sega Genesis and TurboGrafx16. The top five downloaded games are no surprise--Mario and Zelda. "Super Mario Bros." (NES), "Super Mario 64" (N64), Mario Kart 64 (N64), Super Mario World (SNES) and "The Legend of Zelda" (NES) are the most popular games to date.

On June 4, "Zelda II--The Adventure of Link" will be the 100th title available on Wii. And plenty more are coming. The Wii holds about 64 games and any game purchased is yours forever, which means if you erase it, you can download it again at any time. These classics, which can be played with a new Wii classic controller.

The good news for Nintendo is that 40 percent of Wii owners are already online. I was able to play some new games in Seattle last week that actually offer online gameplay, like "Marios Strikers Charged," which plays great online. It features two-on-two gameplay with no lag time. Another online game coming out on Wii is "Pokemon Battle Revolution," which also should be a hit with the huge Pokemon fan base.

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Here is a new trailer of the upcoming video game on the PSP, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes. As most of you know this soon to be released game is based on the Naruto series. It has a story mode along with several fighting modes. With quite a few mini games. Those American Naruto dub fans will especially be excited since this is the first Naruto game on PSP actually done in English. This is in fact a English translated version of Japan's Naruto Narultimate Ninja Portable on PSP.

Namco Bandai and CyberConnect2 are the game developers. This game is said to be released some time in August of this year.

Trailer


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