via Computer and Video Games


A new video focusing on Silicon Knights' RPG Too Human video is up on Xbox Live and demanding your attention. Part of the video dips into the game's combat - which is "pulse-pounding", according to Microsoft.

It features commentary from Silicon Knights boss Denis Dyack and designer Henry Sterchi, who elaborate on Too Human's features "such as the multitude of customisation combinations, storyline elements and statistical tracking that make up the role-playing element, as well as the countless combinations of weapons and attacks that feed the action lover."

We'd be watching now if some cheeky sod hadn't run off with our Xbox 360 power cable. Seriously, you can't leave anything lying around these days. ...

via Games Industry


Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games remains on top as Nintendo titles dominate the German charts in sales data released today by GfK International.

In Spain, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 was the top selling game, with Mario & Sonic at the Olympics coming in at number three (DS) and five (Wii).

Six DS titles and one Wii title placed in the top ten for Germany for the week ending March 14, as opposed to three DS and two Wii titles in Spain's top ten sales chart.

Sony did better in Spain than Germany, placing two PS3 titles - and one each for the PSP and PS2 - in the top ten. Only one Xbox 360 game made the charts in either country.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, a long-time resident of both charts, has fallen to tenth place in Germany and in Spain.

The Top Ten titles in Germany for the week ending March 14 are:

1. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS)
2. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (DS)
3. More Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (DS)
4. Professor Kageyama's Mathematics Training (DS)
5. Wii Play (Wii)
6. The Sims 2: Free Time (PC)
7. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm (PC)
8. New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
9. Think Logic Trainer (DS)
10. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC)

The Top Ten titles in Spain for the week ending March 14 are:

1. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (PSP)
2. Army of Two (PS3)
3. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS)
4. FIFA 2008 (PS2)
5. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii)
6. Army of Two (360)
7. More Brain Training (DS)
8. Brain Training with Dr. Kawashima (DS)
9. Triiviial (Wii)
10. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3) ...

via Computer and Video Games


Altus USA has released eleven new screenshots from Xbox 360 version of Spectral Force 3, a Japanese RPG destined to hit the States later this year.

From the looks of things, the game will be standard Atlus fare, with lots of stats, anime style characters and a stat-based RPG combat system.

Also from the screenshots, we've deduced the translation might well be unintentionally funny. "Wihdraw, Meufa! My holy sword will smite these ingrates!" Awesome.


Screenshots ...

via IGN


Following the news of Ikaruga's imminent release on Xbox Live, another date of interest has emerged on Microsoft's official Japanese Xbox page. April 2 – or International Children's Book Day as it is sometimes known – is also the date for the release of Namco's Mr. Driller Online.

As spotted by the eagle-eyed inhabitants of the Neogaf forums, the date is remarkably close, though as yet we can't confirm whether it will also herald the release of the game in the West. Namco's cult favourite blockbuster was only recently announced for the Xbox 360's online service, and boasts four-player online play, as well as offline split-screen and both Standard Driller and Quest Driller for the solo player. ...

via IGN


Hudson kicked off its support of Nintendo's WiiWare download service this past week with the Japanese release of Star Soldier R. But this launch title was apparently just the start of many downloadable titles to come from the company.

At a press event held in Tokyo today, the company introduced its upcoming lineup for the service. While confirming that it has over 10 titles in development for the service, it provided a first glimpse at four of the upcoming titles.

As previously announced, Hudson has Bomberman and Tetris due out shortly for the service. Bomberman will support Wi-Fi battles and will be available in June. Tetris will follow in July.

It appears that the recent confusion over two Bomberman games apparently being in development for the Wii may have at last been cleared up. The Bomberman title mentioned in this story from a couple of weeks back is actually the WiiWare game. That is, unless Hudson has two different eight-player Bomberman games due out for the Wii in June.

In addition to these three titles, Hudson announced for the first time today a WiiWare version of Alien Crush. This digital pinball game was originally released for the Turbo Grafx years ago, but is now being revived on WiiWare with Wii-style controls and a five player Wi-Fi score challenge. A Japanese release is planned for August.

Catalog franchises aren't all that's due out from Hudson for the service. The company also announced Blue Oasis, a completely original title where you build an aquarium and raise fish. A Japanese release is planned for 2008.

All these announcements concern Japan only at the moment, although the company did note that one of its principles with WiiWare development is to make games that can be enjoyed with players both locally and throughout the world. Expect to see many of these games in your part of the world at some point. ...

via Games Industry


The BBFC has responded to industry concerns over whether or not it can handle the increased workload that the Byron Review recommendations would lead to, dismissing them as "nonsense".

In the report, published yesterday, Tanya Byron recommended that the statutory rating age be reduced to 12, with the BBFC taking responsibility for all titles rated '12', '15' and '18'.

But speaking to GamesIndustry.biz the BBFC has strongly defended its ability to take on the extra classification work.

"We're very touched at the BBFC about how concerned people are about us and our resources," said a spokesperson. "It's nice to know people are worried, but the fact of the matter is that we'll have no problem dealing with it."

There was also some clarification over the number of titles that the BBFC would need to work on, with the body rating 258 videogame titles in 2007.

"At the most, if we take the 12-plus and 16-plus games from PEGI it's about 500 games [per year]," the spokesperson went on.

"We classified, last year, about 17,000 works [including films], and that's gone from 7500 in 2000. The film industry wasn't concerned about our ability to cope with the huge influx of work - they just assumed that we would, and we did.

"Not only can we cope, but we've improved our turnaround times. Most of the games, particularly at the '12' end can be looked at in a couple of hours, because we get all the cheat codes, and all the things we need to get through the games quite quickly - and that's not much different from watching a DVD.

"When they moved from video to DVD - and think how much more material you can get on a DVD than a video - nobody from the industry debated about whether we'd be able to cope. This is a red herring, it's nonsense."

The Byron proposals have been accepted by the government, but still need to go through a period of public consultation before they become definite, and one of the issues that needs more discussion is the procedure for games that are on the cusp of a '12' rating.

"That's something that we're going to have to work through - at the moment this is still some way off," said the spokesperson. "As far as I know the government isn't expecting much to happen before the Autumn [following the consultation period], so there's plenty of time to work these issues out." ...

via Kotaku


R4 carts, you either love 'em or hate 'em. People who want to play pirated DS games, they love 'em. Retailers in Akihabara, they love 'em, because they sell a ****ton of them. But Nintendo? They hate 'em. And may have started doing something about it. We knew that they'd begun to grow concerned over the carts late last year, but over the past week many specialist retailers in Akihabara have put up notices saying they'll no longer be selling the R4, following threats made by Nintendo. Same goes for some Japanese online retailers.

So is this the end for the naughty little cartridge? Eh, probably not. Nintendo may be able to strong-arm the little guy, but not the littler guys they don't even know about. Or the internets. ...

via Eurogamer


Command 3 director Adam Boyes thinks N+ developer Metanet was wrong to call the vast majority of games on XBLA rubbish.

Writing on the Capcom US blog, Boyes said the real problem is how the content is presented, not the content itself.

"There is good content up there, but the Yellow Pages system [alphabetised with numerical titles at the top] doesn't lend itself to a proper sorting mechanic that we are used to from Amazon or YouTube," he said.

"Instead of complaining that XBLA has hundreds of games that are 'utter sh**' and advocating a no-limit release of a billion craptastic games, I think we need to work on lobbying a better system for sorting games. After all, Sony already has sorting for 'Most Popular' on PSN..."

Boyes praised the "indefinite shelf space" of the service that makes a game always available, and said he appreciated the demo system that lets you try before you buy.

These demos, if you remember, were one of the problem areas picked out by Metanet, which claimed it "was unbelievably depressing for us to try literally 80 games and enjoy less than 8 of them".

As a result, Metanet relies on word of mouth and reviews, which puts us back in "retail land" and far from the "Mecca for small teams" that it envisioned at the beginning of XBLA.

Meanwhile, Boyes continued to laud the freedom of the service and how there was a game for everyone, including his wife.

But again, this was something Metanet was against. It argued that "casual games outnumber proper videogames", which leads to the "vast majority of titles" being disappointing.

Conflicting interests, then. But who is right and who is wrong?

Pop over to the Capcom US blog and the Metanet website to read more. ...

via Kotaku


Here's what we knew before, oh, just now. We knew Tales of Symphonia: Knights of Ratatosk was due for release in the "Spring" on the Wii. Least in Japan. We knew it's also to be localised and released in the West, re-christened as "Dawn of the New World". Now that it's right now, well, we now know that the game will be released in Japan on June 26, so at the very least, you now also know not to expect it in English anytime before that. ...