via Joystiq


If you lived through the early part of the millennium and you saw a Syphon Filter game in the "Coming Soon" list on EBgames.com, your brain would be forgiven for skipping over it. "Oh no, we don't care about those games any more, let's move along," your brain might say. But you may have to revamp your policy for Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror, which is apparently making the jump to PS2 from PSP.

Listen, no one's going to blame your if you don't want to get burned again. But sometimes, that's what love is: Falling off of the filter that's also a syphon, and climbing right back on. Plus, it's only $30! Listen, you've got until Sept. 4, just promise us you'll think about it. That's all we ask. ...

via Computer and Video Games


The word 'free' makes any deal a good deal, so when EA throws two new courses for Burnout Dominator on the 'net for you to download for free, you really can't complain.

Carnival Point is one of the new courses, available to download now directly to your PSP memory card, with Red Gate to follow on June 7. Screens of the new courses are below.

You can grab the wares through the menu screens of the game (while in range of a wireless internet connection) or take your PC browser to the official site (the UK site here, or the US one here) for a direct download there. Then you'll have to transfer the goods via USB cable.

EA leads the charge - now it's up to other publishers to give download content away for FREE, instead of charging ludicrous amounts for horse armour. Oblivion (360) fans will know what we mean. ...

via Eurogamer


New Zealand-based online retailer Gameplanet Store has uncovered the next game in the SingStar PS2 series, or so it appears.

It's due for release in New Zealand on 3rd August, they say, and will draw its inspiration from the 1990s. Included are hits from MC Hammer and Seal, along with that bloody Wet Wet Wet song and New Kids On The Block to name a few.

Unfortunately Sony was unavailable to comment on its validity or when we could expect it in Europe. However, the presence of screenshots, a packshot, and a tracklist on Gameplanet seem to point to authenticity.

The full list of tracks follows, but be prepared for some alterations if it makes its way to Europe.

1. Never Ever - All Saints
2. Barbie Girl - Aqua
3. Love Shack - B-52's
4. One Week - Barenaked Ladies
5. Achy Breaky Heary - Billy Ray Cyrus
6. Horses - Daryl Braithwaite
7. Unbelievable - EMF
8. Here Comes the Hot Stepper - Ini Kamoze
9. Stay - Lisa Loeb
10. You Can't Touch This - MC Hammer
11. Bitch - Meredith Brooks
12. Movin' On Up - M People
13. Torn - Natalie Imbruglia
14. Step By Step - New Kids On The Block
15. Where The Wild Roses Grow - Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue
16. Unskinny Bop - Poison
17. Creep - Radiohead
18. Everyone Hurts - R.E.M.
19. Only To Be With You - Roachford
20. I Want You - Savage Garden
21. Kiss From A Rose - Seal
22. Baby Got Back - Sir Mix-a-lot
23. Wannabe - Spice Girls
24. Two Princes - Spin Doctors
25. Pump Up The Jam - Technotronic feat. Felly
26. Lovefool - Cardigans
27. Zombie - The Cranberries
28. Friday I'm In Love - The Cure
29. I Touch Myself - The Divinyls
30. Love Is All Around - Wet Wet Wet

...

via Games Industry


Splinter Cell producer Mathieu Ferland believes that Ubisoft's decision to reinvent the famed stealth series - ditching much of its light-and-shadow gameplay - will ultimately be vindicated by player reaction, despite the obvious risk.

"We've been working very closely with the fans from the beginning," Ferland told GamesIndustry.biz. "Their first reaction was, 'What's going on? Where's Sam?' And then they discovered these new possibilities, this new mechanic and they said, 'That looks awesome. I want to play it.'"

However, the producer admitted that Ubisoft could return to past values if things go wrong with Conviction, the fifth game in the series.

"It's not a one-way direction," he confirmed. "You can always go back and do different things, having Sam in a new position, or a different character to explore light-and-shadow gameplay."

Whereas past games were about avoiding detection in highly-charged situations, Conviction puts protagonist Sam Fisher on the run from the law, and forces players to mingle in crowds, overcoming enemies through confrontation and distraction rather than evasion.

It also reduces the number of complex controls players will need to master, using context-sensitive Aggression, Stealth and Interaction buttons rather than a broad range of button combinations.

"To us, it's a nice way to expand the brand," Ferland said of the overall approach, "because Ubisoft is a nice company and you can push it hard with innovation, especially in Splinter Cell, and sometimes when you want to push innovation you need to adapt your creative direction to fit the kind of gameplay you want to provide."

Ferland also said that he had been encouraged by the reaction he received from trade and press during the game's demonstration at the UbiDays showcase in Paris last week.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction is due to appear on PC and Xbox 360 later this year. ...

via Games Industry


Shortages of the Wii are set to continue throughout 2007 according to analysts at Lazard Capital Markets, with Nintendo potentially missing key sales during the Christmas season for a second year running.

And while the company increases production of the console to 1.5 million units a month, some analysts have begun to question the long-term appeal of the Wii amongst the casual gaming audience.

"Demand still appears to exceed supply, and we believe that shortages could persist through the remainder of the year, including the key holiday period," commented Lazard's Colin Sebastian.

For some analysts, the Wii may begin to lose favour with the casual consumer, and in the face of next-generation gaming it could also look out of date as the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 continue to push the envelope with graphical and technological advances.

"Its appeal is primarily to casual gamers, and there's a serious question about how long casual gamers will stay engaged with the platform," commented Van Baker, technology analyst at Gartner Inc, reports the LA Times.

"It wouldn't be surprising to see them lose interest after a relatively short amount of time," he said.

"The Wii in a couple of years is going to look like old technology with low resolution [and] slow performance. People may not be accepting of that," he added.

However, the Wii is still receiving praise from consumers themselves, with a recent poll by Frank N. Magid Associates revealing that 31 per cent of Wii owners expect to still be playing the console a year from now, compared to 21 per cent of Xbox 360 owners.

And the most recent US sales figures from NPD revealed that the console is trouncing its competitors at retail, with 360,000 units sold in April, compared to 82,000 PlayStation 3's and 174,000 Xbox 360's. ...

via Nintendo DS Fanboy


Just in case the idea of importing the oh-so-tempting Japanese DS release of Gyakuten Saiban 3 (now with super English track!) wasn't already bouncing around in your noggin, we thought we'd drop some screens and boxart for you.

So who's with us? Last time we checked, August does come before September, and waiting is so very hard when it comes to our favorite lawyerin' crew.

Screenshots can be seen here. Leave feedback via comments. ...

via Xbox 360 Fanboy


As part of their launch party fun, the charitable devs over on the Shadowrun team are holding a few screenshot caption contests where the winners will be invited to play with the team on launch day. If your sense of humor is top notch, then they want you to create the funniest caption for the three Shadowrun screenshots that they've posted on the forums. The funniest caption from each contest will get an invite to frag with the dev team in a private Shadowrun match on launch day via Xbox Live. And all winners will also receive a rockin' Shadowrun tshirt. But you must hurry, because screenshot caption entries must be submitted by tomorrow night at 10:00PM eastern. And don't forget to be all funny and stuff. ...

via Xbox 360 Fanboy


It was revealed just over a week ago that Mad Tracks, from developer Load Inc., had passed certification and had been priced at a cool 800 points. According to GamingTalkHQ, Mad Tracks may be coming out sooner than expected. How much sooner? How about next week? It seems that Xboxic reported yesterday that "anonymous sources inside Microsoft" had confirmed that the game will arrive on Xbox Live Arcade next week. Following up on this report, GamingTalkHQ decided to IM Load Inc. VP, Denis Bourdain. It was then that GamingTalkHQ noticed Bourdain's away message: "Save Your MS points for next week." It may not be official confirmation, but it's as close as we're going to get before Microsoft decides to send out the press releases.

Have any fanboys out there been looking forward to Mad Tracks? ...

via Joystiq


Earlier this week, Sony announced plans to launch a video-on-demand service in South Korea this June, simultaneously releasing an 80GB PS3 model to cater to the happy downloaders. Negotiations with telecom companies are still underway, but an anonymous spokesperson from Hanaro Telecom seemed confident they would strike a deal with the giant.

Sony has no public plans to bring the VOD service to North America or Europe, but we have two words to say about that: test market. The Xbox 360 Video Marketplace is already well-established in the US, so it's likely Sony will use Korea to whip their service into shape to compete worldwide. ...