[How have downloadable PS1 titles fared in Sony's PS3 PlayStation Store? Gamasutra's Matt Matthews reached out to Sony and came away with an exclusive top ten of titles to date, with some surprising results.]

Among the software that Sony offers on the U.S. PlayStation Store for the PlayStation 3 are about 30 titles which originally appeared on Sony's first PlayStation console.

These games are generally playable on both the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable and range in price from $6 to $10.

All of PS1 titles on the PlayStation Store to date have been published by Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA).

Even games like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, originally published by Konami, were published on the Store by SCEA.

With Capcom expressing interest in bringing more of its PS1 catalog to the PlayStation Store, I thought it would be helpful to see which classic games have sold well so far.

Sony graciously provided me with the top selling PS1 games since the PlayStation Store launched in 2006, as follows:



Having seen this list, it becomes a bit more clear why Capcom is eager to get more of its games on the Store. Even though its Street Fighter Alpha has only been available for only seven months, it is already the best-selling PS1 game on the service.

The second and third Crash Bandicoot games are the only other games from 2008 which made the top 10, but each has has been available for nearly twice as long as SFA.

Another popular third-party title, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, took the #2 spot in the top 10. The lesser-known Castlevania Chronicles, originally by Konami but published on the PlayStation Store by SCEA in December 2008, did not make this top 10.

Fans have long hoped that Konami would release the seminal Metal Gear Solid as a download on the store, but Konami has been content to release it only in its home territory of Japan.

All other titles in the top 10 are games originally published by Sony.

Some notable third-party titles available on the PlayStation Store that didn't make it into the top 10 are Tekken 2 (originally published by Namco) and Rayman (originally published by UbiSoft).

So far in 2009, no PS1 games have been released on the PlayStation Store, although there have been assurances from Sony that more are coming.

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=22842 ...

In April 1989, Nintendo released the Game Boy. How time flies when you're having fun, because it's now April 2009, so a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday" is in order for the venerable little machine.

Having sold around 120 million units in its 14-year production run (that's including sales of the Game Boy Color), the Game Boy gave way to the Game Boy Advance, which begot the Nintendo DS. Which isn't anywhere near as great because it's not called the Game Boy DS.

Being near-indestructible, easy to carry around and with plenty of battery life, the Game Boy saw off a number of competitors in its lifetime, from Atari's Lynx to Sega's Game Gear, before finally being retired in 2003.

It brought us portable gaming. It brought us Tetris. It brought us Pokemon. So drink up, old man, and enjoy your special month.

http://kotaku.com/5196311/happy-20th...tendo-game-boy ...

In April 1989, Nintendo released the Game Boy. How time flies when you're having fun, because it's now April 2009, so a rousing chorus of "Happy Birthday" is in order for the venerable little machine.

Having sold around 120 million units in its 14-year production run (that's including sales of the Game Boy Color), the Game Boy gave way to the Game Boy Advance, which begot the Nintendo DS. Which isn't anywhere near as great because it's not called the Game Boy DS.

Being near-indestructible, easy to carry around and with plenty of battery life, the Game Boy saw off a number of competitors in its lifetime, from Atari's Lynx to Sega's Game Gear, before finally being retired in 2003.

It brought us portable gaming. It brought us Tetris. It brought us Pokemon. So drink up, old man, and enjoy your special month.

http://kotaku.com/5196311/happy-20th...tendo-game-boy ...

I must admit, it's been a while since I downloaded a game from the Virtual Console. Then again, it's been a while since a Nintendo 64 Zelda game was released on the Virtual console.

As a special treat for long-suffering European and Australian Nintendo fans, Nintendo will be releasing (or have already released, depending where you are) The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask on Friday, the oft-overshadowed little brother of Ocarina of Time.

It's 1000 Wii Points, and should get you the weekend just nicel

http://kotaku.com/5196255/pal-virtua...s-majoras-mask ...

Capcom and Nintendo have announced a new, "Premium Edition" DSi console, to be released in conjunction with upcoming Ace Attorney title Gyakuten Kenji.

It's out in Japan on May 28, and a bundle including a special DSi - well, a regular DSi with Ace Attorney stuff on it - along with a copy of Gyakuten Kenji will go for ¥23,940 (USD$240). Not as Ace Attorney-branded as many fans of the series may have hoped for, perhaps (no green leather & oak frame lawyer's table motif, guys?) , but Capcom/Nintendo obviously felt the need to keep things simple.

http://kotaku.com/5196484/the-premiu...e-attorney-dsi ...

We know. You're a fighting game pro. Can't spare the time to blink while fighting, let alone juggle cords. Which is why you may want to take a look at Dream Arcades' wireless 360 stick.

It's a chunky, sturdy arcade stick, with the addition of being, well, cordless. The fact it's wireless is a pro. The fact it looks like a bad Chinese rip-off stick from 1998 is a con.

No word on pricing yet, but if you own a 360 and take your fighting games, and your wireless modern lifestyle seriously, preorders should open soon at the site below.

http://kotaku.com/5196365/360-arcade...-cuts-the-cord ...

Like we said, the Street Fighter IV National Tournament is the biggest SFIV tournament ever (not hard, seeing as its sponsored by GameStop). And this month, it reaches the business end, with the finals.

On April 18 in San Francisco, the 16 best Street Fighters in the United States will converge on the Fort Mason Festival Pavillion to engage in bloodthirsty combat. Every finalist will get a spot in the world finals, to be held in Vegas later this year. But the winner?

Well, the winner gets not only a ticket to the worlds, but also a Street Fighter IV arcade cabinet. Tasty. The action kicks off at 7pm, and it's open to the public.

http://kotaku.com/5196220/biggest-st...ver-the-finals ...

One for tech geeks, this. Guerrilla released on PSN a playable version of the 'Killzone in 4-D' tech demo, apparently used in a US TV commercial (featured below) to show off the game's impressive visuals.

The download, now entitled Behind the Bullet, gives you "an inside look at the making of the commercial, enabling you to take control and slow down the action, move the camera axis and pivot, hear audio commentary from multiple selectable sources such as the art director or technical director at Guerrilla Games."

And if you're a real geek, you can fiddle with "a variety of buffers and filters to see how every single frame of the commercial was created using the game engine technology," explains Sony. Screens of it in action are below.

What? I think it's cool. Don't judge me.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=212422 ...

Nintendo launches its revamped handheld console - the DSi - in the UK, hoping to maintain the global success of its portable device.
With more than 100 million Nintendo DS handhelds shipped around the world, there might not seem to be much of a need to tinker with the device that has become the dominant platform in the handheld console market.
Given the current rate of sales of the machine, it would be no surprise if the DS were to overtake the PlayStation 2's global sales of 150 million to become the most popular dedicated gaming platform of all-time.
Time warp
When Nintendo first launched the DS, its chunky, retro design and two-screen, touch screen approach - combined with the lack of a web browser and inability to play multimedia - baffled many observers.
Sony's sleek PlayStation Portable with its more advanced graphics hardware, UMD movie library, and connectivity with a PlayStaton 3 seemed the obvious victor in the handheld console race.
Wind the clock on four years since its launch and there is only one winner.
While the PSP has sold modestly well, the DS has steamrollered it - one key element in Nintendo's strategy to broaden the appeal of gaming. In 2008, 47% of DS sales in 2008 were made to women.
But there is a sense that the Nintendo DS is beginning to age.
Newer rivals - including more powerful mobile handsets such as the Nokia N81 and N96, as well as the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch, with more than 30 million sales - are now serious contenders.
Nintendo's answer would appear to be the DSi.
At first glance you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the second generation DS Lite and the new machine.

The built in camera will only take pictures at 0.3 megapixel resolution
The DSi is slightly thinner, with 8% more screen size, but such external changes are generally more aesthetic than tangible.
So what else is new?
It has two built-in cameras, a SDHC card for more storage, the ability to record sound and playback AAC files, a web browser, a focus on personalisation through playing with audio and vision and a new DSi online shop, through which developers are being encouraged to "think outside the box" with new applications.
Limited functionality
The headline changes sound impressive, but the details reveal a disappointing lack of change.
The DSi can only play back AAC, not MP3, arguably the globe's common digital audio standard.
The two cameras are only 0.3 megapixels - so pathetic indeed that it makes the iPhone's famously poor 2 megapixel camera look like a Hasselblad.
Once again, Nintendo has changed the charging cable, so if you are an original DS or DS Lite owner, you won't be able to use your existing cable as a spare.
Own worst enemy
The internal storage of the device is just 256 megabytes - and applications have to run in this paltry amount of storage.
The DSi is no longer compatible with GameBoy Advance games either.
Nintendo are caught in a dilemma of their own making.
With more than 100 million Nintendo DS handhelds already sold, the company cannot afford to turn their back on this audience and encourage developers to create games that use the DSi as the starting template.
So there is unlikely to be much change to the core experiences that games for the Nintendo DS offer.
The changes will be at the fringes - through the DSi shop, and the possibility that some first-party games will be "enhanced" for the DSi.

Nintendo's first device - the NDS - sold over 150 million units
And while the Nintendo DSi largely stands still, rival devices are adding new features all the time: from accelerometers to near HD resolutions in your pocket, GPS and the combination of gaming with mobile communications.
Nintendo, of course, has been written off before, and it would be foolish to do the same again.
The company has successfully shown that simple, addictive games prove very attractive with users, without the need for technically clever controls systems or mobile communications.
But many observers were hoping the company would have gone a little further, a little faster.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7981041.stm ...