via Computer and Video Games


"Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops is back, with new characters, new stages and new gameplay modes," begins our trailer, which pretty much sums it up.

Portable Opts is essentially an extended version of the already release Metal Gear Portable Ops, just with the word "Plus" in the title. Oh, and a bunch of new content, too.

There's a new single player mode, Infinity Mission, new soldier careers, and old Snake from the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4 is now playable, although it looks like you'll need to unlock him first.

Anyway, the trailer explains it all so check it out, and the new screens below.


Trailer ...

via Computer and Video Games


Sam & Max is NOT confirmed for Wii, the adventure series developer Telltale has said in response to an announcement from JoWood that it's on the way to Nintendo's console.

"While it's no secret that we want to bring Sam & Max to the Wii - and it is something we're actively pursuing - we don't have any official news right now", a Telltale spokesperson has said.

"When we're in a position to confirm that we'll be porting Sam & Max to the Wii, we'll make an announcement about it."

In a press release, publisher JoWood said yesterday: "One of the next projects: As Sam & Max adventure of the year, chosen by the readers of the German computer game magazine 'PC Games, Sam & Max will soon also for Nintendo Wii to hunt criminals".

Telltale's Sam & Max games are adventure titles that have been released in episodic form on PC. Starring a dog and rabbity thing as detectives, it's currently in its second season. ...

via Eurogamer


Quite easy to put a release date in a quarter. You get three months to fart around with and it sounds closer than "2008". Seasons are even worse; no one knows when they begin or end. Yes really. The result is now, in the dreary, dark, damp and depressing months of calendar quarter number one, publishers need to own up and tell us if their game is actually soon to be released or if they were just telling porky pies to look better.

SEGA looks ever so confident with its first quarter stable of contenders, though, brazenly branding 7th March on Condemned 2 and 14th March on Viking: Battle of Asgard - so excited cannot sleep. Others got the same sort of treatment - NiGHTS and Ghost Squad moved forward to this week. Oh, not to forget Football Manager 2008 on Xbox 360, which finally hopped out of the closet with a 28th March tag.

Ubisoft looked a bit bolshy to begin with as well, revealing to everyone that Assassin's Creed was making lots of money so it would push Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, Far Cry 2 and Tom Clancy's EndWar into its next fiscal year (starting in April). Still, there's Dark Messiah of Might & Magic: Elements (360) on 8th February, apparently.

From one eagerly awaited port to another then, as Bully (aka Canis Canem Edit) on 360 and Wii will now be with us on 7th March. Got 9/10 on PS2. One to look forward to while moaning lustily at GTA IV.

Closer still is the PS3 version of Lost Planet, which you may not be too excited about as it is the third version and over two years after the first. But, it will be with us on 29th February. Bet you didn't know that. Did you? We didn't.

Neither did Square Enix, which has absolutely nothing to do with it dating Dragon Quest: Jokers (DS) for release on 14th March. Nothing to do with Atari saying Beautiful Katamari will be out in February, either.

On the darker side of happy we heard Nintendo date Wii Chess for 18th January - we're not sure if we knew that or not - before rousing Internet anger by delaying Super Smash Bros. Brawl by a month in the US. Still no date for Europe. Incidentally, we won't usually cover US dates, but this is quite big news or something.

Frustrating that LittleBigPlanet has been held back until September, too, and that Tomb Raider: Underworld has been manhandled back to Q4. Evil quarters. Get out of my head.

But every cloud has a silver lining, as Konami remains confident Metal Gear Solid 4 will be out in Q2 and the Sin City game shapes up for next year. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Perhaps in an effort to appease fans disappointed with news that Brawl has been delayed again, the daily update reveals a new stage.

Dubbed the 'Distant Planet', the screenshots look like they could be taken straight out of a Wii Pikmin game (if only) and the quirky terrain could offer some unique challenges.

With so much to be aware of, we're wondering how difficult it's going to be to concentrate on the important stuff like fighting.


Screenshots ...

via Joystiq


Nintendo of America just sent word that the US version of Smash Bros. Brawl is getting another delay, albeit much shorter than the last one. Instead of February 10, Brawl is now expected to come out one month later on March 9. The reason, according to Nintendo, is that "development is taking slightly longer than expected." The official US Smash Bros site has already been updated to reflect the change, as well as include a brief note of apology.

The Japanese SSBB site also notes that Brawl is delayed one week in the region, from January 24 to 31. Europe's release date is still TBA 2008. ...

via IGN


The folks behind Baten Kaitos and Xenosaga may be Nintendo property now, but they're still working with the Bandai Namco Group. According to the latest issue of Famitsu, Monolith Software is developing Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier. The game will be published in Japan by Banpresto this Spring.

In Endless Frontier, you play as a bounty hunter called Hawking Browning who's out to... well, we're not sure what his goal is, but at least he's surrounded by chicks! Joining Hawking on his journey are the female android Ashen Brade, the heroine Kaguya Nanbu, and the princess Suzuka.

Outside of the human (and humanoid) characters, the game will feature robots -- not too surprising, since it's a Super Robot game and all. While Famitsu couldn't get confirmation from producer Kouji Ishitani and director Soichiro Morizumi, it appears that the Super Robot characters will act as your enemies.

Gameplay details are a bit scarce right now, but it is known that the game will feature random battles. Hawking and his party face off against enemies on the bottom screen using a battle system that allows for devastating combos through simple button presses.

The game will also have a world map which you traverse as you explore the Endless Frontier, a territory that is said to be closely connected to the Super Robot Taisen OG world in some way. We're not sure how much RPG-style exploration you can expect, though, as a screen in the magazine shows the player selecting their next location from a menu.

Given the Spring release date, we expect to hear a lot more on Endless Frontier in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for further details and hopefully first screens. ...

via IGN


The folks behind Baten Kaitos and Xenosaga may be Nintendo property now, but they're still working with the Bandai Namco Group. According to the latest issue of Famitsu, Monolith Software is developing Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier. The game will be published in Japan by Banpresto this Spring.

In Endless Frontier, you play as a bounty hunter called Hawking Browning who's out to... well, we're not sure what his goal is, but at least he's surrounded by chicks! Joining Hawking on his journey are the female android Ashen Brade, the heroine Kaguya Nanbu, and the princess Suzuka.

Outside of the human (and humanoid) characters, the game will feature robots -- not too surprising, since it's a Super Robot game and all. While Famitsu couldn't get confirmation from producer Kouji Ishitani and director Soichiro Morizumi, it appears that the Super Robot characters will act as your enemies.

Gameplay details are a bit scarce right now, but it is known that the game will feature random battles. Hawking and his party face off against enemies on the bottom screen using a battle system that allows for devastating combos through simple button presses.

The game will also have a world map which you traverse as you explore the Endless Frontier, a territory that is said to be closely connected to the Super Robot Taisen OG world in some way. We're not sure how much RPG-style exploration you can expect, though, as a screen in the magazine shows the player selecting their next location from a menu.

Given the Spring release date, we expect to hear a lot more on Endless Frontier in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for further details and hopefully first screens. ...

via Kotaku


Has a retailer let slip the release date of the next Grand Theft Auto? National electronics chain Micro Center has released a sales circular with the bottom of one page stamped with the Grand Theft Auto IV logo, a few choice pieces of art, and the words, "March 08." That would be a Saturday for those of you who keep track of such things, which is a pretty odd day for such a huge title but certainly not unheard of. The circular warns that new release availability is subject to change, but it seems like an awful lot of black ink to waste on speculation. GameDaily, who broke this particular story, got in touch with the folks at Rockstar to see if they could get some sort of confirmation.

...

via Computer and Video Games


Suspicions of Sony having canned GT Mobile for PSP have arisen once again after months of silence on the title, and its recent removal from certain retailers' online pre-order lists.

When speaking to a Sony UK correspondent today, we were told: "Polyphony is currently focusing all its resources on developing GT5 for PS3."

While this does not confirm that GT Mobile has been scrapped, it certainly insinuates that GT Mobile has been put on the backburner while the obviously crucial PS3 game takes the lead.

This was, after all, exactly what series creator Kazunori Yamauchi, said just last month - that while he's very much working on Gran Turismo Mobile, it won't be out till after Gran Turismo 5 releases.

GT Mobile's future has been balancing on a tightrope for some time now. Originally planned for release in 2005, its release was thenput back "indefinitely" in September 2006.

We reckon the PSP game will be revived sometime next year. But only if the PS3 games ships as intended later this year. ...