via PS3 Fanboy


While at Sony's 3Rooms brand space in London today we had some hands-on time with Folklore and Eye of Judgment (more on those later today). We also saw a couple of things we didn't expect to see, including a PS3 attached to a PlayStation Eye running a game we haven't seen before. Trials of Topoq is a "run the ball through the level" game which reminded us of Kula World on the PS1.

The game requires you to move the ball around the different layers of each castle, breaking open cages as you go. Each level has a different task, including getting to the end within a time limit and breaking a certain amount of cages before reaching the finish line. Crossbows can be found around the levels which, when the ball is rolled into it, will shoot you to a hidden area of the level.

The ball is not moved via the analogue stick, nor the SIXAXIS. Instead, the floor of the castle shows an image of what the PlayStation Eye can see. By moving your arms (or any other part of you, really) you affect the height of the floor temporarily. The idea is to create slopes to guide the ball around and collect the items (or "smash the cages" as the game calls it) whilst making yourself look like a prat in the process.

We snapped a few photos of the game in action, check out the gallery below to see all three. There's no word on whether the game will come bundled with the PlayStation Eye, sold separately or be downloadable. No doubt we'll hear more at Leipzig.


Screenshots here ...

via PS3 Fanboy


This week we get a nice variety of Blu-ray movies hitting the shelves. We have the German post-WWII thriller, The Lives of Others, the Beethoven love story Immortal Beloved, Perfect Stranger a high tech sex thriller with Halle Barry and Bruce Willis, and Van Wilder, a classic a teenager sex comedy with Ryan Reynolds. Here's the official release list:

• The Lives of Others
• Immortal Beloved
• Perfect Stranger
• National Lampoon's Van Wilder (Unrated)

...

via Computer and Video Games


Seeing as we can't read the Korean written word we'll have to take the internet's word for it, but apparently Tecmo is to unveil Ninja Gaiden 2 at this year's Tokyo Game Show - that's according to Korean gaming press.

And so far, the sequel has only been mentioned in relation to Xbox 360, implying - if the info's all accurate of course - an exclusive for Microsoft's console.

Or it could turn out to be one of those timed exclusive things. We can but wait and see...

Ninja Gaiden Sigma, the remake of the fantastic Ninja Gaiden for Xbox, recently released for PS3 and was extremely well received (go read a review).

This year's Tokyo Game Show runs from September 20 to Sept. 23. ...

via Eurogamer


Silicon Knights boss Denis Dyack has said a demo for 360 exclusive Too Human is in the works and should emerge at some point before the game's release in 2008.

He was talking in the forums of fan site TooHuman.net, where he reassured us the game had suffered no delays as a result of the conflict between SK and Epic Games.

"Too Human will be out in 2008. A firm date with tons of new info is coming soon. This will be followed up with a playable demo. The demo will speak for itself," said Dyack.

In July, Silicon Knights accused Epic Games of misleading it regarding the capabilities of the Unreal Engine 3, as well as not providing it with a final development kit in a timely fashion or offering enough support in favour of completing its own games Gears of War and Unreal Tournament 3.

Epic denied the allegations and has since counter-sued, claiming Silicon Knights attempted to "take Epic's licensed technology, pay nothing for it, and use it any way it pleases".

Too Human is a trilogy of role-playing games exclusively for Xbox 360, with each instalment reckoned to be costing a record breaking USD 80 to 100 million each.

It's based around Norse mythology but set in a technologically advanced part of ancient history. You'll collect hordes of equipment, battle through waves of enemies, gain up to 50 levels and customise your character's skills and abilities to fit your play style.

It will have four-player co-operative play included, which will be a necessity when replaying the game on much more challenging settings to gather rare equipment for yourself or to trade online to others.

Microsoft was unavailable for comment at the time of writing. ...

via Eurogamer


Stormfront Studios' Don Daglow has defended the Wii's right to be called a next-generation console during his GCDC speech in Germany this afternoon.

"I'm sure that somewhere in this little section of this room, there's somebody who does not believe the Wii is next-gen," he said.

"It does not have the processing power the 360 or the PS3 do, and you can make the consistent argument that, without that processing power, it can not revolutionise the entire experience. That's debateable, and we get to decide."

"Nobody gets to tell us what we think is next-gen - we get to decide for ourselves. I can help start arguing, but we get to decide for ourselves."

During a reflective one-hour session towards the end of GCDC's first day, Daglow, president and CEO of Stormfront, also encouraged his fellow developers to look beyond the traditional definition of "next generation".

"Next-gen hardware is any platform that, upon its introduction, dramatically changes players' view of the potential for interactive entertainment," he said, before arguing that it's a definition that fits software as well.

"If it changes the player's view of what interactive entertainment is; if you think differently about it; if you have a new perspective after playing the game that you didn't have before, to me that's next-gen," he told the audience.

To support that point of view, Daglow put forward a range of games that had shifted perspectives and proven influential in hindsight - games like Sim City, Guitar Hero, Geometry Wars and World of Warcraft.

The veteran developer - whose career has also encompassed spells at Intellivision, Broderbund and EA - devoted the early part of his session to examining the cyclical nature of console cycles. He spoke of the way developers' appreciation of the hardware matures each time, how certain types of game and certain types of consumer form noticeable patterns, and how people - developers, press and public - tend to react to consoles in distinct ways at each point.

"We've spent a quarter of a century saying 'the machine is holding me back'," he said to begin. "The only problem is that now the machines are so powerful, we've lost our excuse."

"So we've thought about this for a while as game designers - and decided we're going to blame the finance guys," he joked.

Echoing sentiments expressed in Julian Eggebrecht's keynote at the top of the event, he finished by imploring the developers in the audience, to whom he paid tribute, to continue pressing forward. "That search for next-gen is what inspires us to keep trying to change and create new things, has us seeking to dramatically change people's views of what this medium can do."

"As a game player, the one thing I want to ask you is never to give up," he said. "There is always a next-gen available tomorrow." ...

Space Giraffe
Llamasoft
400 Microsoft Points
ESRB Rating E for Everyone
Worldwide


Space Giraffe features uniquely beautiful graphics and 100 levels of lovingly hand-crafted shoot-em-up action gameplay from the makers of Llamatron and Tempest 2000. Collect power-ups to activate Bonus Rounds and master the strategies necessary to maximize your score on every level!


* Extensive gameplay: Play through 100 levels of shooting and strategy.
* Level design: Enjoy the unique graphical appearance of each level due to the use of the Neon engine.
* Special features: Learn special moves to increase the Bonus Multiplier, and collect power-ups to gain access to the Bonus Round.
* Bonus challenges: Finish all 100 levels to unlock a hidden gameplay mode.


Street Trace: NYC
Gaia Industries
800 Microsoft Points
ESRB Rating E for Everyone
Worldwide (except Korea)


Street Trace:NYC is fast-paced street racing and arena combat set against a grim futuristic corporate-controlled environment. Choose one of nine hoverboard-riding street soldiers to carve a plasma trail as you battle and grind through six areas, including abandoned highways and war-torn arenas. Play all of the seven different games in tournaments or exhibition matches, and upgrade your hoverboard and weapons as you play. Master the trials of the Single Player Campaign or compete with up to four players split-screen or up to eight online via Xbox LIVE®.

StreetTraceNYC_Screenshot5

* A different kind of racing: Race and battle your opponents on decked-out hoverboards in three different arenas and three different street circuits. Grind your hoverboard along metal rails to gain an advantage. Your board's emissions give passing players a strategic speed boost, allowing those falling behind to rubber-band off the race leaders.
* Numerous game modes: Take on the single player campaign with 18 time trials and five champion tournaments, or go multiplayer with four-player split-screen or up to eight players on Xbox LIVE. Choose from four different arena game types, Flag, Hunter, Chaos, and Takedown, and from three different street game types, Screamer, Chaos, and Street Trace.
* Multiplayer join-in-progress: The Street Trace:NYC lobby shows how many people are playing online, allows players to join tournaments in progress, and to follow games as they progress.
* Decked-out hoverboards: Upgrade your board's engine, boost, shields and jump capabilities, and use weapons such as lasers, mines, stampede, and rockets. Gotta love rockets.
* Game goals: Earn your spot on the Leaderboards, and gain twelve new Achievements to increase your Gamerscore. ...

For those who are following the HD format wars, they know that Paramount and Dreamworks are the 2 studios that are currently neutral, meaning their films get released on both formats. Today, rumors have come out that they both may be thinking of going over to HD DVD's side, because of certain cash donations given to them by the DVD Forum.

Up until now, Paramount and DreamWorks (live action) were releasing in both Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats. The reason for shifting catalog exclusivity to HD-DVD would appear to be substantial upfront dollars. We expect these dollars could have a meaningfully positive impact on Viacom's film profitability in 2H '07 and full-year 2008.

Separately, it appears that DreamWorks Animation is set to announced that 3-5 key titles (some catalog, some new releases, but details are still fuzzy) over the next several years will be made available exclusively in HD-DVD.

While we are somewhat surprised to see DWA favor a format given its smaller number of releases in a year similar to Paramount, we suspect the driving force of the decision was upfront payments to increase their support of HD-DVD. Given DWA's size, the financial impact on EPS in 2008-2010 could be a positive catalyst for the stock (we are still assuming that Shrek The Third is coming out in both formats in November 2007).

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.co...vd-format-war/


I really hope this is true, since I am one of those people who bought the HD DVD add on for 360. ...

Eidos Interactive, announced the new next-generation title in theConflict series, CONFLICT: DENIED OPS for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.


Previously announced under the working title of Crossfire, Conflict: Denied OPS is new two player co-op FPS from developers, Pivotal Games, and is the fifth game in the best selling Conflict series.

Conflict: Denied OPS is set in today’s volatile political climate, focusing on two covert field operatives, experts in weapons and military tactics. The game allows players to switch seamlessly, at any point, between these two operatives to lay down covering fire, explore diverging paths through the levels, create distractions and pin the enemy under fire.

Making use of Pivotal’s new Puncture Technology, the game features a highly destructible environment, allowing players to shoot through walls to create sniping holes or blast through walls to take the enemy by surprise. The game takes place in politically sensitive areas across South America, Africa and Russia.

“This is our first chance to develop a Conflict game for next-gen platforms,” said Alex McLean, Technical Director at Pivotal. “Working on the 360 and PS3 we’ve been able to take the series to new heights, with true next-gen lighting, advanced enemy AI, an explosive environment and unique tactical co-op gameplay.Conflict: Denied OPS marks a new era for the Conflict series.”

Conflict: Denied OPS will be coming to Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in 2008.
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The multiple Commordore systems emulator for the Gp2X has been updated, heres whats new:


Download Here ...