via Computer and Video Games


In what is easily the best Smash Bros update yet, it has been revealed that Smash Bros. Brawl will be much more than a fighting game, with a fully-fledged single-player side-scrolling adventure mode crammed into the package.

"People have been kind enough to praise its multiplayer, but we've never been able to create a fully fleshed out single-player game," said series creator Masahiro Sakurai. "This time, though, we've managed to create a complete side-scrolling action game. Its storyline isn't overwrought-it's hastened along by a bunch of quick movies," he added.

The Subspace Emissary is the name of the new adventure mode in which you set out on story-driven quests that are different for each character.

The side-scrolling action stages, which look absolutely awesome in the first screens below, are broken up with short cutscenes that push you through the progressing story of that character.


Screenshots
Trailer at official site ...

Infendo's Dale Rubin is undergoing a bold experiment: diving headfirst (obviously) into the science of facening. He picked up a copy of Face Training and is dutifully contorting for his facial health and for our education.

The experience sounds rather a lot like Brain Age for faces, with Facening spokesperson Fumiko Inudou('s head) substituting for our beloved Dr. Kawashima. Once the initial setup was done, Dale began the task of making some faces based on prompts. He was photographed making each of these faces, and then graded on his performance. He got an 89%-- an A on his very first day of face-making class!

Just like with Brain Age, the impossible seems to be happening-- we're becoming genuinely interested in the weird training game. Hey Dale, how about some daily pictures, so we can track your face's youthening process? Since that's kind of the whole point of Face Training and all.




Read. ...

via Eurogamer


Sony has won the star prize this afternoon by announcing a new PS2 Buzz game for October.

Dubbed 'The Hollywood Quiz', it will fire over 5000 questions at your face about all sorts of goings on in the film industry. There's loads of gossip straight out of Heat and OK magazines, and more than 100 clips, stills, and sound bites to analyse.

This time round you'll pick from more contestants than ever before, and enjoy improved round types so your friends can't blame their bad brains on the game. Like my flatmate Chris.

If you really haven't played Buzz! before, then you should. Yes, it's a quiz game, but it really is ruddy good fun. It's created by Relentless Software and has its own controller with a big red button you use to buzz in with - four smaller buttons cascade down below to help you choose your answers.

Four controllers plug into one USB slot, so you can even plug-in two sets and find seven friends to play with.

Charismatic cheese-ball Buzz hosts the quiz, with help from his scrumptious assistant Rose, and their comedy quips have inspired all manner of drinking games around the Internet.

Buzz! The Mega Quiz came out earlier this year and earned itself a firm place in our hearts. Rob Fahey very nearly gave it top marks, and you can read his review to find out why. ...

via Eurogamer


Army of Two lead designer Chris Ferriera says that as much as EA Montreal would love to do a demo, they sort of need to concentrate on the game instead.

Asked when we might see one, he told Eurogamer: "Not prior to release. I don't know if there'll be something later, but the thing is given our release date [15th November for PS3 and Xbox 360 in the US and Europe] and where we're at, we'd rather focus on this rather than taking engineers off and having them do a demo."

Ferriera also refused to be drawn on whether we'd see more players supported in future.

"I can't talk about any expandability beyond the two-player co-op. I'm not allowed to talk about that right now," he said, describing two players as "an easy entry point" for the company's co-op approach.

As to whether that rules out an Army of Four or Army of Sixteen further down the line, he joked: "I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of such numbers of players." ...

via Eurogamer


Nintendo has released a quartet of classics for the European Virtual Console this week, led by Mega Drive ninja-nibble Shinobi III.

It's probably the best game in the sword-slashing series, thanks to better graphics and a less difficult but faster action slant, and asks you as Joe Musashi to save the work from an evil crime syndicate with your masterful Ninjitsu powers.

Close behind is another Mega Drive outing following a funny creature who throws his head at people, Dynamite Headdy. He's a toy, as are all the others in the world, and he'll have to better numerous action platform levels if he wants to defeat his lifelong nemesis Trouble Bruin. Arf.

Completing the SEGA hattrick this week is role-playing game Shining Force, a turn-based affair considered a little easy by those of you with beards by your ankles. Kill the baddies, save the day, win the girl, claim the fame.

And back there, sulking in the background, is Drop Off - a puzzle action game for TurboGrafx-16. It looks lots like Breakout, and you'll have to rebound a ball off of your paddle up into falling obstacles to progress through levels.

But remember, remember: Mega Drive morsels cost you 800 points (GBP 5.60 / EUR 8), and TurboGrafx-16 ticklers tend to tango towards 600 points (GBP 4.50 / EUR 6). ...

via Eurogamer


Capcom has removed an Islamic phrase from forthcoming game Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaro's Treasure, following a series of complaints, GamesIndustry.biz is reporting.

Religious group The Council on American-Islamic Relations has praised the publisher for its sensitive actions in removing "Allahu akbar" ("God is most great") from the in-game dialogue.

"We appreciated Capcom's willingness to address Muslim concerns about the use of a religious phrase in an inappropriate context and applaud the company's swift response," said CAIR communications coordinator Amina Rubin.

Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaro's Treasure is an exclusive title for Nintendo's Wii, due for release later this year. The offending phrase was included in a recent promotional movie for the game.

"We have already contacted the team working on the game, and the phrase has been removed from the game and will not be heard in future videos released to the public," confirmed a spokesperson from Capcom. ...

via Games Industry


A host of ageing EA titles will no longer be playable online after September this year, as the player base for those games diminishes.

From September 1 a total of 14 games across multiple platforms, some including the Xbox 360, will see their servers shut down, with another two titles following suit on November 1.

While the majority of those games (listed below) are 2006 franchise titles on the less popular PlayStation 2 or Xbox online platforms, this is the first time that some EA Xbox 360 games are included.

FIFA Soccer 06, Madden NFL 06, NBA Live 06 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 will revert to offline multiplayer only, although all of those franchises are scheduled to release their 2008 editions either just before September 1, or within several weeks.


Full list here ...

Kayvenm has updated the port of the FPS game Descent for DS.

Heres whats new:


Download and Give Feedback Via Comments ...

Hi All,

PSPIRC is a basic IRC client for the PSP (see Internet Relay Chat).

* What's new in this version ? *

- New graphics and eboot icons from HookBott !
- No more blink when a message arrives on hidden channels
- Use nickname instead of user name on startup
- Text colors are now displayed (foreground and background)
- Use custom text colors for your posts
- Add splash screen on startup
- Use new SDK wifi functions
- Bug fix & Code cleaning

* Credits and license : *

It is mainly based on the IRC engine written by Danzel, and
the user interface i wrote for PSPSSH.

The IR keyboard support is based on the work of Harald Fielker
(author of the PSP IR Keyboard Library) with a new patch
from Craig to support Sprint PCS IR keyboard.

This software is distributed under GNU V2 License, see GPLV2.txt file
for all details and information about it.

It has been developed on linux for Firmware 1.5 and 3.40-OE,
and for the IR keyboard part it has been tested using
a Targus Universal IR Wireless keyboard.

How to use it ? Everything is in the README.txt file.

Many thanks to Danzel for his Virtual kerboard and his IRC stuff,
and to all PSPSDK developpers.

Special thanks to HookBott for graphics, splash screen and icons,
and to Craig for his Sprint IR keyboard driver.

You can download it on my blog :
http://zx81.zx81.free.fr/

Enjoy,

Zx ...