On Shelves This Week: August 30 – September 5, 2009 August 31, 2009
Posted by Mabie A. in : Greater Gaming , comments closed
We’ve got an even spread of game releases for this week’s batch of On Shelves games, including a couple of downloadable ones. Big for handhelds this week would be Capcom’s and Namco Bandai’s brawler offerings on the PSP, Fate/Unlimited Codes (available via PSN) and Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny, respectively.
Get ready to make more rockin’ music too with the release of Guitar Hero 5 across all platforms, as well as a couple more casual games to stave off that boredom. Ready? Get rollin. Full list of game releases this week below.
Champions Online – This MMO features The Champions, a group of superheroes tasked to protect the Millennium City. Out to launch their crusade for peace, security and justice, they’re calling for more allies to defend the city against evildoers. It features a wide variety of character options, ensuring that total customization, as well as real-time combat and the graphically detailed Champions universe.
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Commander’s Challenge – With 50 unique challenges, there ought to be at least one that you pass with flying colors. But let’s not limit ourselves to just one. After all, that will be such an embarrassment given that you have been chosen as a member of one of the most elite armies, taking on the toughest commanders.
- Xbox 360, PS3 – August 31, 2009
- ESRB Teen
- Electronic Arts
Cruise Ship Vacation Games – It’s the ultimate cruise vacation fun you’ll have, with many game offerings, such as Casino games, 10 mini0games, and more.
- Wii -September 1, 2009
- ESRB Everyone
- US 19.99
- Activision
Defense Grid: The Awakening – Yes, it’s a tower defense game, this one specifically designed for the Xbox Live Arcade. Up to four players are given the opportunity to hack, slash and smash their way through the lush, hand-drawn landscapes of up to 20 defense environments.
- Xbox 360 (XBLA) – September 2, 2009
- ESRB Everyone 10
- Hidden Path Entertainment
Emergency Room: Real Life Rescues – And here we’ve got another medical-simulation game for the DS. If saving lives inside the emergency room is not your cup of tea, then maybe ambulance-action is what suits you more. Be the first on the scene as a paramedic and stabilize the patient until you reach the hospital. They better be not DOA. (This one’s weird. It’s been on Shelves for three weeks now).
Fate/Unlimited Codes – The visual novel graces the PSP with this game version of Fate/Stay Night. Visit Japan and its local towns as seven pairs of Masters and Servants compete for the Holy Grail, possession of which will grant them any wish. It’s a brawlfest at its finest, definitely.
- PSP (PSN) – September 3, 2009
- ESRB Teen
- Capcom
Gears of War 2 GoTY Edition – The GoTY Edition will be carrying ALL of the downloadable content previously offered for the game. They’ve got that all that covered with “The All Fronts Collection,” which adds 19 maps, and the “Road to Run,” which provides for the extra campaign scene.
- Xbox 360 – September 1, 2009
- ESRB Mature
- US 36.99
- Microsoft
Guitar Hero 5 – More rockin’ and rollin’ are coming your way from Activision for their newest music simulating game, Guitar Hero 5.
- Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2 – September 1, 2009
- ESRB Teen
- Activision
Luxor - Puzzle action in a fast-paced environment leads you to confront the goddess Isis out to annihilate Ancient Egypt and its famous mystical lands. Colored spheres sure are pretty, but they’re deadly, and it’s up to you to make sure that they do not succeed in overwhelming the palaces, fields and skies of Egypt by shooting at them.
- iPhone – August 31, 2009
- ESRB Everyone
- Mumbo Jumbo
Mini Ninjas – He may be small but he’s got the moves. Hiro, the ninja, will bring you to an awesome ninja adventure as you train to battle a magical army of an evil Samurai. Learn Kuji and use them well and you just might find yourself strong and able enough to reach the final confrontation with the Evil Samurai in his Fortress of Doom.
- Xbox 360 (XBL), PS3, Wii, DS, PC – September 1, 2009
- ESRB Everyone 10
- Eidos Interactive
Muramasa: The Demon Blade – It’s the Genroku era and the place is ruled by the skilled shogun Tsunayoshi Tokogawa. It is, however, not a time of peace, and Tokogawa’s greed for power is only getting stronger. He is after the Demon Blade, and it is up to you to make sure he does not lay his hands on it.
- Wii – September 3, 2009
- ESRB Teen
- US 46.99
- Ignition Entertainment
NBA 2K10: Draft Combine – It’s a DL title, alright, which allows fans to custom-create their favorite players down to the smallest detail. Begin their careers on-court and experience what it’s like to go through the Draft process.
- PS3 – September 3, 2009
- ESRB Everyone
- US
- 2K Sports
Pinball Hall of Fame – The Williams Collection – Perfect for that “whiling-away-the-time” moments, this version of the classic pinball game graces your modern consoles with its old school entertainment.
Section 8 – You’re a part of the super elite squad, who, oddly, has this fascination with suicide missions no other army infantry would dare take.
Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny – challenging single-player modes, head-to-head multiplayer and gorgeous visuals are what awaits any fighting game fan in this offering from Namco Bandai.
- PSP – September 1, 2009
- ESRB
- US 38.99
- Namco Bandai
Wii Homebrew: Wii Game Studio August 31, 2009
Posted by Mabie A. in : Greater Gaming , comments closed
Wii homebrew developer Robert Dixon has emailed us to let us know that he has now released his latest project, Wii Game Studio. It’s a code-free easy tool for developing Wii homebrew.
Do take note of the fact that this is just a Beta release, hence there may still be bugs lurking about. Alos, make sure that you have installed devkitPro before installing this app.
Thanks to Robert!
Download: Wii Game Studio
Related Articles:
PS3 drops to dead last in Japan’s hardware sales charts August 31, 2009
Posted by Karl B. in : Greater Gaming , comments closed
Handhelds are dominating the hardware sales charts in Japan right now, but the story over there is still the PS3 — specifically the fact that it has dropped to dead last in the Media Create sales rankings.
The PS3 moved only 2,052 units for the week ended August 23. That’s more than a thousand units less than the older PS2. It’s quite possible that the lull in sales is because people are waiting for the PS3 Slim to drop. It would be interesting to see the number for that week. Also, contrary to the new pricing scheme for older PS3s in other countries, Sony Japan has chosen to not give the bulkier models a price drop.
At the top of the charts is the DSi. Yep, it’s still going strong, selling more than half of the second placer PSP. Rounding out the top four are the Wii and Xbox 360 in third and fourth place, respectively. Here are the charts:
- DSi: 59,578
- PSP: 27,187
- Wii: 26,972
- Xbox 360: 8,979
- DS Lite: 5,735
- PS2: 3,295
- PS3: 2,052
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QuickJump QuickPeek 87: Face-off now on: you got those price cuts you wanted, now get those numbers up August 30, 2009
Posted by Mabie A. in : Greater Gaming , comments closed
Exciting past couple of weeks, eh? The price cuts mad rush continued on this week with Microsoft joining in on the bandwagon. Meanwhile, Nintendo’s sitting prettily and quietly, choosing the status quo, because, hey, they’re on top in the status quo. Wouldn’t want to change a thing about that now, would you?
It’s also one event after the another, from E3 to GamesCom to upcoming PAX and TGS… if this does not revive interest in the industry, I don’t know what will. This latter half of the calendar year is just bursting at the seams, and we’ve got a portion of all that action here in this nice little bundle for you stamped as QuickJump QuickPeek 87.
Read on.
Again, another good week for the QJ PSP blog. Quite a few big game news from the East to the West, including big guns Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep and Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. It wasn’t all fun and games, though, as we also saw a cautionary tale for those who don’t listen to their mothers and get into cars with strangers. PSA time, folks! Here’s this week’s edition of the PSP Weekend Warrior.
Link: PSP Weekend Warrior
Quite a few theories sprung up during the latter half of the week when it was announced that Dark AleX’s forums were shutting down. Did it mean that the homebrew legend was leaving the scene? Did Sony shell out the cash to shut him up? Are we going to see a new version of the retire-and-reemerge trick? Yeah, theories. While we wait for word from the “Dark” one himself, let’s take a look at the week in homebrew.
Link: PSP Homebrew Weekend Warrior
Fallout from GamesCom’s big PS3 announcements continued to rain down on the PS3 blog this week. The PS3 Slim was still high in the jump counts, thanks to Sony putting its whole weight behind getting the word out to the masses with rebranding, ad campaigns, the works. It seems to be working too, as the Slim has reportedly sold out in some retailers even before the console’s official launch. Yep, I bet Sony guys are flying pretty damn high right now. All that and more in the PS3 Weekend Warrior.
Link: PS3 Weekend Warrior
The biggest thing that you missed this week on the Xbox 360 blog is the back and forth dance towards the Xbox 360 Elite price cut. The good thing is that all’s well that ends well. We did get the official announcement of the Elite price cut, but unfortunately, we did have to say goodbye to the Pro model. Oh well. We can’t have everything, I guess. Read on for more news and updates on your much-awaited games.
Link: Xbox 360 Weekend Warrior
With Sony and Microsoft now busy making their marketing push for the holidays, you gotta wonder what Nintendo is planning to do about it, especially considering that we haven’t heard from any of the Nintendo execs for a while now. Are they gonna slim the Wii down too and call it the Wee Wii? Good grief I sure hope not. For the news that did come out over the week, you can catch it all on this edition of the Nintendo Weekend Warrior.
Link: WiiDS Weekend Warrior
This week’s news revolves around things to come for the iPhone, and the iPod Touch. Also coming soon is a new iPod, so you should definitely check this one out. Read on for the complete run-down.
Link: iPhone Weekend Warrior
Industry News:
GamesCom was definitely a success. Don’t believe us? Just check out that number of visitors throughout the week-long event. If you missed out on GamesCom, then worry not cos there’s another chance you might want to grab, and it’s TGS 2009 (PAX 2009 would be more practical given that it’s just in Washington, though). It’s happening in … erm.. Tokyo this year, and Capcom, for one, has already confirmed their attendance, promising to bring “several” new titles with them.
Link: GamesCom 2009 a success, welcomed 245,000
Link: Capcom prepping “several” new titles for TGS
For our WTF segment this week, we’ve got Ozzy Osbourne elucidating on his favorite video games. Now if only he could finish his damned sentence, we’d know what it is.
Even more WTF than bat-eating Ozzy’s adorable mumbling is the story of this idiot guy, who tried to leech off the free Wi-Fi in the library so he could play some Xbox 360. He did. And got kicked out in the process as well. His picture now rests on the library’s Hall of Shame.
Link: Ozzy was hooked on a video game, guess what it is
Link: Fail! Man plays Xbox 360 at a library… gets kicked out
QJ Front Page:
Part 2 of our Dissidia: Final Fantasy special is here!
Link: QJ Special: A spoilerific Dissidia: Final Fantasy character roundup, Part 2
That’s it for this week. Keep ‘em all jumpin! We’ll see you next week for more hot news and updates, only here at QJ!
Nintendo staying the course, will leave price cuts to Microsoft and Sony August 30, 2009
Posted by Mabie A. in : Greater Gaming , comments closed
It’s been a head-on collision between Sony and Microsoft the past week with their own respective price cut announcements. Oddly enough, Nintendo remains sitting prettily and quietly. Have they got no plans to launch their defenses in light of the current happenings? Apparently, no, they don’t.
Said Denise Kaigler, Nintendo of America’s rep, their status quo will be remaining unchanged.
Our focus has always been creating fun and engaging game-play experiences. Because of that focus, Wii has been the best-selling video game system in the United States for two years and counting.
It offers the most fun and the best value for consumers. Wii can be played by every member of the family the moment it comes out of the box. It’s the only console that offers the option of precise motion controls right now, with the Wii MotionPlus accessory. And Nintendo systems are the only place you can play new and classic Nintendo franchises.
Wii games that will be on people’s lists through the holidays include Wii Sports Resort, Metroid Prime: Trilogy, Wii Fit Plus and New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
Nintendo offers something for everyone.
Related Articles:
- EEDAR: Xbox 360 Elite price cut won’t affect sales significantly, MS to drop prices some more
- Sony still losing money on PS3 Slim
DS homebrew – ScummVM DS 1.0.0 RC1 August 29, 2009
Posted by Ryan F. in : Greater Gaming , comments closed
Homebrew coder agentq has released a new update for ScummVM, a homebrew emulator of some classic point-and-click adventure games. The latest release is a beta test version.
Developer’s note:
Please test this new beta version of ScummVM, and post your results here. It would be good to know which games you have tested. This will soon become the new stable version on the main ScummVM downloads page, so it’s important to know of any bugs! Please include which card reader you’re using and the language your game is running in.
Changelog:
- ScummVM DS 1.0.0 RC1
- Fixed crash when returning to launcher from AGI games
- ScummVM DS 1.0.0 beta1
- Gamma correction feature to make games more visible on the original DS
- Assorted bug fixes
Download: ScummVM DS 1.0.0 RC1
Previous version:
Wii homebrew game – Sand Traps v1.0 August 29, 2009
Posted by Ryan F. in : Greater Gaming , comments closed
Homebrew coder Uffe Flarup has released Sand Traps, an original puzzle/platform game for Nintendo Wii. The goal of the game is to save a certain amount of sand in each level by tilting the board using the Wii remote.
Developer’s note:
The objective of the game is to tilt the board using your wiimote, in order to guide the sand towards the green exit. In each level you need to save a certain percentage of the sand. If the sand ‘falls out’ of the board it is lost. If the sand touches the red stone it is also lost. In some levels you can add new stone, and in some levels you can also remove it again so you can reuse it elsewhere.
Download: Sand Traps v1.0
More Wii homebrews:
Wii homebrew – BlueMSX-wii v1.0 August 29, 2009
Posted by Ryan F. in : Greater Gaming , comments closedHomebrew coders Tim Brugman and Maikel Bloemendal has released a new update for BlueMSX-wii, a MSX 1/MSX 2/MSX 2 /Turbo R emulator for the Nintendo Wii based on blueMSX. The latest update is now compatible with BlueMSX V2.8.2 and features full support for GameCube controller with some various fixes.
Version 1.0 changelog:
- Updated to BlueMSX V2.8.2.
- Added full support for GameCube controller.
- Fixed problems with ’save state’. Also improved speed of saving a lot.
- Allow empty screenshot elements in gamelist.xml files (did crash before).
- Missing ‘Screenshots’ sub directories are now automatically created (on generating screenshot).
- Solved showing wrong day of state files.
- Embedded game pack will only be installed when no game pack is already installed.
Download: BlueMSX-wii v1.0
Previous article:
Nintendo Weekend Warrior – Are these silent waters running deep? August 29, 2009
Posted by Glenn M. in : Greater Gaming , comments closed
With Sony and Microsoft now busy making their marketing push for the holidays, you gotta wonder what Nintendo is planning to do about it, especially considering that we haven’t heard from any of the Nintendo execs for a while now. Are they gonna slim the Wii down too and call it the Wee Wii? Good grief I sure hope not. For the news that did come out over the week, you can catch it all on this edition of the Nintendo Weekend Warrior.
Games
- Okami sequel coming? 7-11 reports. Link
- No More Heroes 2 release window set for January, T-Shirt design contest on. Link
- Nintendo Power to reveal Star Fox Wii? Link
- Level-5 reveals bonus game in Professor Layton 4. Link
- Level 5 unveils new DS RPG: Fantasy Life. Link
Homebrew
- Wii homebrew – Crazy Intro v0.8. Link
- Wii homebrew – Revolution Engine v0.4 alpha 3. Link
- Wii homebrew game – Liqwiid Wars v0.2.6. Link
God of War III at Fan Expo 2009 August 28, 2009
Posted by admin in : Greater Gaming , add a commentJames Deacon wrote an intriguing post today on
Here’s a little taster
PR Specialist Kyle Moffatt, for Sony Computer Entertainment Canada has made a huge splash with an announcement today on the Official Playstation Blog that the Canada Fan Expo will be this weekend’s premier destination for playable, anticipated PS3 and PSP games – including a playable version of God of War III (3 comments…)
Read the rest of this post here