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While Dungeons & Dragons may dominate the history of tabletop RPGs in the USA there is another game that has been around almost as long and has had almost as much impact on gamers. I think back to my first games in the early 1980’s and I realize that it wasn’t swords & sorcery that grabbed my interest and pulled my to the game table, it was my love of comic books and super heroes.

The first RPG I played was a nondescript blue book with two titanic heroes clashing on its cover. The rules were confusing for a group of 3rd graders to grasp but it didn’t matter, we just rolled the dice and as I found happening for the next 7 years, it always degenerated into a fight in the park. The epic clash of super powered characters didn’t have grand story at first – like many of the comics we were reading they were simple morality plays locked up under the sanitary seal of the comics code authority.

While Champions was the early leader in the market other games like Superworld and Villains & Vigilantes offered different takes and options for those who were unhappy or uncomfortable with the system behind Champions. These systems all offered a different mechanic but the core concepts were similar, all of them focused on costumed heroes with amazing powers fighting to save the world from dastardly villains.
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When I mentioned how I’ve found myself unable to take Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 out of my PSP, I didn’t think of the upside — there isn’t a whole lot else to play on the system. Quality, original games for the system are few and far between, and for every Lumines or God of War, there are 20 crappy ports. Sony’s John Koller acknowledges that, but refutes the idea that the PSP is dying, and in fact believes that “we’re at a point actually where the counter to that is that it’s actually doing very, very well.”

“From a gaming standpoint, I think that there’s a few things that are happening. There’s been a calibration amongst publishers of how to publish for the PSP,” Koller said. He admits that “initially a lot of the games that launched were either ports or games that didn’t really meet the demographic’s interest, and that was as we were shifting down to that teen demo,” and thinks that’s due to publishers being unsure of what demographic was actually buying the PSP.

“We have been — and I guess where we are now is at a point were today publishers are seeing the results of decisions made 18 months ago. Where they were saying, ‘You know what, maybe we’ll try this or that or maybe we’ll wait a little bit to see how the PSP does.’ The level of games that we have now are very strong on the quality side, and I think, in many ways, have kind of followed what we have been preaching here is that the key to success in publishing on the PSP is to launch larger franchise games with unique gameplay underneath. That’s a non-port type strategy. That’s something like a God of War or Crisis Core where it’s a large brand name, it’s a very good game from a quality standpoint, but it’s unique. You can’t play it on console, and it avoids the cannibalization that you would get from someone who may own a console and play their PSP at home, which is a common occurrence.”

He continued, “Given that situation, many consumers were choosing one or the other, and that’s not a situation that we want to put a consumer in. That’s another point to be made, and then the third thing is a lot of interest in the PSN, the PlayStation Network, and the downloadable distribution there. There’s some considerable resources there being placed against development in that area as well.”

But things are looking up, according to Koller — both in terms of quality and the prices that you’ll be able to find games at.

“I think the net of this is that over the course of the next six to twelve months, there’s going to be a tremendous amount of excitement about the franchises that are coming to PSP, the quality of the games, and then also the games that are going to be easily downloaded that are very engaging but for a less expensive price. I think that those areas are really going to instigate a lot of excitement around that category.”

I certainly hope so. I’m gonna need something else to play once I become tired of Hot Shots.

via PSP Fanboy

Oh, Europe, you’re always getting the short end of the gaming stick. While the rest of the world has already worked their way through Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, you still have to wait until next week to find out the story behind that one character from the classic RPG that appeared in 1/80th of the game. On the plus side though, Sony apparently feels your pain. SCEE has now announced that a limited edition PSP bundle will be hitting store shelves as well. The bundle will include a special silver PSP stamped with an FFVII 10th Anniversary logo, along with the game itself. The bundle was originally offered in Japan only and included a silver buster sword, so that might be included as well.

Via Next-Gen.biz

Okay, with Microsoft out of the way, it’s now Sony’s turn to give their spin on the NPD Group’s data for last month. Of the three current-gen consoles, PlayStation 3 sold the least in April (albeit by an extremely slim margin) and, overall, Sony platforms didn’t have a particularly good month. So what angle would Sony take?

The main talking point focused on year-over-year sales growth. The PS3 sold 127% better than last April, which isn’t huge, but software sales were up 410% to over two million units, thanks in large part to Grand Theft Auto IV.

Sony was also proud that, with 1 million copies of GTA sold, 23.6% of PS3 owners in the U.S. had purchased a copy, which is a 29% higher attach rate than GTA had on Xbox 360. (According to their math, the game had an attach rate of around 16.75% on 360.)

I found it somewhat amusing that the press release claims the PS3 “continues [its] blockbuster year” when, from a hardware standpoint, it really had a poor month. But that’s a minor gripe; what else do you expect from a press release.

Hit the jump for the full press release. Read the full article

Square Enix today announced that Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII will be released across all PAL territories on June 20th for the PSP.With cool visuals, full 16:9 widescreen presentation, an engaging battle system, and additional gameplay challenges not included in the original Japanese version, fans and newcomers alike can experience the world from an all-new perspective. As an added incentive to pre-order, a special edition version of the game, with hardback artwork book and slipcase is available exclusively with selected online retailers while stocks last.

For more information about Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, check out our previous posts; meanwhile, our European brethren can get details on how to pre-order by clicking here.

Via: Press Release 

Everybody who has ever played a video game can attest to the fact that the majority of the female characters in them are usually not horrid beasts whose appearance is so revolting that you want to gouge your eyes out. Usually, if a female character is insulting to our senses it is because they are either a zombie, some sort of enemy we are suppose to detest or they are the overly plump mother figure. The heroines, or the damsels in distress are usually pretty easy on the eyes – for a pixilated figure – and the fandom that surrounds Lara Croft, for example, can attest to this.For years on end, men have had their Dead or Alive chicks, Lara, the Final Fantasy babes, any female in Soul Calibur, and pretty much the whole gambit of scantily clad women in the RPG genre. This has always been okay with me, because I am not a prude and I understand that developers and the demographic that they cater too are mostly male. Men like to look at voluptuous women oozing with sexuality that can handle a broadsword with as much tender loving care as they would a helpless kitten. It is a scientific fact that men are stimulated visually when it comes to the opposite sex – therefore, if a game developer wants to include a female character in a game that wears nothing more than a thong, pasties, thigh-high boots and fishnet stockings – go for it! It does not offend me in the slightest.

I do however, have one request from developers: Why not make your main protagonists just as easy on the eyes as the women? I am not asking you to put them in a codpiece or have them in costumes that make them look like nothing more than a reject from a Village People casting call. I am not even asking for you to make them “really, really, ridiculously good-looking”. I just think it would be wonderful to have nice looking men who are just as easy on the eyes as their pixilated female counterparts. Handsome heroes in video games are few and far between and while Duke Nukem may be a bad ass, his resemblance to Howie Long only disgusts us to be quite honest. Solid Snake may be one of the most awesome heroes of his genre, but he is no Sam Elliot.

Because of the lack of hunky men in video games, I set out to find some that I personally though might fit the “handsome” mold. I shared my findings with some female friends who are also gamers, and they agreed with me on my selections. With more and more women taking up gaming as a hobby, if you are going to include a hot chick, make her counterpart just as hot. I have picked some of the hunkiest gaming heroes that have so far graced our TV screens, and while there are not that many, the ones I have chosen – to me anyway – are the ones who are easiest on the eyes.

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One of the many obvious questions that I think anyone would want to ask Square Enix with regards to Crisis Core would be why the game is on PSP and not DS. (And also what the hell is up with the DMW.) If you look at the re-releases of Final Fantasy games, you’ve got the first two on PSP, the next two on DS, Tactics on GBA and PSP… so why did Crisis Core end up on PSP and not the DS and its larger install base?

As it happens, the timing of the PSP’s release in Japan played a big part. Around that time, it had been decided that a new Compilation title was going to be made, and the developers were looking to make something for the PSP.

That isn’t the only reason, though; the eventual product ultimately became a much heftier experience than the more handheld-style game they were originally going for.

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After a truly impressive run atop the charts, Call of Duty 4 has finally been dethroned from the #1 software spot in the latest NPDs. While that was to be expected with the launch of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, it wasn’t expected that the game would drop all the way to #9. That’s indicative of the surplus of games released in March; CoD4 only saw a drop of just under 60,000 units. Last month its 237,000 units would have been good enough for #4 on the charts.

Smash Bros. was of course the big name in March. 2.7 million copies were sold, which blows away the #2 game, Rainbow Six Vegas 2, which had a solid month with 752,300 units sold. That’s followed by Army of Two at 606,100, and then of course Wii Play, which was bound to sell quite a few copies after the Wii had such a monster month. It sold 409,800 copies.

One impressive figure is that the PSP – normally absent from this list each and every month – had two games on the list, at numbers five and six, no less. God of War: Chains of Olympus edged out Crisis Core for the top PSP spot, but it’s encouraging to see that good PSP games can sell.

March 2008 Software Sales

1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) - 2,700,000
2. Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (360) - 752,300
3. Army of Two (360) - 606,100
4. Wii Play w/ Remote (Wii) - 409,800
5. God of War: Chains Of Olympus (PSP) - 340,500
6. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP) - 301,600
7. Guitar Hero III (Wii) - 264,100
8. MLB 2K8 (360) - 237,100
9. Call of Duty 4 (360) - 237,000
10. Army of Two (PS3) - 224,900

Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core

Developer: Square Enix

Publisher: Square Enix

Price: $39.99

Platform: PSP

Category: Action RPG

ESRB Rating: T for Teen (Blood, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence)

Release Date: March 25

Of all the people that have written about Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, I think I’m one of the few with a very unique perspective on it: I’ve never played the original FFVII. I was never much of a Final Fantasy fan up until last year when I began trucking through the old games that had been ported to PSP, and as Crisis Core is a prequel, I’m getting to enjoy a fantastic game that simultaneously holds up well as a standalone game and also manages to flesh out the story of the classic PlayStation RPG. (Or so I’m told.)

Crisis Core is in almost every way unlike any Final Fantasy game you’ve ever played. There’s no party, the action isn’t the strictly turn-based affair you normally get, and the cutscenes rarely run on for too long. In other words, it’s a game perfectly adapted to the platform it’s on. Among its many achievements, that is perhaps one of its greatest accomplishments.

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It has been a slightly busy week as far as game releases go, and while the majority of the more mainstream ones are reported, some have slipped through the announcement cracks. While Dark Sector, Viking: Battle for Asgard, Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword, Universe at War and Crisis Core: FF VII have been the media darlings of the week, included with these titles are some that you may have missed.

So without further ado, here is a list of all the games that hit between March 23-29, 2008:

DS
Backyard Baseball ‘09
Harvest Moon DS Cute
Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword

PC
Australian Zoo Quest
Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath Expansion Pack
Command & Conquer 3 Limited Collection
Escape From Paradise City
Guild Wars Platinum Edition
Guild Wars Factions Platinum Edition

PSP
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Warriors Orochi

PS2
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 3

PS3
Dark Sector
Viking: Battle for Asgard

Xbox 360
Dark Sector
Universe at War: Earth Assault
Viking: Battle for Asgard

Wii
Obscure: The Aftermath
Octomania
Opoona

Now too much going on the PlayStation Store for PC this week; there’s a bunch of new videos, a wallpaper and a theme accompanying the main attraction: a demo of R-Type Command. You can also download the R-Type demo through your PlayStation 3 if you feel so compelled. It might be hard to find, though, under that mountain of content that was released today on the PlayStation Store.

Game Demos (free)

• R-Type Command Demo (also downloadable via PS3)

Game Videos (free)

• God of War Chains of Olympus TV Spot
• GT5 Prologue Weezer Video
• GT5 Prologue Mars Volta Video
• GT5 Prologue Thin Lizzy
• GTA IV Trailer 4
• Winter X Games ‘08 Play the Pros
• Wyclef’s “Fast Car” Music Video (limited time only)

PSP Themes (free)

• Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

PSP Wallpaper (free)

• R-Type Command Wallpapers (x3)

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, is the highly anticipated entry in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, and is promising to take fans on an exciting journey through the origin of the Final Fantasy VII saga in an all-new experience. Developed exclusively for the PSP system, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII marks the return of the celebrated characters and game with new visuals, full 16:9 widescreen presentation so that fans and newcomers alike can experience the world of Final Fantasy VII from an all-new perspective.

The game is supposed to hit shelves tomorrow, so to get you psyched up for it, here is a link to the other six trailers. If you by any chance happen to purchase this game, drop us a comment and let us know what you think of it.

An exhaustive report – combining factors like game sales, Metacritic averages and developer feedback through Gamasutra – has concluded creating the first-ever Top 50 Developers list from Game Developer magazine. Coming in at the top of the list is, but of course, Nintendo’s Kyoto studio, followed by Infinity Ward, Blizzard, EA Canada, and Valve.

The top 20 are as follows, along with some of their notable 2007 releases:

1. Nintendo Kyoto (Brain Age, Wii Play)
2. Infinity Ward (Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare)
3. Blizzard Entertainment (World Of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade)
4. Electronic Arts Canada (FIFA Soccer 08, NBA Street: Homecourt)
5. Valve (Portal, Team Fortress 2)
6. Konami Japan Studio (Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer, Dance Dance Revolution Universe)
7. Insomniac Games (Ratchet & Clank Future)
8. Capcom Osaka Studio (Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, Monster Hunter Freedom)
9. Electronic Arts Tiburon (Madden NFL 08, NASCAR 08)
10. BioWare Edmonton (Mass Effect, Jade Empire: Special Edition)
11. Bungie Studios (Halo 3)
12. Ubisoft Montreal (Assassin’s Creed, Naruto: Rise Of A Ninja)
13. 2K Boston [& Australia] (BioShock)
14. Harmonix (Rock Band)
15. Bandai Namco Tokyo (Ace Combat 6: Fires Of Liberation, Beautiful Katamari)
16. Square Enix Tokyo (Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, Front Mission DS)
17. Game Freak (Pokemon Diamond/Pearl)
18. Epic Games (Unreal Tournament 3, Gears Of War PC)
19. Hudson Soft (Mario Party 8, Mario Party DS)
20. Neversoft (Guitar Hero III, Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground)

The full list and all of the excruciating minutiae that went into the list can be found at the Game Developer Research website, located here. It’s interesting to see how the top 50 shaped itself; in the top 20 alone I was surprised by several things (Valve not being higher and Hudson Soft being so high, for example) – what do you make of the list?

It’s almost a regular thing these days to have a random person at Square-Enix tease gamers with the possibility of a Final Fantasy VII remake every so often. This time it’s the director of FFVII: Crisis Core, Hajime Tabata, who had this to say in a recent interview:

“The possiblity for a remake may become greater if, for instance, the schedules of the original members of the Final Fantasy VII development team, such as Kitase and Nomura, open up”

So basically, if some of the original team members’ schedules open up, then the possibility of a remake gets greater. Call me a cynic, but to me that’s the same as saying the possibility of winning the lottery gets greater after you buy a ticket.

Via Square Union

I’m sure nearly everyone in the world has heard that Microsoft plans to make some big business deals with Yahoo in the near future. We’ve obtained a copy of the most recent letter sent to the Yahoo Board of Directors from Microsoft’s Steven A. Ballmer. If Microsoft is successful in taking over Yahoo, this could certainly give them a lot of media leverage, particularly when it comes to pushing the Xbox 360. The media power that Yahoo currently has would be an extremely influential tool in the hands of Microsoft. Yahoo is a company currently in crisis, so someone will eventually take over. Right now, it looks like Microsoft is giving them the best offer. The full letter to the Yahoo board follows:
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I haven’t heard of any special freebies for pre-ordering games since Christmas, so it kind of figure the first one of the year has to do with a Final Fantasy title. Right now, if you pre-order Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII at Amazon.com, EBGames, Game Crazy, or GameStop, you’ll snag a free Shinra UMD case. Then you’ll have all the protection you need for your future purchase in the form of a flimsy plastic contraption. Or you could use it to store your vast collection of UMD movies, which will surely go on to become the standard in video distribution.

Via Press Release

The PlayStation Portable is coming off a terrific year – undoubtedly its best thus far – after being given no chance at succeeding when it was first announced. John Koller, the senior product manager for PSP, is at CES and took some time to chat with 1UP news editor Patrick Klepek.

Patrick hits on a lot of good points, getting some good answers out of Koller who was relatively forthcoming, although certain answers were deflections more than anything else.

1UP: Looking at 2008, what is something you’ve wanted to see happen with the PSP but hasn’t happened yet? What do you want to do with 2008?

Koller: With 2008, we’re looking at ways to expand the social communication area and navigation area, which kind of goes in the same bubble. We’re looking to expand that area. In terms of challenges, we’re looking at ways on the gaming side to truly hit certain demographics correctly. Whether it’s snack-size or bite-size content that we put on the PSN store or larger, broader content like a Final Fantasy: Crisis Core that you put on UMD, we want to make sure we target against those demographics appropriately. I think in the past we’ve had a whole lot of games and a different variety of different demographics and different genres, but for us, we want to hone in from a marketing perspective on who these people are that we’re talking to. I think we’re getting to a good place with that; the teen demographic’s been a big thing for us this last holiday.

1UP: One of the recent firmware updates added Remote Play to PS One titles, but it was more or less secretly discovered by gamers. Here, you have a really cool, new feature that no other handheld or console can do, so why didn’t Sony make a big deal about it?

Koller: At the time of that launch, we were still testing a few things. Since it became public, you guys did all the work for us, but it’s a great feature and we want to expand Remote Play. You asked the question about what things we want to do this year and Remote Play is a big part of that. Just from a PlayStation brand perspective, you look at the PS3 installed base and the growth is very healthy there now, PSP is extremely healthy — we marry those and have them communicate and talk. How do we bring those two consumers together? A lot of our research says that is the same consumer, but how do we get them to talk? Right now, Remote Play is music, movies and photos that you can stream, but in what ways can we expand?

Check out the full interview, including an interesting tidbit on Lair, at 1UP.

If feelings of lethargy and lack of intestinal fortitude from your Thanksgiving feasts are keeping you locked away inside your house like a bloated recluse, stop wasting those precious moments lying in agony and go buy a video game. Over the holiday weekend, many games have hit shelves, and whether your cup of tea is action, first person shooters, role playing, or just plain mind numbing button mashing, there is sure to be a game for you. So, between eating left overs and trying to get drunk by sucking on your grandmother’s famous bourbon balls, go to your local retailer and check out some of these new titles:

• Geometry Wars: Galaxies - Sierra Entertainment’s 2D arcade shooter game for the Wii will also be available on Nintendo DS November 27th. The game delivers an all-new single player campaign where players can tackle waves of enemies, including 10 never seen before, all of which act and react in a frenetic way across more than 60 unique levels. Geometry Wars: Galaxies introduces the all new ‘Battle Drone’ that follows the player’s request to defend and attack or collect geoms which is used to increase multiplier scores, buy new planets or behaviors for the Battle Drone.

• Godzilla Unleashed, Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash - Atari has released Godzilla Unleashed for the PS2 (later on this season for the Wii) and Godzilla Unleashed: Double Smash for the Nintendo DS. Providing an environment perfect for stopping this worldwide obliteration with nine urban arenas, interactive 3D cityscapes, huge destructible buildings, soaring skyscrapers and towering alien formations. Featuring a non-linear storyline which allows players to influence how the story unfolds through their choices within battles, and a flexible multiplayer mode which supports up to four players for a city-crushing monster extravaganza.

• Cabela’s Monster Bass - Activision has released the first ever Cabela’s fishing game, where players embark on a journey through six of the hottest bass spots and compete in 14 tournament events in pursuit of the biggest, most coveted species of trophy bass. Putting players’ angling skills to the test as it focuses on the most exciting part of fishing, the game features authentic Cabela’s fishing gear with hundreds of tackle and lure combinations. Players will set their sights on nine species of bass, including largemouth, smallmouth, spotted, and striped, as well as 14 other trophy fish such as trout, salmon, catfish, and walleye. Cabela’s Monster Bass combines the use of real world strategies with actual fishing lake environments to allow fans of all types to land that prize and become the ultimate bass fisherman.

• Ghost Squad - SEGA’s top-grossing light gun game comes to the Wii and replicates the arcade experience for your console. The Ghost Squad is a Special Forces unit established in strict secrecy by the U.N. to combat terrorism and carry out special highly-classified missions without leaving a trace. As an elite member of the Ghost Squad, players will complete dangerous missions such as eliminating terrorist groups, releasing hostages, deactivating bombs, and even rescuing the U.S. President when terrorists hijack Air Force One.Using the Wii Remote, players will utilize selectable weapons including a high-powered rifle, submachine gun and shotgun, or even engage in hand-to-hand combat.

***MORE GAMES LISTED AFTER THE BREAK***

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In recent weeks, the PlayStation Store has been treated to Twisted Metal 2, the demo of Uncharted and other great stuff, so this week it’s time to kick back and watch some videos. The two new demos – Blazing Angels 2 and Toy Home – probably aren’t atop your list of games to play, so to compensate there are a ton of new trailers up. Burnout, Ratchet, Battlefield, Uncharted and Pain are all among the assortment of new videos.

If you’re interested in the full list, it’s after the break. Read the full article

Nothing earth shattering on the PlayStation Store this week, but those of you who own a PSP or the recently released PlayStation Eye will be in for a treat. The free EyeCreate software is now available for download, and allows you to record videos, take pictures, capture audio and edit your videos together so that you can watch them from the XMB.

PSP owners in particular will be glad to see the PS one classics section has been updated with a new game; the original Spyro the Dragon. Back in the day, the Spyro series was a really fantastic platforming/adventure style game. For only $6 you’ll be able to play that on either your PS3 or PSP, although you might be a bit burned out on the concept if you’ve been spending time with Ratchet & Clank Future.

Check out the full list after the break.

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