What in the wide world of sports is the land of gaming coming to when a new title will feature the “art” of tea-bagging?  Looks like all of the time you spent either getting tea-bagged in Halo 3 or administering it to other gamers you have pwned has paid off.

According to Gamer.tm, during a demonstration of Saints Row 2 at last week’s Games Convention in Leipzig, the game will be the proud forebearer of distasteful actions to come by being the first game to feature tea-bagging as an actual part of gameplay.

Volition designer David Bowring showed off the new customizable taunts menu which included a “genuine and fully animated alternative for ultimate humiliation” which will go far beyond the standing over and repeatedly squatting over a fallen foe. Some of these taunts will earn you more praise from your “gang” if they are well-timed, and on the same token – more socially acceptable emotes can be used as well, so don’t go around thinking that you will also be able to fish hook, or Cleveland Steam another player.

Despite the strangeness of the emote I just mentioned, some news regarding who your character is has also come to light. Apparently the main character in the game will be the same as the first Saint’s Row but he will look different due to some reconstructive surgery he underwent after the accident he had at the end of the first game. The other interesting thing about having the same character, is that with Saints Row 2 you can make your character a female, which would give the main character an interesting twist to their backstory with cross-dressing potential.

Saints Row 2 is expected to be released for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on October 14.

Thanks: VG247

Owners of the original PlayStation will likely remember Parappa the Rapper and his crazy rhythm game that seemed like a bizarre concept back in the late 90s. I can still remember playing one of the seemingly hundreds of demos I got for the game and having fun but not really understanding what I was doing. He also made an appearance on the PS2 early in its life cycle, and the PSP got a port of the original game last year. You can now download that PSP game from the PlayStation Store, albeit for a pretty high price — it’s $23 for the 312MB download.

That seems like far too much for a game that’s only got a half dozen songs, but Best Buy is still selling it for $30. I like Parappa, but I think I’ll be scouring GameStop or eBay for a used copy before I drop $20+ on it.

Downloadable Games

Parappa the Rapper ($22.99)
The “Original” music game comes back for a PSP system encore! Join Parappa and learn how to flow from the “Rap Masters” to become a true Hip Hop Hero! Hit buttons to the beat of all 6 original songs that made Parappa an instant classic and discover all new PSP exclusive features including Ad-Hoc Multiplayer and Downloadable Remixes!
File size: 312 MB
Game Trailers

• Parappa the Rapper Trailer (Free)

Wallpaper

• Killzone 2 Wallpapers (x2 for PSP) (Free)
• Parappa the Rapper Wallpapers (x4) (Free)

If you were planning on some heavy Metal Gear Onlince play tomorrow morning, you may be out of luck. Sony has announced that the Playstation Network will be down for several hours tomorrow for some scheduled maintenance. The network will be taken offline at 8 AM PST and will hopefully be back up at 2 PM. Until then though — I don’t know — read a book. You know, those paper things? Think of them as analog movies.

Via Playstation Support Site

Finally, the words many PlayStation 3 gamers have wanted to hear for quite a long time: the PlayStation’s version 2.40 firmware update will, at long last, add support for in-game XMB access, in addition to the achievement-wannabie trophies.

There’s no release date or further details on 2.40 yet, but Eric Lempel said we can expect the official details “shortly” on PlayStation.Blog yesterday, so those should be along shortly.

In more immediate news, the 2.36 firmware update is nearing its release, but will include much less exciting features such as improved system stability when playing original PlayStation games. Whatever — I already finished playing through Metal Gear Solid. Let’s just get to 2.40, already!

image via The Waking Badger

Ubisoft recently caused a bit of controversy when they said something to effect that the PSP had no direction. So today, the publisher stepped in again to clarify that they are still supporting Sony’s handheld. According to a spokesperson:

“By way of further clarifying some recent statements made in the press, Ubisoft wants to reaffirm that it strongly supports the PSP, which holds a unique place in the market, addressing dedicated gamers and offering unprecedented power in a portable console. We support the PSP with innovative game experiences and plan to publish around 12 PSP games this fiscal year, including titles for some of our top-selling brands.”

Well, that’s good news for PSP owners. But I wouldn’t expect a major publisher like Ubisoft to ever turn its back completely on a sizable chunk of the gaming market. Ready At Dawn on the other hand…

Via GamesIndustry.biz

While Konami is gearing up for the big release of Metal Gear Solid 4 — the sole reason I will be at Best Buy way, way too early on Thursday — they may also have another MGS project in the works. Ripten recently received a tip that the original PS1 game could be ported over to the Xbox Live Arcade. The classic stealth game may even have a subsequent release on the PSN. Of course, such a transition is not going to be without its share of problems.

Obviously, there are some logistical issues going along with this announcement, not least of which is the question of size limitations. Microsoft may soon be raising the XBLA file limit to 35oMB, but that still may not be enough for MGS1, considering it spanned more than one disc originally. On the other hand though, Microsoft did publish the PC version of the game; and Konami managed to keep all of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night down to 95MB. We’ll have to see. What I’d really like though would be Konami to take Twin Snakes, Substance, and Subsistence and cram them onto one big, fat Blu-Ray to keep me warm through the winter.

Via Ripten

Personally, I love the Metal Gear Solid series. They’ve consistently had some great gameplay and enticing — though sometimes confusing — storylines. Everything about the games just seems huge, which unfortunately includes it’s “WTF” moments. Every one of those games had instances where you just sat back and asked yourself, “what the hell just happened?” And now, thanks to 1UP’s Scott Sharkey, we get to relive those moments all over again. Crotch grabbings, awkward relationship talk through codec, homoerotic sword fights: it’s all here. I think it was the revelation that Otacon slept with his mom that really weirded me out the most though (seriously, Kojima, what the hell?). I think I need to lie down now; it’s just too much terrible for one sitting.

Via 1UP

Over the past several years, Sony has had a variety of PR problems, as any company in this business will from time to time. But their marketing campaigns at times have been so utterly horrifying that you seriously have to wonder if the people responsible for them wanted Sony to crash and burn.

So what site better than PSP Fanboy to compile a list of the various disturbing, bizarre, nonsensical and downright stupid advertisements that Sony has issued to “promote” the various PlayStation products.

The scary baby above didn’t even top the list, so that should be a good indicator of how awful things have been at times.

As for number one? I’ve got eight words for you: All I want for Christmas is a PSP.

(pee-ess-pee, pee-ess-pee… that song will never leave my head.)

Sony announced today that one million PS3 owners have now signed up to PlayStation Network in Japan. Those are pretty big numbers, plus around 400,000 people in the region also visit the PlayStation Store every month. In an way to thank the masses in Japan for logging in, Sony is giving away 1000 PSN vouchers for the Store, each worth JPY 1000.

This is just more proof that PSN is very popular, and according to what Kaz Hirai said at PlayStation Day a few weeks ago, globally more than 8 million people have accounts and 3 million of which are in PAL territories.

Thanks: Kotaku

It looks like X-Play managed to snag even more gameplay footage for The Agency when they sat down with the developers to talk about the direction of the game. So far, it looks pretty much like a spy/action shooter, as the developers have promised. But it’s RPG elements and persistent world mean that you can constantly tweak your gear and allies and accomplish your goals any way you see fit. Be sure to check after the break for another video with even more gameplay footage and an explanation of The Agency’s “operatives.”

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