We told you it was coming some time ago, despite the fact that we didn’t know if it would ever break Japanese borders. But now we’re fully aware, and we once again urge you to pick up this unique gem when it arrives.

It’s the PSP port of the original PS2 game, Shadow of Destiny, which is the very epitome of an adventure title laced with a surprisingly deep - and even philosophically-grounded - storyline. Konami has announced that it will release the game in North America some time next year and for now, that’s plenty good enough for us. You will play as Eike, the young man who must solve
the mystery of his own murder…again and again and again. It’s a little difficult to explain, but essentially, you must find new ways of preventing the mysterious murderer from successfully killing you. Early on, this could be as simple as getting a bunch of people to gather at the park, which makes for too many witnesses and the killer is forced to retreat. But things get far more complicated as time goes on so if you’re not willing to use your noodle, don’t bother with Shadow of Destiny. But if you are indeed intent on playing a game that really embraces an original concept and requires you to be both creative and even ingenious, this is the game for you.  Just trust me on this.

We’ll let you know when Konami nails down a finalized US release date; we’re hoping it won’t be too far off. If you’re a PSP owner and you never played the game on the PS2, you should definitely consider it.

You know, with all these awesome games hitting store shelves in the fourth quarter - so what else is new? - it can be a real pain in the wallet. This is why you need to look for some helpful retail deals…

Well, if this rumor from HotBloodedGaming proves true, you’ll have a chance to get one game completely free at Best Buy, thanks to a promotion that’s supposed to start on October 25. As you
can see by this leaked pic, they should be offering a Buy 2, Get 1 Free deal on all their video games; it seems you’ll also be able to mix and match to your heart’s content, too. Therefore, if you wanted to buy Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Brutal Legend and Borderlands, you’d really only have to pay for two of them, which is a damn good deal. Of course, as is always the case in situations like this, there are outstanding factors: first of all, it’s possible that not all Best Buy stores will be doing this so be sure to check things out ahead of time, and secondly, there’s always a chance that some games simply don’t count towards the promotion. A consumer needs to consider such things, right? And it’s not exactly official, anyway. But if it is, you won’t find it difficult to locate three titles you really want; heck, if you wait until November, you could probably find six games you want and do it twice. Hmm…wonder if they’d let you do that.

Also, be on the lookout for a price drop for the PSP Go. We’re not saying it’s definitely going to happen, but plenty of European retailers have already slashed the price of the new portable.

It was one of the very first times I ever looked at a console game and said, “woah, this looks almost as good as a PC game!”

Not only did it look good, but it also proved to be one of the most original and memorable gaming experiences of the PlayStation era. Now, if you missed out on the original and a subsequent installment, you will have the option of downloading and playing them on either the PS3 or PSP. According to GameSpot, both Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee and Oddworld: Abe’s Exodus should be up on the PlayStation Store and ready to purchase today. These are two singular titles but you’ll have to pay a bit more than you’re used to paying for PlayStation classics; the standard price for these digital re-releases is usually $5.99, but both Oddworld games will cost $9.99. As far as we’re concerned, though, it’s well worth the price of admission, especially if you’ve never played them. You just don’t see much in the way of strict adventure games anymore, and Oddworld always had a special flair that’s almost undefinable. Let’s just say the title of the game is fitting.

Just keep those PS1 classics coming; the more the better. Even if you never had the biggest library way back when, you can certainly build it up now.

The franchise has had its fair share of ups and downs, but there’s no doubt it’s one of the most successful in industry history.

According to Videogamer, EA has just revealed that the revered and immensely popular Need for Speed series has topped 100 million units sold worldwide to date. It was the latest release -
Need for Speed: SHIFT - that allowed the franchise to hit this lofty plateau and overall, these titles have brought in over $2.7 billion in sales. Said EA Games president Frank Gibeau:

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The PSP edition of NCAA Football 10 was almost as much fun as the console versions and it’s definitely recommended for your next road trip or plane trip. Many parts of the production have had to be stripped down because of the PSP’s lack of power but it still kept me entertained for hours on end.

The Good Parts

NCAA Football 10’s new Road to Glory mode has the same outstanding super-sim feeling you fell in love with and have enjoyed for years. The included progression system in this sports game allows you to live the life of the college freshman as your fledgling star begins his college career and then rises through the ranks to become the a star player. Playing this mode was the best part and allowed me to immerse myself in a life that was actually a lot of fun to play.

The visual appeal of NCAA Football 10 for the PSP will grab your eyes with amazing colors that are bright, clear and engaging for the senses. The stadiums included all look amazingly detailed and if you know the stadiums you should be able to tell them apart using the details included. A definite step forward visually from last year, NCAA Football 10 for the PSP is the best looking sports experience for the PSP I have seen. It compares well to the look of previous PS2 versions of this video game and at times even out performs previous versions.

The Bad Parts

The developers didn’t include the fun and entertaining Team Builder and Season Showdown modes that were included with the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions of NCAA Football 10 with the PSP version. The included Road to Glory mode is also a trimmed down version of the one you’ll play in the console versions.

NCAA Football 10 includes lots of activities for a college student to take part in, many play like mini-games but are annoying rather than fun and useful.

The on field action included with the PSP version of NCAA Football 10 needs to be improved. Playing football isn’t a fluid sports experience, it’s too limited because of the lack of processing power with the PSP and the inconsistencies in the game play to be a truly interactive football experience.

GameSpot has put together a pretty thorough roundup of the many retailers, both on and offline, that have started to sell the PS3 Slim before its vague “early September” release date.

According to GameSpot, Amazon and GameStop’s online stores have the PS3 listed as in-stock and ready to ship. Additionally, calls made to San Francisco GameStop and Best Buy retail stores have confirmed that some brick-and-mortar locations are selling the new system too. The questioned GameStop and Best Buy retail locations have stated that they only received roughly a dozen systems per store.

When the system was first announced at GamesCom, Sony told the general public that the system would be available in the U.S. during the first week of September, while GameSpot was told “September 1 isn’t an official street date.” Whether it’s overeager retail workers pushing the system out early or Sony being lax about setting a firm release date, one thing is for sure; the customer wins.

Though the fate of “Beyond Good and Evil 2” has yet to be confirmed publicly from an official source, one writer claims to have personal confirmation that game has been put in suspended animation. If a pause button has been hit on the Ubisoft sequel’s development, the game’s conspicuous absence at E3 will turn out to be a canary in the media coal mine ahead of any official acknowledgment.

The games has been put on hold for now, according to Gamersyde staff writer Colin Solal Cardo, who made the claim on his Twitter account. His reported confirmation from GamesCom last week in Cologne leaves the project’s long-term fate open, but like other fans of the original “Beyond Good and Evil,” he’s hoping for the best.

Ever since the announcement of “Beyond Good and Evil 2” last year, the sequel has been a hot topic among those who understood the brilliance of its precursor too late to make the game a blockbuster success, but enough to give it the critical accolades it needed to earn cult status with its fans.

If Ubisoft can eventually emulate their first installment’s innovative gameplay with enough of a push to get it sailing with that audience and beyond, a brief stay in production limbo may be worth the wait. If the project has found its coffin, however, there will be a lot of disappointed gamers out there when Ubisoft makes the word official.

Are you holding out hope for “Beyond Good and Evil 2″? Have you played its predecessor? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.

Some of my fondest gaming memories are playing Phantasy Star 2 on the Sega Genesis in controller-swap co-op.  Over the years the traditional Phantasy Star series has died out, and since been reborn as an online pseudo-MMO similar to Guild Wars.  While I’d love to see a new strong story based Phantasy Star, there’s still fun to be had for the series in its current form.  The latest iteration of this is Phantasy Star Portable for the PSP; a game that closely resembles Phantasy Star Universe on the
Xbox 360.  The one key difference is lack of online play, and therefore no fees.  What we have instead is local AD-HOC co-op play for four players.

Phantasy Star Portable is divided into two separate game modes.  The single player story mode has players creating a character from four races and three classes, and customizing the look of the character with an incredibly in depth character editor.  The developers went as far as to allow you change your characters eyelashes, good luck trying to see them on the PSP’s 3.5″ screen.  After you are done with character customization, you’ll be off through various missions intertwined with comic book style cut scenes.  Honestly, the story didn’t interest me much, and after finding the skip all cut scenes button I rarely paid attention to what was going on.  Any progress you make with your character in this mode is transferable to the game’s Multi-mode, and this is where you’ll have the most fun. 
 

I don’t even see eyelashes.

 This four player co-op mode has players joining up via the PSP’s Wi-Fi connection to hack and slash their way through various missions.  I always enjoy seeing RPGs where players can fall into roles.  The ranged player in Phantasy Star Portable may fight the game’s lock on system a bit, but using dual blasters with an ice upgrade is something not to be missed.  The melee combat is equally as satisfying with a combo system that’s less about button mashing and more about timing.  At times it looked like we were in some sort of kung-fu action movie as we defeated the strange creatures of Phantasy Star; what’s up with all the chick-like things anyway?  Phantasy Star Portable even offers co-op specific missions, designated in the mission hub, that forces players to do various co-op actions.  Basically this means - “I stand on this pad while you go through that door.”

It’s all about level grinding, item collecting, and finding those oh so rare weapons that give you just a little bit of an edge in battle with your buddies.  The items and weapons truly are the focus of the game, with tons of options available at your finger tips thanks to a quick pallete for switching between them.  As you complete missions you’ll earn points, discs and grinders that let you upgrade and customize weapons further.  Depending on your character class you may find it difficult to use a weapon or piece of armor, so obviously you’ll want to trade it.  No such luck here as my partner and I couldn’t find this option buried in the myriad of menus.  It seems like an odd feature to leave out, so instead you’ll just be selling your stuff at the in-game shops.  Thankfully all the rare items are given to each player in the game when one player picks them up, so this helps balance it out.
 

Laser swords make everything cooler.

So even though you can’t trade the weapons and armor, there’s still the RPG fashion show aspect of the game.  Picking up that big halberd with the blue laser thingy always yields “ooohs” and “aaaahs” from the crowd.  If each player uses a different race or class you can see a great variety of the available items in the game.  Although we couldn’t test it directly, we heard some players were having slowdown issues when playing with more than three players, so you might want to keep that fashion show limited to two or three.

Fans of the recent Phantasy Star games will be right at home on the PSP with Phantasy Star Portable.  It’s pretty amazing what this little system can do, and my buddy and I easily blew through three hours of a Friday night.  If you can get passed the game’s quirks, there’s a lot of fun to be had in co-op here.

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The team at Sony Bend is back with another PSP game to try once more to prove that shooters can be done well on the PSP, this time with a faster-paced game in the Resistance series. Resistance: Retribution attempts to link Resistance: Fall of Man and Resistance 2 with a new hero, a new gameplay style, and a smaller screen.



Resistance: Retribution is pretty much a mix of various parts of the first and second games in the series. The story takes place a few weeks after Fall of Man’s ending with James Grayson, initially a British Royal Marine, finding his brother in a Chimeran conversion center too late to do anything to help him besides being the one to have to kill him. This causes his mental breakdown and eventual desertion to take on the Chimerans himself before being arrested and sentenced to death by firing squad, but is offered a pardon in exchange for helping the Maquis resistance movement in their fight against the Chimerans that are rapidly overwhelming them. Much like Fall of Man, the story here is presented more like a documentary with the same Rachel Hunter narrating once again and plenty of cutscenes to further the story along during levels.

Resistance: Retribution eschews the series’ FPS roots and goes for the third-person shooter style that the Sony Bend guys are used to working with in the two Syphon Filter games they’ve made on the PSP before. Instead of being more of a stealthy shooter, Retribution’s a faster-paced shooter with some Gears of War-style cover gameplay that helps the gameplay fit the PSP’s control set-up very well. The cover can be a bit of a hassle to work with at times, usually for cover near doorways or walls since it doesn’t let you snap to the wall all that easily. The game does offer up a ton of ammo and health containers, more than enough to keep you from ever getting worried about running out.

Retribution still offers movement with the analog nub and aim with the face buttons, but the developers have created a very forgiving auto-aim system that entails having a large box around the smaller crosshairs that will target anything in the general direction that you’re facing, much like how the Ratchet and Clank games tend to handle their auto-aim on the consoles. This does a good job of avoiding potential control issues that can arise with a more hands-on aiming set-up, though you can enable that if you want that type of challenge. All of the classic alternate fires are back and work fairly well with the press of the L button, though you’re not really required to use them much throughout the main campaign.

While it does play well and is quite a bit of fun to play, Resistance: Retribution’s gameplay does seem to fit the portable mold fairly well. Levels are fairly short at about 30 minutes at most to complete a level and the gameplay and atmosphere does start to get a bit tedious at this point, which makes taking breaks a good idea. This certainly isn’t the kind of game that lends itself to long sessions that reviewing tends to require at times, which made it a bit of a chore to get through at times until breaks were taken to make it a fresher experience for each return. The enemy AI is decent at best with most enemies standing around as you take shots at them and then charge at you when you’re not putting pressure on them, so you rarely see them use the environment the same way that you can.

The only issue with that kind of plan for Retribution seems to be a bit of a flaky checkpoint/save system where you should be able to save after reaching any checkpoints and continue from there, but one particular area seemed to not want to follow that logic even after seeing the memory stick icon that says that it’s saving your spot after quitting. We’d see the opening cinematic for that level every single time until it was soundly defeated once and for all.

The multiplayer in Retribution brings some decent fun, especially for a system that isn’t really well-suited for online multiplayer yet with PSN integration just now starting to take place in the past few months. There’s the usual assortment of modes here that you’d expect in a multiplayer shooter, from team deathmatch to capture the flag to free for all and others that have the Resistance vibe and are fairly easy to get into most of the time. Unless you’re playing with friends, expect to see spawn camping and all that good stuff that general makes PSP multiplayer games better for having good single-player components.

The biggest gimmick that Resistance: Retribution has is its PSP to PS3 connectivity features, dubbed PSP Plus and Infected mode. PSP Plus allows you to connect your PSP to your PS3 with a copy of Resistance 2 loaded up and enable the ability to play Retribution with the Dual Shock 3. While cool, this would be most effective with a slim PSP and video out cables so you don’t have to wreck your neck by focusing on the tiny PSP screen while using the DS3 and losing the tactile feeling that you get with the PSP screen in your face. If you have just the first-gen PSP, this is not really a great feature for you.

The Infected mode simply infects your PSP copy of Retribution so that James Grayson has caught the Chimeran virus, which allows him to breathe underwater, his health regenerates, and he gets a nifty new outfit and the explosive Magnum from Resistance 2. Having the infected mode be something unlockable by beating the game for those without a PS3 and Resistance 2 would have been a great idea, since it is a really cool change of pace compared to the regular campaign, but that seems to not be the case here. The other downside is that you cannot permanently unlock infected mode after doing it once, as it gets cured once you exit the game or turn off your PSP, so you must do it each time you start the game if you want those extras again and again.

Visually, Sony Bend has done a great job of capturing the Resistance style and topping their previous efforts in quality visuals on the PSP. The animations are pretty good at times, though you’ll see enemies act strangely at times, like hags stopping in place for no reason and other weird things behaviors from enemies during the game. The levels look pretty good at times, though everything here still keeps the Resistance look and feel despite being on the PSP. Load times between levels can be on the long side, though you get a bit of story behind what’s going on at that moment, which helps a little bit.



The music is very good in Retribution to add a spooky and creepy vibe at times, which isn’t a surprise when the composer behind the music was also behind BioShock, as well. The voice acting and sound effects are done well, which make the cutscenes nice for both the change of pace and to hear more of Grayson’s “charm” along with nice cues when different enemies enter the area.

Sony Bend has done another great job in bringing good, solid shooter action to the PSP once again with Resistance: Retribution. There are a few bumps along the way, but the experience is good enough that anyone with a PSP that wants to try something that’s not quirky or cute for the first time since God of War should give it a shot. The PS3 connectivity features add some interesting new things to check out, but it would be nice to see anyone have access to them once they beat the game or re-infect their PSP’s each time they play the game. By now, we’re ready to take a break from Resistance and catch up with Insomniac’s other on-going franchise with the recent announcement of Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time.

Lead designer Alan Flores told us about all the extra things headbangers should try in order to put the (double bass) pedal to the metal.

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Neversoft’s Must-Do List for ‘Guitar Hero: Metallica’ Players
(Xbox 360/PS3/Wii, March 2009)

As written by lead designer, metalhead and musician Alan Flores:

Try to play Slayer’s “War Ensemble” on Expert+ drums.
I say try because most people (like 99% of you) will only be able to get through a little bit of the song. Even so, this really has to be attempted to fully understand what a challenge it is. The song starts off easy enough with a couple of accent hits, but once that double bass drum beat kicks in… good luck!

Experience Cliff Burton’s bass lines in “Orion.”
Its funny, “Orion” is the only song that I know of in “Guitar Hero: Metallica” where people actually fight to play the bass. Cliff’s bass lines completely drive the song and there are even a couple of bass solos that he does along the way. Bass playing has never been this fun in a “Guitar Hero” game.

Sing Queen’s “Stone Cold Crazy.”
People don’t really think of singing as a challenge in “Guitar Hero,” but trying to mimic Freddie Mercury’s machine gun delivery and wide vocal range in “Stone Cold Crazy” gives you renewed appreciation of the man’s talent.

Drum over a song from The Black Album.
Guitar Hero Metallica has a cheat code that allows you to play an entire song like it’s a drum fill, mapping the drum sounds from the song to your drum kit controller. It’s a really fun mode, but especially fun when playing something like “Sad But True” from The Black Album. Lars’ drums just had this monster-huge sound on that album so it’s really satisfying to plug in a second kick pedal and lay down your own beats when they sound this good.

Check out old Metallica set lists in the photo gallery.
There are a couple of images of old Metallica set lists in the Extras for the game. If you’re in a band, seeing that Metallica didn’t always get paid is encouraging.

Put an alternate outfit on the band and re-watch the “Ecstasy of Gold” intro.
In case you haven’t seen it, the Career mode of the game starts off with the band walking to the stage in slow motion to Ennio Morricone’s “The Ecstasy of Gold,” just like they do at their live shows. We have some alternate outfits in the game. I don’t want to spoil the surprise of what they are, but if you put on one of the alternate outfits and re-watch the intro, the band will appear in the new outfits. It’s pretty funny!

Watch the motion capture video of Lars trying to play “The Shortest Straw.”
He had a little bit of uh…trouble.

Write a metal song in the studio
We sampled an ESP Truckster guitar model that James Hetfield plays and an ESP bass model used by Tom Araya from Slayer so your epic metal masterpiece should sound better (i.e. more metal) in the Music Studio.

Check out Metallifacts, learn something new and appreciate the band’s performances.
The Metallifacts mode is a great way to learn about each song in “Guitar Hero: Metallica.” I learned quite a bit once Lars and James added their own personal information to each song. The Metallifacts mode is also a great way to appreciate the band’s performance, the light show, the pyrotechnics and all of the hard work that went into making the game look great. In the Metallifacts mode you can just sit back and watch the band perform; it really is the next best thing to being there live.

Create a set list that reflects your mood.
In Quickplay, you can create a set list of up to six songs and it’s fun to try and theme them. Want to sing songs about the hardships of the road Then make a set list with Metallica’s “Wherever I May Roam,” Bob Seger’s “Turn The Page” and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Tuesday’s Gone.” Feeling a bit crazed? Put Suicidal Tendencies’ “War Inside My Head,” Queen’s “Stone Cold Crazy” and Metallica’s “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” in a set. You can even try making a set list of the fastest, most insane stuff with Slayer’s “War Ensemble,” Metallica’s “Fight Fire With Fire,” “Disposable Heroes” and “Dyer’s Eve.”

Play “Creeping Death” as a full band.
The song is such classic. When you get to the break, all four members of your band get to shout “die” at the top of their lungs. Truly epic!

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