Square-Enix announced today the development of a new game in it's long-running Final Fantasy series. Dissidia: Final Fantasy will be a "Dramatic Progressive Action" game exclusive to Sony's PlayStation Portable. Tetsuya Nomura will serve as character designer. More details will follow at the Square-Enix event later this month.

From MCV (UK)

Activision's shares fell by 5.2 per cent yesterday evening when news emerged that the Spider-Man 3 title has averaged review scores of 73-74 per cent, compared to 80 per cent for the previous title.

However, a report on Forbes.com suggests that there is still confidence in the title, with Todd Geenwald, a Nollenberger Capital Partners analyst suggesting: "Reviews are not as important for a movie-based game. What's more important is how the movie does in theaters."

No surprises here really. The Wii and PS2 versions are garbage, and the 360/PS3 versions are passable at best. Doesn't really matter though. It's a game based on a hugely successful movie. All the versions will sell like mad. Check out some footage below:

[video=JHQ2wjvx5b4Pvj7X] 

 

Here.

Solid little half of a rhythm game.  

...and I'm not talking about kids or pets.

Thanks to a generous back-payment from the Government of Ontario, Canada's support program for persons with physical disabilities I am now the proud owner of both a PSP and an XBOX 360.

My physical heath deteriorated, and I was forced to apply for assisance to help cover medication and physiotherapy costs because I am no longer able to work full time.

The application process took about 6 months to complete, during which time we were scraping by on my wife's earnngs. The program's policy is that if you're accepted, they'll pay your benefits from the time you apply untill you are accepted in one lump sum.

For me, this turned out to bee a cool $3000. After paying off all of the credit cards and bills that were piling up, I still had enough left to "Jump In" to next generation gaming.

I haven't really tried out the XBOX 360 as of yet because Live signup isn't working today, but I can honestly say that the PSP is one hell of a great little system. I've had it for a couple weeks, and have spent many hours with Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner; which isn't very good, but technically impressive for a handheld RPG and MLB 07: The Show, which is just as great as it's big brother on PS2.

I still love my DS for the crazy niche games, and I'm still coding my adventure game/graphic novel "Phil and the Reliving" for it, but thanks to the huge homebrew community that the PSP has, I may just have to learn to code on that too.

Now that I'm permanently at home, I can dedicate much more time to that project as well as my audio production hobby.

More of a personal blog this time, but if you read this...hey! :D

 

Almost a full two weeks before Microsoft and Real-Time World's highly anticpated game is to be released, a full working image of Crackdown has been unleashed to the internet.

While it's really not unusual to see a game reach the piracy scene one or two days before release, seeing a high-profile one like this leaked so early only happens a few times a year if at all.

While most would immediately scream that piracy hurts sales, I feel that it could go either way. Crackdown is guaranteed to sell a certain amount of copies because of it's inclusion of the Halo 3 Beta offer, and most of the people that pirate games in the first place would have two weeks from now anyways, and still not bought a copy.

Nothing unusual about this scenario at all, as it happens to just about every game on every platform, even Wii and PS3.

The real way that this leak could hurt is by word of mouth. You'll have 20-50,000 people playing this game and posting feedback about it on internet forums everywhere; and if you've ever poked your head into the GameSpot forums, you'll know that people love to complain (loudly) when a product doesn't live up to expectations or it's hype.

At this point in the product's life; three weeks after being sent for duplication, chances are that the leak came from someone in the media who was sent a copy for review. It's kind of sad that someone who supposedly likes games enough to write about them professionally would help to propogate what most believe is the greatest threat to the gaming industry.

As I said, it's nothing new, I'm just sick of seeing it happen time and time again. These companies really need to re-evaluate their distribution and promotion methods. Maybe have testing centres, where a rreviewer could enter a secure facility and play for 8 hours a day. I really don't know, but these leaks are getting bigger and more frequent every year.

/end rant

Fire Emblem: Goddess of Dawn (Wii)

- Direct sequel to Path of Radiance
- Start with 4 characters
- Only Sothe appeared in the last game
- Features multi-level battlefields and obsicles

Personal Note: This is by far my most wanted Wii game. It's actually the reason I bought it in the first place. The screens look really nice.
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Looney Tunes Action-Adventure game announced

- Features Bugs Bunny & Daffy Duck
- Fall release date
- Two player Co-Op

Personal Note: Please be a Crazy Castle sequel.
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Super Paper Mario (Wii)

- April 2007 release date
- Controlled by holding Wii Remote sideways (D-Pad to move, 2 to jump NES style)
- "Pixls" will give Mario new abilities that make use of Wii Remote
- "Incredibly Deep", every chapter introduces new game play elements

Personal Note: Intelligent Systems better not mess this up. Like they would
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TMNT (Wii, GCN, DS, GBA)

- Uses "Jade" engine from Ubisoft's Prince of Persia games
- Single player game: no Co-Op
- DS version will use context-sensitive platforming

Personal Note: I was reading TMNT back when it was a black and white indy comic. I loved the NES & arcade games, and this looks like it could do the franchise justice.
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Rayman Raving Rabbids (DS)

- Rail platformer, Rayman runs on his own, and yu interact with the environment
- 3D graphics, 2D platforming
- 4 costumes give Rayman different abilities

Personal Note: Screens look like poo. Not on the same level as New Super Mario Bros. at all.
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Cake Mania (DS)

- 80 levels
- Fully touch controlled

Personal Note: My wife and her friends love this game on the PC.
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Pokemon Diamond & Pearl (DS)

- Features 2 legendary Pokemon: Dialga & Palkia
- Rare "Manaphy Egg" can be imported from Pokemon Ranger.
- Manaphy knows an exclusive new move: "Heart Swap"

Personal Note: Wi-Fi battles and future Wii integration. That is all.
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SNK vs. Capcom Card Fighters DS (DS)

- Capcom characters feature: Ryu, Albert Wesker, Phoenix Wright, Mike Haggar
- SNK characters feature: Cham Cham, Metal Slug heroes, Iori
- Nearly 400 cards to collect

Personal Note: No Wi-Fi it seems. Too bad.
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Sonic and the Secret Rings (WII)

- 200 unlockable goodies including concept art
- You can upgrade Sonic with 100 skills, RPG style
- 8 stages with 12 missions in each
- Party mode with about 40 minigames.

Personal Note: This actually looks like a good Sonic game. I think we've all been waiting for one for a long time. The minigames look pretty divers and fun too.
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Super Mario World (WII)

- Featured as a "Staff Pick" in this month's Virtual Console spotlight.
- Most likely released before the next issue of Nintendo Power is out.

Personal Note: This is my favourite Mario game ever. I'd buy it for $20 just to be able to put my SNES in permanent storage.
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Mario Party 8 (WII)

- 14 playable characters. The most ever in a Mario Party game
- 70 all-new minigames
- 6 new game boards

Personal Note: More minigames on Wii. Hopefully this one changes it up a bit. Mario Party has been stale for a while.
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Wario: Master of Disguise (DS)

- 8 costumes with unique abilities: Arty, Captain, Cosmic, Dragon, Genius, Sparky, Thief and Wicked Wario
- Minigames are incorporated into play.

Personal Note: After New Super Mario Bros. and Yoshi's Island DS, this game has alot to live up to.
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Reviews:

Wii Play (WII) - 7.0
Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 (DS) - 6.5
Final Fantasy VI Advance (GBA) - 9.5
Diddy Kong Racing (DS) - 7.5
Marvel Trading Card Game (DS) - 4.0
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (DS) -- 8.0
Izuna: Legend of the Unemployed Ninja (DS) - 6.5
Inuyasha: Secret of the Divine Jewel (DS) - 6.0
Lunar Knights (DS) - 8.0
Trioncube (DS) - 5.5

For 600 Wii Points, even this technically deficient version of Military Madness is a steal. It's a worthy addition to almost any strategy fan's library and most likely one that you missed out on almost 18 years ago. At the same time Military Madness is both a fine example of what is great about the Virtual Console, and what can go wrong with it. The fantastic core game play is compromised somewhat by some technical missteps. Approach with caution.

Full review Here

Seriously, check your local Wally World's electronic section. Mine is currently undergoing renovations (great time of year to do that for a retail store), and has a bargain bin full of "old" software in their electronics section. It's got a few XBOX games in there like Shamu's Deep Sea Adventures, and every low-budget poker game and arse 3rd person action game you can think of.

The real treat for me was that they have a chunk of halfway decent GameCube titles in there...either $18.73 (CDN) each, or IN PACKS OF 2!!! For under $60, I got these 5 titles...

Bomberman Generation
Sonic Adventure DX Director's Cut
Star Fox Adventures
Mega Man X: Command Mission
Super Monkey Ball

I'll probably never touch Sonic or Super Monkey Ball, but now that my GameCube has migrated into my bedroom, I'm checking out more of the games I've amassed for it over the years before bed or on lazy Saturday mornings...

I'm still missing F-Zero GX, but other than that, I think my Cube collection is done. 80 something I think? Probably some kind of record :P

Collection's Grand total has passed 500, but GameSpot's estimation of $24,000 something is way off. Considering that alot of those were bought used, given to us or found at garage sales, I'd knock it down to like $15,000. Considering I've been collecting for over 20 years, it's not as crazy as it sounds...

Although some imports can get pricey, and some like Suikoden 1 & 2 were crazy expensive from eBay. Ah it's best not to think about it :|

Yup, they're really Japanese. I've always had a soft-spot for the mascot with a hard head. After playing through the original Bonk's Adventure on the Virtual Console, I decided to grab Hudson Selection Volume 3: Bonk's Adventure (PS2) off eBay. I found these gems on the disc. There's a couple more too...

[video=JCNilDWr5bgEvzPe]
[video=KndhljOv5bgEvzPf]

I'm sure that about 75% of the blogs on GameSpot has a post like this :P

I'm also sure that alot of them say something like "The Wii is awesome!", well here's another one.

The system's interface is clean, and elegantly simple. It's very similar to the DS interface.

I was very pleased to see that the Nintendo USB Wi-Fi adapter works with the Wii and DS at the same time also. The Wii didn't seem to like my D-Link router very much.

All of my updates went fine, although I've heard rumours of people bricking their consoles. Oh well, Nintendo customer service is the best in the business and will replace Wiis free of charge.

The Mii Channel is OK, but it won't be very useful to me untill I start adding "Console Codes", which probably won't happen untill there's some online gaming to be had. I really have no need to send/recieve messages to/from strangers or look at other Miis.

A little disappointed in the fact that the weather, news and internet channels were delayed, but I'm pretty used to just opening Firefox on the old PC anyways, heh.

the Virtual Console is going to leave me broke. The emulation is damn-near perfect, and I like the fact that it uses "save states" to allow you to quit out at any time and resume play later on.

I thoroughly enjoy Wii Sports, and Excite Truck really isn't too bad at all, but I have to say that I'm less than impressed with Rayman. Sure, there's lots of different uses for the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, but the overall package feels sloppy, unfinished, and generally cheap. The FMVs have quite a few pops and cracks in the audio, and are encoded at a terribly low bitrate, causing artifacts and blockyness. The introductions to the mini-games are all the same generic screen, with no personality. There are frequent loading times, and some of the games are nothing more than an excercise in frustration. Overall, it's a decent game, but I feel that GameSpot, IGN and the others overrated this game quite a bit. There are noticable clipping issues and an uneven graphical presentation. I fear that the other Ubisoft launch titles will suffer the same fate.

I haven't been able to write much at all lately, because I'm having difficulties with my right arm, but I'm keeping notes as best as I can on everything I'm playing. I miss writing reviews, and cn't wait untill I can type for long stretches again.