Joystiq [Playstation]

Capcom taking pre-orders on exclusive 'Dojo Edition' of SSFIV

So, what would you imagine to be included in a special edition version of Capcom's upcoming pseudo-expansion pack, Super Street Fighter IV? Perhaps a FightStick emblazoned with the personas of the game's new characters? That's a pretty good guess, but the correct answer was, of course, a USB flash drive, a gym bag, a head band, a Dudley T-shirt and an aluminum water bottle. Sorry! You were so close.

Capcom recently began taking pre-orders on the "Dojo Edition" of SSFIV, which retails for a crisp $79.99. Yes, that's double the price of the standalone game -- however, the standalone game won't make you the envy of all the folks at your local workout center. We think that notoriety would be worth the extra cash.

Engadget Show with PlayStation Move (and Chris Grant) live ... right now!

by Ben Gilbert { 1 day ago }

If you're not out walking around on this beautiful day, or sitting in the live taping at the Times Center in NYC, you should probably get your eyes on The Engadget Show that's happening live right now! Aside from the MIT Media Lab and OLPC Project's Nicholas Negroponte, Sony's Dr. Richard Marks will be dishing on the PlayStation Move to Engadget's Joshua Topolsky and Paul Miller, not to mention Joystiq's very own Chris Grant. ~~Hit the break for the live stream~~!

Update: The live stream has ended, but you can always catch The Engadget Show over on Engadget.com or on iTunes, to view at your leisure.

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Sony's Jack Tretton: 'I can promise you a Killzone 3'

by Ben Gilbert { 1 day ago }

He doesn't know exactly when the third Killzone game will be announced, but SCEA prez Jack Tretton does know that it's gonna happen. When pushed by GTTV host Geoff Keighley about a sequel to last year's Killzone 2 on last night's episode, the Sony exec openly answered, "You know, we own Guerrilla Studios, and uh, they did a great job on Killzone 1 and 2 ... I don't know when you'll see announcements about it, but I can promise you a Killzone 3." Pretty straightforward, Jack!

Though he didn't make any promises regarding Killzone for E3, he did additionally note that the news from Sony out of GDC was "the icing on the cake," referring to big announcements at E3 this year as "the batter." And if there's one thing we really, really like, Jack, it's cake batter. You've won this round.

Naughty Bear trailer takes a stab at Alien

by David Hinkle { 1 day ago }

The onslaught of great Naughty Bear media doesn't let up in this new trailer, which does a good job of creeping us the hell out. It's a parody of that scene from Ridley Scott's Alien and continues Naughty Bear's unending goal to present itself as one messed up game. Have you read our impressions yet? Denmark is a super rotten place in A2M's latest.

It's a pretty neat trailer but, frankly, we think Mel Brooks' take on the whole Alien thing was way better. You can't win them all.

'Second Sight' turns PSP camera into an augmented reality learning tool

by Griffin McElroy { 1 day ago }

We've recently seen augmented reality used in some pretty clever ways in the gaming space, but Sony subsidiary ConnectedED has come up with a way to turn real-time graphical overlays into an educational tool. Using a PSP equipped with a camera, the "Second Sight" technology allows tags embedded in textbooks or magazines to cue relevant audio or video clips directly on the PSP.

The program can also create interactive 3D models which the user can examine by changing the orientation of the PSP. Check out the video after the jump to see a video demonstration of what we're talking about, and then imagine how awesome school is going to be in like, fifteen years.

[Via Siliconera]

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Final Fantasy and Tetris top PSP's sales charts for 2010 (so far)

by Andrew Yoon { 1 day ago }

The latest episode of PlayStation Network's Pulse revealed the top ten downloaded PSP games for 2010 so far. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that Square Enix's classic PSone RPGs have topped the list in the first quarter of the year. Only one mini makes it into the top 10: Tetris, whose steep $10 price tag apparently hasn't scared everyone away.

1. Final Fantasy VII (PSP/PS3)
2. Final Fantasy VIII (PSP/PS3)
3. Tetris
4. God of War: Chains of Olympus
5. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
6. LittleBigPlanet
7. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
8. Madden NFL 10
9. Gran Turismo
10. Resident Evil 2 (PSP/PS3)

Aksys announces North American release, hype train for BlazBlue: Continuum Shift

by JC Fletcher { 1 day ago }

It's official: Aksys Games is localizing BlazBlue: Continuum Shift for North America. Continuum Shift, the sequel to Arc System Works' high-resolution 2D fighting game, will be released on Xbox 360 and PS3 this summer. Like the Japanese release, this updated version adds new characters.

It also adds new modes, including a Beginner Mode, which simplifies the control scheme, a Challenge Mode with specific missions for each character, and Legion Mode, a mini-strategy game in which players fight enemies to gain control of a map.

"If you're not on the hype train this time, you're missing out on the latest greatest 2D game from Arc", Aksys marketing director Gail Salamanca said in a quote we can't help but pass along, "GET HYPE, CHOO CHOO!"

Gallery: BlazBlue Continuum Shift

Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake squeezes onto UMD and PSN April 27

by Andrew Yoon { 2 days ago }

If our comprehensive video preview of Fat Princess for PSP whet your appetite for more, you'll be glad to know that the full experience isn't too far away. Fistful of Cake will be appearing on both UMD and PSN on April 27, promising "new game modes, new maps, a new extended storyline for single player." And although the single player options have been greatly expanded, multiplayer remains a big focus for the game, with 8-player Ad-Hoc and Infrastructure support.

The PlayStation.Blog features a Q&A, a new trailer (posted after the break) and box art. Curiously missing from the announcement, however, is a price. An SCEA rep told us the price has yet to be "100% confirmed," and that an announcement would be forthcoming.

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GameStop: Console shortages likely not fixed until summer

by Mike Schramm { 2 days ago }

On the same conference call earlier this week in which it talked about its new rewards program, GameStop Executive VP of Merchandising, Tony Bartel, said that stores currently experiencing Wii and PlayStation 3 shortages probably won't find relief very soon. While the retailer is always bugging Sony and Nintendo for more units, Bartel said that GameStop "could sell a lot more hardware than what we have on both the PS3 and Wii platform," and that situation probably won't change until early summer of this year.

He did say that the Wii is due for a re-supply first, but he believes that both Nintendo and Sony are "still scrambling to catch up from the surge" of the last holiday season. But a shortage like this isn't unprecedented -- as we get closer to summer, we'll probably see new inventory appearing on shelves, ready to go home to a caring gamer.

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days trailer welcomes you to Shanghai

by Christopher Grant { 2 days ago }

Watch as the always unlikable duo of Kane and Lynch (that's Bruce Willis and Jamie Foxx to you People magazine types) get reunited on the streets of Shanghai and, before catching up over a couple cold ones, find themselves caught up in a shootout and chasing a naked person through the streets. This is just how these guys get acquainted after "a while" apart! Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days welcomes you to Shanghai on August 24.

Final Fantasy XIII fastest selling game in franchise, Square Enix claims

by Andrew Yoon { 2 days ago }

Great. We're pretty certain Square Enix is going to make another one of these videos now. With sales of "more than one million units in North America over the first five days," Square Enix has good reason for that smug look on its face. Taking into account European sales, Final Fantasy XIII has "recorded the largest first-week sales in franchise history."

A number of factors undoubtedly contributed to the record-breaking success of the latest iteration of the JRPG series. Not only is it the first numbered Final Fantasy game on a current generation system, but it's also the first game in the franchise to appear on two platforms -- and two continents -- simultaneously. Finally, it's been nearly four years since the release of Final Fantasy XII on PS2. Fans were clearly hungry for a real Final Fantasy fix.

Luckily for Square Enix, there's much, much more Final Fantasy in the works: Final Fantasy XIV is due this year and Final Fantasy Versus XIII should be ready by the time Square Enix is done counting all this money.

Sega: we can 'sequel-ise' Bayonetta, AvP, Alpha Protocol

by Griffin McElroy { 2 days ago }

In a recent interview with CVG, Sega West president Mike Hayes spoke briefly on the future of the company's portfolio of intellectual properties. Hayes explained, "If you think about it, we can sequel-ise Bayonetta, AvP, Alpha Protocol and we can make a hit of something like Vanquish." Those are some mighty bold plans, considering only two of those games have actually been released.

We're fairly unsurprised by Sega's interest in a follow-up to Bayonetta. Not only because it's been a commercial success for the company, but also because the developers need another chance to do all the crazy action sequences they couldn't fit in the first game. Like, for instance, throwing a church at a dragon. Wait, they did that in Bayonetta? How about riding a motorcycle in space? Really, that too? Well, then ... we're stumped.

Japanese retailers selling out of PS3 'torne' DVR peripheral

by Griffin McElroy { 2 days ago }

We wouldn't have thought a digital video recorder attachment for the PS3 would be a particularly hot seller in Japan, but the neverending lines spiraling from the front doors of Japanese retailers are proving otherwise. Andriasang recently passed along a Famitsu report explaining how shops are quickly selling out of the standalone version of the torne DVR peripheral -- though the 250GB PS3 which comes with the device built into its frame isn't selling quite as expediently.

If the device's popularity has inspired you to import one, you should know that it's only capable of recording Japanese terrestrial TV signals. As such, we also suggest you simultaneously purchase around 5,500 miles of coaxial cable.

Heavy Rain 'Taxidermist' DLC hitting PSN for $4.99 on April 1

by Griffin McElroy { 2 days ago }

We have a hard time watching films where people get caught being in places they totally shouldn't be. We get no enjoyment from watching a Misery or a Rear Window, for example. That kind of scenario is the bread and butter of Heavy Rain's first downloadable chapter, "The Taxidermist," which pre-order customers of the game have already gotten their hands on. The rest of us will have our chance to grab the suspenseful scene on April 1, when it hits the PSN storefront for $4.99.

Check out the video above for a brief teaser of the chapter's events. Actually, it doesn't look that scary to us. Madison climbs in a window, walks up some stairs, and accidentally intrudes on a woman taking a bath. What's that? The woman is dead? Yes, well, that is significantly more upsetting.

Interview: Spoiling Heavy Rain with David Cage

by Ludwig Kietzmann { 2 days ago }

Once a major release has been completed and propelled to the top of the sales charts, the critical discussion surrounding it typically evaporates just as the Next Big Thing appears on the horizon. But Heavy Rain -- whether you like it, love it or loathe it -- has been kept afloat in popular opinion, with critics still debating its controversial design and embarrassing themselves as they attempt to shoehorn water puns like "afloat" and "evaporates" into ham-fisted introductory paragraphs.

We drew Heavy Rain's director and writer, the soft-spoken, passionate and occasionally enigmatic David Cage, into the ongoing discussion and asked him to elaborate upon the game's story, its technology and its critical reception. Oh, and the nature of the Origami Killer, which means ...

SPOILER WARNING: The following interview contains massive, big-huge spoilers for Heavy Rain. If you have not completed Quantic Dream's cinematic adventure, do not proceed beyond the break -- and don't even think about reading the comments. Just turn around and slowly R2 away.

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