Joystiq [Playstation]

Richard Mitchell

Demon's Souls replacement guides ship next week

If you were among the unlucky number of gamers to suffer printing issues on the Demon's Souls strategy guide, we have some good news. Atlus has announced that the replacement guides will begin shipping this Monday, February 8. Late last year, after discovering that many Demon's Souls collector's edition guides had "unusual cover ink wear / fading" problems, Atlus opened a replacement program.

Thankfully, the company didn't deprive gamers of their guides in the meantime, requiring that only the cover be sent as proof of the defect. It's a good thing too, because that game is effing hard. Seriously, look at that thing up there. You're supposed to kill that? With a sword? Hard!

Fairytale Fights White Room demo on Euro PSN

by Richard Mitchell { 8 days ago }

Good news, European gamers, Joystiq is about to save you some money. While Playlogic has announced (once again) that the price of Fairytale Fights has been reduced, that isn't how we're going to save you money. No, the way is much simpler: Just play the new Fairytale Fights "White Room" demo that's now available on the European PSN. It's just that easy. After only a few minutes of poorly controlled tedium, you'll never ever have the urge to buy the full game. See, that's money in your pocket right there.

No God of War 3 demo on Netflix District 9 Blu-ray

by Richard Mitchell { 11 days ago }

Look, we know how your mind works. One day, you were sitting around, thinking about how you could lay your hands on the God of War III demo. Then, all of a sudden, it hit you. You figured out how to game the system. "Easy," you thought, "I'll just order the District 9 Blu-ray from Netflix, grab the demo, and send the disc back. Bam, free demo." Alas, it looks like Netflix has seen through your paper-thin ploy, as tipster Caleb tells Joystiq that the demo isn't included with the Netflix version of the film. A quick look at the God of War community forums reveals the same story.

Sorry to spoil things. Maybe your next evil plan will work out better.

PSP Fat Princess may have global launch, does have new screens

by Richard Mitchell { 17 days ago }

click for a moist, delicious gallery

Supervillain Studios, the developer of the upcoming Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake for PSP, has released some new screens of the game, featuring the new Reaper Mode. Supervillain also lets us know that its developing for a simultaneous (or "near-simultaneous") worldwide release, though publisher Sony has yet to put a date on this cake, regardless of region. He also notes that the game is "pretty solid and bug free right now," which is always good to hear. Enough about hearing; make with the seeing in the gallery below!

Gallery: Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake (PSP)

Yakuza 3 gangs up on Europe March 12, new screens

by Richard Mitchell { 18 days ago }

click to get even closer

After announcing a March release window for Yakuza 3, Sega has now confirmed that the Japanese crime game will invade European shores on March 12. As previously announced, the game will feature the original Japanese voice cast and English subtitles. Eurogamer also points out that Yakuza 4 will see its Japanese release this March. The new sequel is based on the same engine as Yakuza 3, hence the quick development turnaround.

Check out some new screens in the gallery below.

Gallery: Yakuza 3 (01-21-10)

New screenshots, character art for Metal Slug XX

by Richard Mitchell { 24 days ago }

Atlus has released some new screenshots for Metal Slugg XX, the upcoming PSP port of Metal Slug 7. Glancing at the screens for a moment and ... yup, it's Metal Slug all right. There are dudes, tanks, giant death machines and, of course, plenty of bullets to go around. There is a handful of character art as well, with Atlus promising that each character will have special attributes. For example, Fio Germi (pictured) starts with a machine gun immediately, while Marco Rossi has 2X handgun power. You can learn about each character at Atlus' official Metal Slug XX website.

Check out the new screens and artwork in the gallery below.

Gallery: Metal Slug XX (1/15/10)

Vagrant Story finally coming to PSN in Europe

by Richard Mitchell { 1 month ago }

While most people recognize Square Enix as the company that gave us the Final Fantasy series, there are some who remember the company differently. Some remember Square as the benevolent force that gave Vagrant Story to the world back in the PSOne era. A truly unique action RPG, Vagrant Story brought together a great story and a one of a kind battle system. As such, many gamers (including Joystiq editors) have been slavering for the game to hit PSN. Japan received it earlier this year and now it looks like Europe is next in line.

Square Enix has announced that Vagrant Story will hit the PSN in PAL territories starting December 22. The game will be sold for €5.99, an absolute pittance. Let's hope the North American release isn't far behind. Considering the bizarre gaps between regional PSN releases though, we're not holding our breath.

ESRB rates Monopoly for PSP

by Richard Mitchell { 2 months ago }

Good news for PSP-toting board game fans: GamerBytes recently spotted an ESRB listing for a PSP version of Monopoly. With the addition of a new version of Monopoly for the PSP -- now rated by the ESRB -- EA is close to bringing a version of the classic board game to every available gaming platform (only the DS is left out at this point). There isn't much known about the PSP version, though it does have support for up to four players. It's not clear if it will be a full retail game or a PSP Mini, though the recently released iPhone version would probably make a prime target for the Mini market.

Namco prepares a Raging Blast of Dragon Ball DLC

by Richard Mitchell { 2 months ago }

If there's one thing Dragon Ball has, it's a giant, sprawling cast of unique characters. Namco Bandai understands this, so it will be offering new downloadable characters for Dragon Ball: Raging Blast every two weeks from now until April of 2010. Best of all, the downloads will be free. Each pack will include "customized versions of popular characters, each with different powered-up abilities." In other words, if the initial lineup of characters just wasn't enough, soon you'll have remixed versions on top of the current cast.

Check out the full DLC schedule after the break. Unless otherwise noted, the DLC will release simultaneously on XBLM and PSN.

Continued →

Metal Gear Rex toy will launch a nuclear assault on your heart

by Richard Mitchell { 2 months ago }

Created with the capability to launch a nuclear slug, halfway across the world -- undetected -- Metal Gear Rex is anything but cute. That is, until you shrink it down to toy size, at which point it becomes positively adorable. The killer collectible was initially spotted by a Toyark forum member, who noted it was coming from threeA. The forum dweller further noted that Rex appears to be 15 to 17 inches tall.

We're not sure if the railgun is functional but, if push comes to shove, you could definitely launch some rubber bands off of that thing. Pricing and release information have not yet been revealed.

[Via TomoPop. Thanks, Gusto]

Demon's Souls strategy guide replacement program now live

by Richard Mitchell { 2 months ago }

Atlus has announced that it's previously revealed Demon's Souls strategy guide replacement program is now active. If you purchased the deluxe edition and wound up with a defective strategy guide -- the defective units have "unusual cover ink wear / fading" -- then all you have to do is visit the replacement program website and follow the instructions. In short, it amounts to filling out a form and shipping off the front cover and first page of the guide. Within 8-12 weeks, players should receive a shiny new copy.

All requests have to be postmarked by December 31, 2009, so hop to it if you've got a defective copy.*

*The editors of Joystiq realize that this post doesn't include a single crack about how incredibly difficult Demon's Souls is. Please accept their heartfelt apology.

PSA: 250GB PS3 available now

by Richard Mitchell { 3 months ago }

Just a quick reminder to let everyone know that the 250GB PlayStation 3 is available now in North America. The package runs $349 and crams a console, 250GB hard drive, controller and composite AV cables into the box. As the more astute readers have no doubt realized, the only thing different from the 120GB model is the 250GB hard drive. Still, as Gaming Bits points out, that's more than twice the storage for an extra $50 over the $299 model.

Of course, with Black Friday sales just a few weeks away, you might consider waiting to see what deals will be available before taking the plunge.

The Street Fighter II HD Remix intro that never was

by Richard Mitchell { 3 months ago }

We're sure everyone likes the redrawn, high definition art featured in Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, but did you know that Udon also redrew the original SSFII intro sequence? It's true, and Capcom Unity has the video to prove it. After the break, you'll find the intro movie that Udon created, though it never made it into the actual game. The video features Ryu doing his fireball thing, while Chun-Li poses and Cammy (for some reason) gives everyone a raspberry. Watch the redrawn trailer and the original after the break.

Continued →

Off-putting off-screen Heavy Rain footage

by Richard Mitchell { 3 months ago }

Remember the scene in Heavy Rain that we told you about at E3? The emotional roller coaster in which private investigator Scott Shelby does his best to thwart a convenience store hold-up? Remember how we noted the plentitude of ways that players can tackle this single scene, using a variety of context sensitive inputs and quick time events? Try to remember that as you watch off-screen footage of the same scene after the break, which has the players rather amused at making Shelby repeatedly run into walls and, ultimately, getting him shot.

It's a bit silly, but it does prove one thing: It's fun to watch Heavy Rain even if you're only trying to see how bad the situation can get.

Continued →

No install for Final Fantasy XIII on PS3

by Richard Mitchell { 3 months ago }

If you were planning on making yourself a nice sandwich for your first session of Final Fantasy XIII, it looks like you'll have to make it before you pop the disc in your PS3. According to IGN, director Motomu Toriyama told Famitsu that FFXIII will not require an install on PS3. Furthermore, other than the transition between town and field segments, the game won't feature any loading screens at all. Toriyama stated that loading time was one of the biggest concerns from the beginning of development.

We're sure there were at least a few folks out there looking forward to watching a Chocobo take a smoke break. Alas, it just wasn't meant to be.