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American PC Store releases for September 18th

by Joystiq Staff { Sep 18th 2008 at 4:00PM }

Europe's PC Store update was sadly non-existant today, but America actually has the first decent update in a little while. Two full games are available from D3 Publisher, following their announcement of releasing a decent number of games onto the PSN Store over the next few months. Here's the full list:

Cube full game($9.99)
PQ: Practical Intelligence Quotient full game ($9.99)
NBA 09 demo
NBA 09 trailer

'Classic' PSP games coming to PlayStation Store

by James Ransom-Wiley { Sep 8th 2008 at 9:00PM }

While it doesn't quite fulfill our wish list of PSP games we'd most want to purchase by download and run from a single Memory Stick, D3 Publisher's "classic" catalog is coming to PlayStation Store (the PC one) this September. Props for being ahead of the curve. Up for digital delivery will be:

Cube ($9.99)
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords ($14.99)
WTF: work time fun ($9.99)
PQ: Practical Intelligence Quotient ($9.99)
PQ2: Practical Intelligence Quotient 2 ($14.99)
Dead Head Fred ($14.99)

Once a true PSP Store is in place, we'd love to see all publishers follow suit. Now tell us that wouldn't send a chill up your spine GameStop!

D3 Publisher bringing Puzzle Quest, Dead Head Fred, more to PS Store

by Andrew Yoon { Sep 8th 2008 at 12:15PM }

Finally! D3 Publisher, we applaud your decision to bring your PSP catalog to the PLAYSTATION Store. You're not bringing just one obscure game onto the Store -- you're making available a number of games, from big-budget releases to obscure cult classics. Best of all, you're making them available for cheap! Here are the releases:

September 18, 2008

Cube - $9.99
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords - $14.99

October 2, 2008

WTF: Work Time Fun - $9.99
PQ: Practical Intelligence Quotient - $9.99

October 16, 2008

PQ2: Practical Intelligence Quotient 2 - $14.99
Dead Head Fred - $14.99

To find out more about each of these titles, simply click on their names. You'll find all our news, previews and reviews of these games.

Looking for closure with Puzzle Quest

by Eric Caoili { Jun 9th 2007 at 6:00PM }

For all its charms, Puzzle Quest is not a game that ends well. Once you've completed every mindless fetch mission and julienned the anticlimactic final boss, you're dropped back into the worldmap with hardly any ceremony save some brief epilogue text. The landscape appears just as you left it, unaffected by your victory or valor.

The New Gamer laments in its review, "I keep hoping that, finally, my character will have some complete and utter impact on the lands, that all those I've interacted in will pronounce the lands free of evil, free of conflict and that they can finally live their lives in peace." But your deeds are quickly forgotten by the townspeople you've saved, and there's little to indicate that you've had an impact on the kingdom of Etheria. In short, it never feels like the Challenge of the Warlords has actually been completed.

Though this lack of finality isn't exclusive to Puzzle Quest, we really expected more from an otherwise fantastic game. Hopefully, Infinite Interactive will take pains to address the issue before putting out its next puzzle/RPG hybrid, Galactrix. Until then, we'll be haunting Etheria's dusty roads, matching gems against any soul that stumbles across our path, sighing no matter what the outcome.

PSP Fanboy hands-on: PQ2

by Andrew Yoon { Jun 5th 2007 at 3:30PM }

If you listened to our last fancast, you would've heard our ramblings on a little-known title called PQ2. The premise is ridiculously simple: get to the exit. However, to get to the end, you'll have to test your brain by navigating environments, moving boxes around in clever ways.

Certainly, a box-shoving puzzle game can't be too interesting. Incorrect. Our preview build of PQ2 features some incredibly slick presentation, with fantastic music and some really sleek menus. We really appreciated the tutorial system which breaks down each aspect of the game quite thoroughly. It may seem daunting at first, but the game tells you only what you need to know. For example, after passing a dozen practice challenges, the game tells me that I can easily pass the first ten levels of the game. The first ten puzzles focus only on the skills developed by the tutorial so far -- afterwards, we're allowed to go back into the tutorial to explore more complicated procedures.

The puzzles themselves progress very well in difficulty. As we continued through the game, we found the title to become increasingly challenging, with one or two puzzles giving us a real hard time. So far, we're very impressed by the quick load times, impressive presentation, and fun puzzles. We'll explore more of the game, such as the exciting level editor and infrastructure options, in our final review of the game. Until then, check out screenshots from the game in our updated gallery. Finally, don't forget to try out the Japanese demo to get a small taste of the title.

Gallery: PQ2

PQ2 downloadable demo

by Andrew Yoon { May 24th 2007 at 9:45PM }

The Japanese demo invasion continues with PQ2, a puzzle game where you must guide your hapless character to the exit. Sounds easy? Wrong. Pick up boxes, and watch out for traps -- this will certainly test your brain.

1. Download the demo zip file.
2. Extract the contents of the zip file.
3. Connect your PSP to your computer using a USB cable.
4. Go to the PSP/GAME folder.
5. Copy ULJ00087 folder into the GAME directory.

Check out our new demos site:
demos.pspfanboy.com

[Thanks, windmaker! Via PSPimages.net]

DS Fanboy Favorites: Eric's top five

by Eric Caoili { Apr 20th 2007 at 10:00AM }

All this week, the DS Fanboy staff is letting you in on a few of their favorite titles. Each day, a different member of the staff will present their personal top five DS games along with a snapshot of their gaming paraphernalia and habits, in an effort to provide our readers with a little more information on the tastes and personalities of our writers.

When my afternoons aren't busied by hours of photoshopping cat heads onto pictures of my friends, I pass the time with puzzlers and plumbers on my DS Lite. But those kitten-free days are few and far between, so I end up being able to only fit either the most polished or the most eccentric games into my packed schedule. Wario: Master of Disguise? Sorry, I've got things to do and feline faces to retouch. Lost in Blue 2? I'll have to pass -- I'm already lost in trying to get these whiskers to look perfect.

My collection is a mishmash of AAA titles and niche releases, their cases piled atop one another like a Jenga stack of mismatched blocks, threatening to topple over at any moment. Just pulling a game from the middle of the shaky structure is an act preceded by hours of anxiety and self-doubt. Having my wife provide commentary during the ordeal, remarking "Oh god, it's going to crash this time for sure, I just know it. Why'd you even try, Eric?! Game over, man! Game over!" as I tug out my copy of Advance Wars DS doesn't make the challenge any easier.

So when I do manage to put aside the pussycat photos and secure a game to play, it better damn well be worth it. Journey forth and read which of those titles have captured a place not only on my top five list, but in my heart.

Continued →

PQ2 coming to US

by Steven Bailey { Mar 7th 2007 at 9:00AM }

Game Stooge has up a press release from D3Publisher of America stating that PQ2: Practical Intelligence Quotient is coming to the US. For those not familiar with the series, it has you use an avatar to get out of block stacking mazes as quickly as possible and your intelligence is graded on how well you did. Given that, I'm sorta pissed at my college and pre-college education, because not once did I get a course on block stacking and that's why I'm such a dummy now.

To help educate myself, I may have to pick up PQ2: Practical Intelligence Quotient when it arrives in non-Japanese form in the US. PQ2 will have more than 250 puzzles and will support Infrastructure mode so you can beat you friends in a video game and use that hollow victory to point out how stupid they are and by proxy how much of an idiot you are for hanging out with them. The game is a PSP exclusive, which obviously means PSP owners will be the smartest of all console owners after the game comes out.

[ Thanks Jonah! ]

Intelligent License 2 to make you feel dumb

by Andrew Yoon { Oct 29th 2006 at 10:35AM }

The first Intelligent License (known as PQ in the US) was the "BEST GAME ON THE PSP," according to enthusiastic PSP Fanboy reader hotcarl. The game has you trapped in a terrifying world where you must construct elaborate paths with various boxes to find an exit... an exit that only leads to yet another terrifying room of death. It's a lot like the "classic" film, Cube. The sequel throws even more puzzles at you, and they seem even more intricate than last time. Surely, your brain will shatter due to the complexity of this game, leaving you to simply wallow in your own filth, while contemplating how truly unintelligent you are.

Check out this video, and be prepared to be shamed. The game assaults Japanese audiences in November. Americans are spared from the brain-drain... for now.