The Playstation » Games

Our favorite PS3 Greatest Hits

www.theplaystation.org — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000

The Playstation 3 “Greatest Hits” program (or “red label” titles) includes titles that have been on the market for 10 months and sold 500,000 copies. These editions sell at the excellent price of 29.99. At that price, it’s hard to go wrong, but with almost 100 titles currently available on the label, ThePlaystation decided to list our favorite Greatest Hitsso consider this the Greatest Hits Greatest Hits collection, if you will.Prince of Persia (2008): After getting progressively darker during its time on the Playstation 2, Xbox, and Gamecube, the series lightened up a little for its first edition on next-gen consoles. The gameplay is both old-fashioned and new, the magical companion of Elika is bewitching, and the storyline concerning the battle between two powerful gods is appropriately epic.Call of Duty: World at War (2008): Like most Call of Duty games, you’ll need to have your PS3 connected online via Ethernet or wireless internet service to get the full experience with this game. Set during WWII, the game includes co-op for up to four players online for the first time in the series. Of course, you can always just do competitive deathmatch or capture-the-flag as well.Brutal Legend (2009): Sometimes a game comes out that just overwhelms you with its vision. Such is Brutal Legend, which stars Jack Black (in both voice and appearance) as a heavy metal roadie transported to a world straight off a Metallica cover. There are plenty of references to classic albums and songs, as well as cameos from metal masters.Fallout 3 (2008): The first major installment in the Fallout franchise since 1998′s Fallout 2, F3 blew reviewers’ expectations out of the water. Combining action-strategy, roleplaying, first-person shooter, and survival horror, the game is an innovative blend of styles that offers plenty of replay value. At 29.99, that’s definitely a steal.Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009): For those waiting eagerly for Ghostbuster 3, this is the next-best thing. Each of the main characters appears, and the plot is full of the classic humor and adventure that made the films so popular. The players takes the role of a new recruit with their very own Proton Pack, and gets the opportunity to defeat classic villains like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (2007): Here’s another game that feels like a movieso it’s no surprise that there’s one in development, with actor Mark Wahlberg attached to play main character Nathan Drake, who claims to be a descendant of Sir Francis Drake. As Nathan, the player will head deep into the Amazon to find the treasure of El Dorado. The sequel, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, is also on the label.

Explodemon!: Nuff Said?

www.theplaystation.org — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 17:36:38 +0000

The upcoming platforming game Explodemon! could best be described as the video-game equivalent of a Quentin Tarantino movie. Like the director’s films, Explodemon! is a homage to its classic forerunners, many of which come from outside the U.S. These include platformer adventures like Mega Man and Super Metroid, the fighting game Street Fighter II, and more recent games like Halo and Half-Life 2. The developers, Curve Studios, say that their game will pay tribute to aspects of all of these, including the bad translation when applicable.The game is scheduled to be released this winter. In preparation, Curve has released a one-minute trailer, showing off the game’s 2.5-D graphics, physics-based puzzle-solving, fast-moving gameplayand of course explosions. Lots of explosions. The trailer ends with the Explodemon! logo, which includes Japanese kanji, just like the games of yesteryear.Developer Curve Studios actually hails from London, with staff members that have worked on big-name titles like Batman: Arkham Asylum and Eyetoy. They’ve released a number of games with different collaborators, and they claim to have done it all without “crunch” or excessive overtimean impressive accomplishment in the dog-eat-dog world of video games. If you’re interested in learning more about Explodemon! and Curve Studiosor if you want a jobcheck them out at their website, http://curve-studios.com.

Checking in with some popular series

admin — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 19:02:47 +0000

What makes a game sell? Is it the development team, the marketing, or the attachment of a recognizable series name? Sometimes, even all that isn’t enoughand sometimes, a hit can come out of nowhere. I check in with a few popular series and try to find out what’s next.

BioShock: Take-Two admitted that the sequel to their original smash-hit FPS didn’t move as many copies as they expected, but was still a success for the franchise. Speaking from experience, a too-short single-player campaign and a disappointing multiplayer feature could have hindered sales. Still, there are big things in the water for the sci-fi series, which follows the events of a civil war in a utopian underwater city called Rapture. A film is currently in preproduction.
Final Fantasy: Game director Tetsuya Nomura has announced that the script for Final Fantasy Versus XIII is now complete. The game takes place in the same universe as Final Fantasy XIII, a world a lot like ours but with a science-fiction slant. Nomura has said that the game will incorporate third-person shooter aspects, and will even have some blood, as opposed to earlier games. Unlike FFXIII, Versus is currently PS3-exclusive.
Red Faction: In an interesting move, THQ will be releasing a Playstation Network/Xbox Live downloadable game in the series, hoping to drum up excitement for the launch of Red Faction: Armageddon. No details about the downloadable title have been released, but VP of Core Games Danny Bilson has indicated that this will be a trend for other series, including Saint’s Row. In addition, a comic book series should be on the way as well.

As a last note, Rockstar’s western Red Dead Redemption was an unexpected success. Rockstar has already achieved amazing success with its Grand Theft Auto series. This could be the start of another bright chapter in the developer’s career.