GamerTell » PS2

There’s a really good reason why Skylanders are hard to find

Jeremy Hill — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:13:27 +0000

Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure was a really big hit for Activision. Activision said Skylanders was the single biggest new intellectual property launch in the company’s history. How big you ask? Well, Activision said Skylanders was the tenth best selling game in North America last year if you include the number of toys it sold. At this rate, Activision believes Skylanders could become its next billion dollar franchise.

It’s no secret Skylanders figurines were disappearing from store shelves shortly after being stocked. It’s not like toys were in short supply either. Activision said over 20 million Skylanders toys have been sold. This helped the Skylanders franchise bring in $200 million in revenue. The demand has been simply massive and we’re bound to see a similar response once the new Skylanders: Giants toys hit the market in the fall.

The Skylanders franchise will also come to iOS and Android, so we’ll be keeping an eye on that as well.

Final Fantasy X revisitation is a PS3 and Vita HD remaster

Jenni Lada — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:15:18 +0000

Square Enix attended the 2012 Taipei Game Show and was a bit more open about discussing its latest Final Fantasy X project. While there were rumors that it was actually a remake, perhaps even using the Final Fantasy XIII engine, they were all false. FFX is just a plain old HD remaster.

This means it will join the ranks of the Devil May Cry Collection, Metal Gear Solid Collection, Silent Hill Collection and ICO & Shadow of the Colossus Collection. Square Enix has confirmed remastered graphics, but that’s it for now. Maybe we’ll get trophy support too, as all of the other remasters have included them.

There’s one other thing to hope for with the Final Fantasy X rerelease. In Japan and Europe, a Final Fantasy X: International version was released. (It didn’t have the “International” subtitle in Europe.) It had English voice acting and text, as well as Japanese subtitles, but also had Dark Aeons optional bosses, an Expert Sphere Grid and some other balancing tweaks to enemies and special attacks.

Read [Gamer (Chinese)] Via [FF-Reunion]

CES 2012: Hands-on with Sorcery for PS3

Jeremy Hill — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:28:01 +0000

Sorcery was one of the first games that made PlayStation Move look cool. Unfortunately, it was nowhere to be found when Move was released. Months went by and Sorcery was still a no show. This seemingly abandoned game has returned and will be available to purchase sometime this year. At CES 2012, I got both my hands on Sorcery and tested my own virtual wizardry skills.

I would like to point out my demo had some technical problems. Sorcery started off just fine, but the Move controls became really inaccurate as the demo went on. It even got to the point where Sorcery was pretty much unplayable. Remember, this is not a representation of the final product. I’m not sure if the Move controller was having calibration issues, or if Sorcery ran into a nasty bug. Either way, I can still tell you about the basic gameplay features.

Sorcery is played with the PlayStation Move and Navigation controller. The Move acts as the wand and the Navigation controller handles movement. The wand had a few different attack spells in the form of fire, ice, wind and the purplish default peashooter spell. The controls were very simplistic. A quick flick of the wrist sends the appropriate ball of magic flying towards enemies. The direction of my wrist movements dictated where my magic would go. I could even curve my shots.

Sorcery encourages combining spells to create different attacks. For example, an enemy would become frozen solid if I hit him with a frost spell three times in a row. He shattered when I hit him a fourth time with the default spell. I even created a fiery cyclone by creating a line of fire on the ground, and summoning a tornado by swirling Move above my head. As fun as that may sound, performing these spell combinations took me out of the experience far too often.

You can’t change spells in real-time in Sorcery. Spell selection is done by holding down the Move button and pausing the game. I had to rotate Move either clockwise or counterclockwise to select between the fire and ice spells. I had to do the following steps to pull off that fire cyclone attack I mentioned earlier.

1) Pause game and select fire spell.

2) Create line of fire on the ground.

3) Pause game again and swirl Move above my head to create cyclone

4) Watch the cyclone do its thing.

I wish there was a quicker way to select spells in Sorcery. I didn’t feel much like a wizard after pausing the game so many times. I want my magic to be quick, smooth and effective.

I feel Sorcery may have been dumbed down during its hiatus. It’s a shame too. It has so much potential.

Read [GamerTell @ CES 2012]

Blast From the Past: PlayStation 2 Network Adaptor Start-Up Disc

Jeremy Hill — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:45:59 +0000

We’ve been playing games online for several years. These days, a non-single player game without online multiplayer functionality is almost guaranteed to be criticized. It’s almost hard to believe that a little under 10 years ago, Sony started selling the PlayStation 2 Network Adaptor in North America. This unit connected to the back of the original PS2 and gave the console its first taste of online multiplayer gaming.

The Network Adaptor had two ports to connect to the internet either through dial-up or Ethernet. Part of the set-up process involved inserting the PS2 Network Adaptor Start-Up Disc. The disc handled the ISP setup process and even provided a couple games to play online. Online demos for Frequency (developed by Harmonix) and Madden NFL 2003 were included along with videos from Tribes Aerial Assault, ATV Offroad Fury 2 and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4.

When I got the Network Adaptor, my family was still rocking dial-up internet. That didn’t stop me from experiencing online gaming on a console for the first time with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3.

From what I remember, playing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 online was a relatively pleasant experience as long as no one called the house. I remember calling my mom into my room and telling her, “These are all real people I’m playing with!”

Chances are my memories are so clouded by nostalgia, I can’t recall how horribly bad online play on the PS2 was back then. This humble beginning provided the building blocks for the PlayStation Network and the future of the PlayStation brand in general.

There are a few more pictures of the start-up disc and its packaging in our gallery below.

[Show as slideshow]

Latest port of Baroque turns it into an FPS

Jenni Lada — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 19:29:50 +0000

It’s always nice to see older, niche games being given a second chance on a portable platform. Given the ease with which many games appear on iOS devices, it presents a perfect opportunity to see if a new audience will appreciate an older game more. It seems Sting is hoping for that with Baroque FPS, the second port of the original roguelike RPG that first appeared on the Sega Saturn back in 1998.

Baroque FPS is a very confusing and complicated game. After the Blaze, players find themselves controlling the protagonist. He’s a mute man who can’t remember anything about himself. He apparently sinned log ago, and the only way to redeem himself is to continually venture into the randomly generated Neuro Tower to try and reach the bottom floor while purifying the Meta-Beings found within it. It’s a very punishing game with rogue-like elements. You’re actually supposed to die repeatedly as you play, and it’s even encouraged, as each death will unlock cutscenes, areas and reveal more about the protagonist’s past.

Oddly enough, Baroque FPS is actually more of a return to Baroque‘s original roots. The PS2 and Wii versions of the game made it more like a third person, action RPG. The original Saturn release and this iOS incarnation make it a first person dungeon-crawl again. The iOS release does add illustration, Meta-Being and sound galleries.

If Baroque sounds appealing, then it won’t cost you anything to download it. It’s free, aside from taking up 99.5mb of space. Of course, free doesn’t always really mean free. If you check the Baroque FPS product listing, you’ll see a little in-app purchase for $1.99 that adds Extra Mode to the game. So keep that in mind, as it may not be completely playable without payment.

Read [Siliconera] Product Page [iTunes]

Important Importables: Fate/stay night and its offshoots

Jenni Lada — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 10:29:43 +0000

With visual novels suddenly starting to appear more often outside of Japan and Aksys’ latest risk undertaking the translation and localization of Fate/Extra, it seems like a good time to look at one of the best known and most popular visual novels out there, Type-Moon’s Fate/stay night. This first commercial already famous doujin creators of Tsukihime managed to be such a success, despite its original release as an adult bishojo game, that it ended up crossing over and becoming an all-ages hit, as well as inspiring a manga, anime, light novels and additional games.

The original Fate/stay night

Fate/stay night (Windows) and its all-ages counterpart Fate/stay night [Realta Nua] (PS2) both center around a futuristic quest for the Holy Grail. Every sixty years, seven Magi Masters fight with summoned Servants against one another, with the winner getting the Holy Grail and the opportunity to have a wish come true. Oddly enough, the fifth Holy Grail War has begun only ten years after the fourth one.

Not only that, but it features an unlikely participant. A young man named Shiro Emiya wanted to become a Hero of Justice and a Magus, but has no talent for magic. Despite that, he ends up stumbling upon two Servants, Archer and Lancer, and is nearly killed by Lancer. A classmate and associate named Rin Tosaka heals Shiro. Somehow, this seems to have an additional effect on him as later when Lancer comes to kill him again, Shiro is able to use magic to defend himself and ends up somehow summoning the Servant Saber to his side to assist him.

From there, players make choices to determine what happens to Shiro. Depending on choices made, Shiro may or may not survive the war and may end up even finding love with one of the female characters. In addition, information about the war and Holy Grail could be discovered and players see a storyline that looks at how people see and deal with oneself. There are actually three plots that can be followed, which means people will need to play at least three times to understand the whole story.

No official translation of Fate/stay night has ever been released. However, the fan translation group Mirror Mirror has completely translated the Windows PC version of the game. Keep in mind that this translation does require you to purchase a copy of the full version of Fate/stay night. An all-ages, PC version of the game was never released, so keep in mind that if you do set everything up to play it in English, you will be playing a game with adult content.

In addition to the main game, multiple aforementioned spinoffs have appeared. A Fate/stay night manga was released both in Japan and North America, as well as an anime of the same name that appeared in Japan, North America and Europe. A Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works animated movie was also released in Japan, as was a Fate/Zero series of novels. So people had plenty of opportunity to hear and see the story, even if they don’t enjoy visual novels.

Fate/ Offshoots

Additional entries in the Fate/ series tend to fall into one of two categories. They’re either visual novel style games, like the original Fate/stay night, or they’re fighting games. The one thing they have in common, oddly enough, is that they have a better chance of being localized and released outside of Japan than the original Fate/stay Night. Yes, while there still isn’t an official Fate/stay night release, there are actually two entries released in English for people to buy.

I’m talking, of course, about two of the PSP games. One is Fate/Unlimited Codes, which was also released on the PS2. It’s a standard, 3D fighting game featuring some of the Servants and Masters from the original game. Capcom created it and released it as a PlayStation Store exclusive in North America. It’s nothing astonishing, but it is pretty good fighter. The other is Fate/extra from Aksys, an original visual novel and RPG inspired by Fate/stay Night that features a few familiar Masters and Servants, but a all new storyline that makes it easy for newcomers to get into the series. I prefer Fate/extra myself, but both are pretty good games.

Then, there are the games that didn’t make it outside of Japan. Here’s what you can look for, if you’re a huge Type-Moon fan.

Fate/extra CCC (PSP): This is an updated version of Fate/Extra due out in Japan next year with new storylines and extra content.
Fate/hollow ataraxia (Windows): A direct sequel to Fate/stay night. It’s only available in an adults-only version for Windows PCs and is a visual novel just like the previous game.
Fate/tiger colosseum (PSP): A 3D fighting game with chibi-fied versions of the main characters. It’s region-free and very import-friendly.
Fate/tiger colosseum upper (PSP): Again, a direct sequel to the previous game with more characters and environments.
Nendoroid Generation (PSP): No, this isn’t a Fate/ game, but this RPG and mini-game collection will have Saber, Rider and Rin Tosaka Nendoroids appearing in it.

COMING NEXT WEEK: Important Importables reviews Bleach: Heat the Soul 7.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week Important Importables played Hatoful Boyfriend.

Site [AmiAmi] Site [Play-Asia] Site [YesAsia] Site [NCSX] Site [Himeya Shop] Site [Strapya World]

Gust now belongs to Tecmo Koei

Jenni Lada — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:13:46 +0000

There’s news out of Japan today that could potentially be either good or bad for JRPG fans. It turns out Tecmo Koei now owns Gust Corporation. Prior to the acquisition, Gust was a private, independent and rather small developer and publisher of niche Japanese games. They always tended to be pretty, colorful and often quite cute. Now, who knows what will happen.

Gust is primarily known for two series. One is the Atelier series, which is an adventure/RPG/sim series about female alchemists as they accept requests to make items to help the people around them while also completing some kind of personal quest or objective. The Mana Khemia line also falls under the Atelier umbrella. The other is Ar tonelico, an RPG with some visual novel and dating sim elements that is set in a futuristic world called Sol Ciel. Humans and Reyvateils, artificial people who maintain the Tower of Ar tonelico to keep Sol Ciel safe.

It seems like that first series, Atelier, has caught Tecmo Koei’s eye. While the series isn’t hugely popular outside Japan, it has a cult following. In Japan, it’s quite popular. Tecmo Koei has already confirmed that it wants to capitalize on that, and also wants to look into making an Atelier social networking game.

I honestly don’t care if Tecmo Koei decides to force an SNS Atelier on us, as long as it still allows Gust to do what it’s good at – make Atelier games like Atelier Totori, Atelier Rorona and Atelier Meruru. Personally, I don’t see it working as something you’d have to play with the help of friends, since it’d probably make item gathering impossible and seems like it generally wouldn’t work. But as long as the series as a whole doesn’t go that way, the company can do whatever it wants.

Read [Andriasang] Also Read [Nikkei (Japanese)]

GTA III’s 10th anniversary celebrated with $4.99 app on December 15

Jenni Lada — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:23:02 +0000

Get ready to remember how awesome older entries in the Grand Theft Auto series could be. Rockstar has just confirmed that Grand Theft Auto III: 10 Year Anniversary Edition will be on your iOS and Android devices next week. December 15, 2011, to be exact. Which means returning fans and new audiences will be able to help Claude make a name for himself in Liberty City while also working towards a confrontation with his ex-girlfriend, Catalina.

To be fair, Catalina has it coming. She’s the whole reason Claude’s in this position. The two of them were robbing banks and, when one attempt went wrong, she shot Claude and left him for dead so she could get away with the money. He was arrested. Fortunately for him, he never makes it to jail. As he’s being taken with other prisoners to the Liberty City jail, the convoy is attacked and he makes it out in the confusion. He then starts working his way up the underworld ladder.

If you have $4.99, there’s a good chance you can grab GTA III next week. I say good chance, because it turns out the list of devices that can run it is somewhat exclusive. If your iOS or Android device is on the list below, you’ll be fine. If not, then odds are you won’t be playing GTA III: 10 Year Anniversary Edition.

Acer Iconia
Asus Eee Pad Transformer
Dell Streak 7
HTC Rezound
iPad and iPad 2
iPhone 4 and 4S
iPod Touch 4th Generation
LG Optimus 2X
LG Optimus Pad
Motorola Atrix 4G
Motorola Droid X2
Motorola Photon 4G
Motorola Xoom
Samsung Galaxy R
Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1
Sony Tablet S
T-Mobile G2X
Toshiba Thrive

Look at it this way. The Grand Theft Auto III: 10 Year Anniversary Edition is a good way for people who couldn’t afford the awesome $150 Claude figure to celebrate the game’s anniversary. A $4.99 app is a bargain, compared to that!

Read [Rockstar Newswire]

Amazon’s Black Friday 2011 Deals Week begins with 23 video game deals

Jenni Lada — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 13:19:01 +0000

Bracing yourself for one massive day of holiday shopping can be an incredible chore, which is why Amazon is trying to discourage that kind of behavior this year. Starting today, November 21, 2011, it is officially Black Friday Deals Week. That means games will be reduced now through Black Friday, to make things a little less stressful while also offering the opportunity to probably pick up more sale items. The video game section starts the sale off with 21 games and accessories temporarily reduced and a PS3 custom bundle option.

We’ll start off with the games. Oddly enough, two of the items appear in both the Black Friday Deals Week and Deal of the Day sections. I guess Amazon considers them to be extra special. One is The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Collector’s Edition, which comes with a bust, soundtrack and tons of other good stuff. This Windows PC game is normally $129.99, but it’s marked down to $99.99 for the day. The other item in both areas is the Mionix Naos 5000 Laser Gaming Mouse for Windows, which could go pretty well with The Witcher 2. It’s now $64.99 instead of $89.99.

Let’s just go ahead and look at the 21 other game and accessory deals available today.

999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors (DS) – $15.99
Bioshock 2 (PS3, Xbox 360) – $9.99
Diablo Battle Chest (Windows, Mac) – $19.99
Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten Premium Edition (PS3) – $39.90
Dragon Age 2 (PS3, Xbox 360) – $14.99
Dragon Age: Origins Awakening Expansion Pack (Windows) – $14.99
Dragon Quest Slime Speaker (DS) – $19.99
Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (DS) – $11.99
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (PS3, Xbox 360) – $29.99
Kingdom Hearts Re:coded (DS) – $18.99
L.A. Noire (PS3, Xbox 360) – $19.99
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (PSP) – $19.99 for Limited Edition, $14.99 for standard
Mass Effect 2 (Windows) – $4.99 (Note: Only the downloadable version is on sale.
Ragnarok DS (DS) – $14.99
Red Dead Redemption GOTY Edition (PS3, Xbox 360) – $29.99
Solatorobo: Red the Hunter (DS) – $19.99
StarCraft Battle Chest (Windows, Mac) – $9.99
Thrustmaster T-Wireless 3-in-1 Gamepad (PS2, PS3, Windows) – $21.99
Tritton AX-180 Universal Gaming Headset(PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, Windows) – $53.99
Warcraft III Battle Chest (Windows, Mac) – $14.99
Ys: The Oath in Felghana (PSP) – $12.99

A lot of those prices match those retail stores have set in their Black Friday 2011 ads, so maybe do some comparison shopping and see if you can get a good deal early! I’d especially recommend grabbing 999, Disgaea 4 or The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, because they’re incredible. Also, while I know a lot of people didn’t care for Dragon Age 2, I thought it was kinda awesome and it’s well worth the $14.99 sale price. Take a pass on that particular Kingdom Hearts game though, as it adds nothing to the series.

As I’ve said, those deals right up there are only available today. Tomorrow, there’ll be new and different games and accessories reduced. We don’t know what will be there yet, but Amazon did provide a clue stating they will be “action filled” games, so keep that in mind.

Finally, there’s the custom Amazon PS3 bundle. If you have $370 to spare, it’s something to consider. The package includes the Harry Potter PS3 160gb bundle, that includes the first, second and eighth Harry Potter movies, a PS3 New Owner’s Kit, Resistance 3 and a PS3 remote control. Separately and at the normal retail price, all of that would be $404.96. If you add it all to your cart and buy it at the same time at Amazon during this limited promotion, you save $34.96. So it’s like the PS3 New Owner’s Kit is half off. It isn’t an extraordinary deal, but it’s something.

Product Page [Amazon]

Review: GrimGrimoire for PS3

Jenni Lada — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 09:39:23 +0000

Title: GrimGrimoire
Price: $9.99
System(s): PS3 (Originally PS2)
Release Date: October 4, 2011 (Originally June 26, 2007)
Publisher (Developer): NIS America (Vanillaware)
ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for Fantasy Violence, Mild Language and Mild Suggestive Themes
Pros: Gorgeous character art, interesting premise involving time travel, both story and trial levels are available and there are multiple difficulty levels. Can view in standard or widescreen format.
Cons: Each level can take quite a long time to complete, each level looks the same and sometimes characters won’t always do exactly what you direct them to do. Sometimes it can be difficult to cycle through and find the exact unit you’re looking for when they’re all clustered together.
Overall Score: One thumb up and one thumb sideways, 87/100, B+, * * * 1/2 out of 5

I missed GrimGrimoire the first time around. I have no idea why. Maybe it was because it was a niche title. Maybe it’s because NIS America games are usually only found in dedicated game stores and, even then, can be hard to find. All I know is I didn’t get the initial opportunity to play it, and always regretted that. Thankfully, NIS America decided to release it as a download via the PlayStation Store as a PS2 Classics.

While GrimGrimoire is definitely a niche title, it’s gorgeous art, fantasy setting and smooth gameplay make it the sort of game anyone can appreciate. Especially since each level has multiple difficulty options so even those new to strategy games can help novice mage Lillet survive her adventure.

Keep reliving a week to save everyone’s lives.

Lillet Blan is the oldest child in her family and is used to living in a small town. That is, until she learns she has magical powers. She’s now the newest student at the Tower of Silver Star, there to learn magic under Gammel Dore, Ms. Opalnaria and all of the other teachers. Things seem relatively normal for the first four days, considering its a school for mages where almost everyone is named after liquor, a devil and a half-lion man are on the staff and there’s an archmage’s soul sealed away somewhere.

It’s on the fifth day when things go wrong. Something happens, the Archmage Calvaros gets free and Grimlet, the devil who made Calvaros what he was, appears. Everyone except Lillet is dead. However, before she can be struck down and the tower’s bells tolls.

When the bell tolls, Lillet finds herself thrown back to the evening she first arrived at the university. She was all the knowledge of what happened the prior week, all the magical knowledge and all the grimoires she acquired in class. Even though she’s only a novice mage, she’s the only one who can figure out what’s going on at the university and save everyone’s lives. She’ll have to relive the same five day period multiple times if she wants to find a way to save everyone and keep the Archmage and Grimlet from unleashing their wrath.

Quite detailed and very time consuming

GrimGrimoire is a strategy game, with each grimoire that Lillet acquires being able to summon or boost certain units. Once Lillet earns a grimoire, that means she can create a Glamour, Alchemy, Sorcery or Necromancy rune associated with that grimoire and summon the appropriate units from it. Leveling up a rune means stronger units can be summoned or units summoned have different abilities. Also, each group is stronger and weaker against another one. So players have to keep an eye on what enemies will be faced so the most effective units can be summoned.

Once runes are placed, GrimGrimoire turns into a stunning, real time strategy game. All of the 2D character sprites look as they’ve leapt out of a watercolor painting. Clicking on them with the square button can select a single unit, and pressing up when one is selected selects all of those kinds of units on-screen. Players can then direct these units to move to a certain location or perform a certain kind of action. While it can be difficult to see units when they’re all clustered together, pressing right or left on the directional pad while a unit is selected allows you to cycle through the on-screen units until you find the one you want.

In each level there’s usually one of two goals. Players will either have to destroy all enemy runes or destroy all of a certain kind of enemy. While that may sound simple, areas where players’ summoned forces aren’t gathered are dark, which means scouts (preferably the nimble fairies) need to be sent out to see where forces need to be sent. At the very least, it makes it easy to figure out what needs to be done.

There’s only one setback to GrimGrimoire. Each early level in the first cycle will take at least 15 minutes to complete. Later cycles can take at least 30 minutes to successfully complete. This means players really have to sit down and spend between three and five hours just to complete one cycle. Of course, this is good because it means people will be able to spend plenty of time playing, but it does mean a battle that may seem simple could take a lot longer to complete than you’d expect.

A good pick for one of the first PS2 Classics

GrimGrimoire has aged quite well over the past four years, in part because Vanillaware’s unique character art relies on gorgeous 2D sprites. What also helps is that GrimGrimoire represents a genre that we don’t see as often in games, real-time strategic RPGs, and does it well. It’s a perfect choice for players who want something pretty, time consuming and fanciful, that has multiple layers that must be sifted through to find the truth. It’s a detailed adventure and good to see a wider audience of PS3 owners will now be able to appreciate it.

Site [GrimGrimoire]