Posts Tagged ‘europe’
Sony prepping free PSP Minis dev kits?
One of the biggest gripes gamers usually have against the PSP is its lack of a strong game library. However, if recent reports are to be believed Sony may have a few tricks up their sleeve to remedy that.
One of those tricks is the possibility of free PSP Minis developer kits which would give a much larger group of developers access to the service. News comes to us from a recent interview done with Sony Europe’s Zeno Colaco where he was questioned about the possibility of a free dev kit, to which he responded:
“Further down the line, we may investigate a totally free model or supported model.”
However, Colaco says, having a free dev kit isn’t all peaches:
“There are dangers in having total open access; having six thousand applications where probably only thirty are discovered by the consumer. Some of the developers working on the App Store and PSP Minis tell us that they prefer our approach because they get more visibility.”
via pocketgamer
250GB Xbox 360 with Forza 3 spotted on Amazon.de
Having recently announced that the Xbox 360 Elite would be getting a price cut to $299, it would only make sense that Microsoft would then announce a new, higher end model.
Well, it seems that a recent listing on Amazon.de (Germany’s Amazon) has notified us of just that, an Xbox 360 with a 250GB hard drive, Forza Motorspot 3 and 2 wireless controllers all for the price of €280 or about $379.
While the listing has since been pulled, I think it’s safe to assume that Microsoft will announce an Xbox 360 Uber Elite leading up to Forza Motorsport 3’s October 27th release date.
via engadget
Resonance of Fate getting simultaneous EU and US release
Europe gets video game releases much later than its North American counterpart. This is fact, and it’s not fair. Fortunately, Sega Europe is making efforts to make sure that each continent gets equal treatment. Speaking to VideoGamer, localization producer Jun Yoshino has confirmed that Resonance of Fate will be seeing a simultaneous European and North American release.
“America and Europe is the same release. Usually the European version comes a year after, let’s say the Japanese release,” Yoshino said. “During the year, a lot of people are going to like, well this is old news now. We’re going to be losing a lot of interest if there is such a long time as a year. We’ve scheduled it in so we can get it out as quick as possible.”
Resonance of Fate will be released Spring of 2010, and the fourth quarter of this year in Japan.
Tags: europe, fantasy, japan, jun yoshino, Motoi Sakuraba, North America, resonance of fate, sci-fi, sega, tri-ace
New DSi firmware launched, upload photos to Facebook
The new 1.4 firmware is now available for the Nintendo DSi. This firmware deems flash cards useless. All pirates are advised not to update if they want to keep using their ROMs and such.
Back in March, Nintendo revealed plans to expand to social networking options. Today, Nintendo has released a new application for the Nintendo DSi which allows players to upload their photos directly to Facebook.
To get setup, you need to link your DSi with your Facebook account via Facebook Connect. Once that’s done, a Facebook logo will appear on top of your photos. Users are allowed to upload entire albums at once (200 photos), and every photo after that, a new album is created.
The firmware is only exclusive to Japan, Europe, and Australia. No word on when the update will be released for North America.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky dated for US
Nintendo of America has announced that Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky will be seeing an October 13th release date, as opposed to the September 23rd date we saw back in E3.
The game will have the option to play as one of 19 different Pokémon, which will allow you to interact with over 490 Pokémon.
Explorers of Sky was released in Japan last April, and will be hitting Europe later this year, followed by a 2010 Australian release.
Multiplatform European Ghostbusters dated
In Europe, Ghostbusters: The Video Game used to have an exclusivity contract for only Sony platforms. Today, we get release dates for the long awaited multiplatform release of the game.
Namco Bandai Partners has confirmed that Ghostbusters will be released for the Xbox 360, PC, Wii and Nintendo DS on October 23rd.
If you want a good idea of how the game will be, be sure to check out our review of the US version of the game.
Read (VideoGamer)
King of Fighters XII still dated for August in Europe
Yesterday, we learned that King of Fighters XII will be seeing a July 28th launch. Unfortunately, this news is exclusive to North American retailers. Europe will still be seeing a later August 28th launch as earlier indicated by SNK Playmore.
Japan has already been playing the arcade version since April, so European gamers shouldn’t feel left out exclusively; the whole world gets the shaft.
SNK Playmore’s 2D fighting game will be out for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Read (EuroGamer)
Assasin’s Creed 2 gets dated
Back in April Ubisoft let us know that Assassin’s Creed 2 would be hitting store shelves in time for this year’s holiday season but have kept generally quiet ever since.
Well today comes an announcement that Assassin’s Creed 2 will officially be available to American gamers on November 17th and European gamers on November 20th.
Given the generally good reception recieved by the first game Assassin’s Creed 2 is sure to please fans of the series.
Read (Kotaku)
No Nier for Japan?
Yousuke Saito, the executive producer of Nier, said in a group interview at E3 that they don’t know if Nier will be seeing a Japanese release. Due to focus on the American and European releases, the game is supposedly, according to Square Enix, not marketable to Eastern audiences.
Other reasons for the game not hitting the land of the rising sun include the “mature protagonist”, which is in contrast to the stereotypical young Japanese hero that we see in most Japanese titles. The publishers themselves are a Japanese based company, so it is a bit ironic their own country won’t be seeing the game.
Nier is scheduled to release sometime next year for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Read (1Up)
DSi Moves One Million Units In Europe
The Nintendo DS seems posed to take the crown as the most successful gaming device ever sold. Since its original design the handheld has leaped to the top of the sales charts and sat there like a cash-spewing frog. The DSi, the newest iteration of the system doesn’t have much of significance to offer when compared to its predecessor the DS Lite, at least where gamers are concerned. It offers a relatively poor quality camera, takes away the GBA cartridge slot and lets owners listen to certain kinds of music files.
It seems that the system is even more popular than its predecessor; it has already sold over a million units across Europe since its launch in April of this year. It took a mere eight weeks to reach this milestone, a significant accomplishment when you consider that the DS Lite took thirteen weeks to sell over a million units. The previous models are still popular too, with half a million units of prior iterations being sold since the launch of the DSi.
Gameloft teams up with Sega Europe for mobile games
It was recently made known that mega-mobile-publisher Gameloft has inked a deal with Sega Europe to produce mobile games based on Sega property:
“We are confident this agreement will be the first step towards a long term partnership between Gameloft and SEGA,” said Michel Guillemot, president, Gameloft. “SEGA’s great brands coupled with Gameloft’s long standing history of excellence in mobile game development can only result in an extraordinary mobile experience for consumers.”
The first game to come from the deal is Sonic Unleashed, which Gameloft is describing as a “high speed 2D side-scrolling adventure”.
Gamers will be able to choose from Sonic the Hedgehog or Werehog when this game is made available in Europe, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand in June. I wonder what other games Gameloft has cookin’.
Sony Busting Exclusive In Europe, PAL Region
Tie-in games and licensed IP games are usually published for as many systems as possible, going for a quick round of sales in as many markets as possible. Ghostbusters: The Video Game is no exception with versions coming to the Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS and PC.
Sony has cornered a small part of the market for this highly anticipated game however as non-Sony platform versions of the game will only be launching in North American markets. For Europe and PAL territories it’s going to be a Playstation exclusive title, with the PS3 and PS2 versions launching on June 19th along with the re-release of the film on Blu-ray. The PSP title will be available for those territories in Autumn of this year.
Sony patents PSP controlled RC car concept
Sony has recently filed a patent that involces a remote controlled car controlled using a PSP. However, this isn’t your run of the mill remote control car.
The patent details a car that is outfitted with a camera and microphone which is then beamed back to the PSP that it’s controlled by.
The car will also be able to recognized various obstacles physically placed by the player and then render them into computer generated images. This feature raises all new possiblities when it comes to handheld racing games. Too bad we probably won’t see this thing, if at all, for a very long time.
Read (Siliconera)
DSi sales numbers don’t fail to impress
For anyone who thought that a third addition to the Nintendo DS line wasn’t going to spurr the interest of consumers, think again.
Despite the downed economy Nintendo’s latest handheld, the Nintendo DSi, managed to sell in excess of 600,000 units in the United States and Europe on its release weekend. 300,000 units in each territory alone.
Considering the success of the Wii, and pretty much everything else Nintendo slaps their name on, this announcement is sure to have Nintendo jumping for joy, or jumping into their piles of money.
Read (Joystiq)
Europe Getting ‘Best of Halo’ Bundle
Unfortunately for American gamers Microsoft is focusing a good portion of their efforts on getting the Xbox 360 a larger install base outside of its home country. The ‘Best of Halo’ bundle is releasing on February 27th in Europe, but there’s no word on if the bundle will be making its way outside of Europe. It’s unlikely that it would be brought to Japan, given that the series isn’t terribly popular over there.
The bundle retails for $350 and comes with a 60 gigabyte Xbox 360 Pro unit, a one-month subscription to Xbox Live and copies of both Halo 3 and Halo Wars. Of course debate will rage about whether or not this bundle really constitutes the ultimate in Halo games, with probably a lot of people thinking that a true ‘Best Of’ bundle would include a disc of the original, or a voucher for downloading the original from the Xbox Originals.