Phantasy Star Portable Now Available

Fans of the acclaimed Phantasy Star Universe™ series can now explore Gurhal on-the-go via the PSP (PlayStation®Portable) system. Up to four friends will team up to unravel the exclusive new storyline that picks up where Phantasy Star Universe ends and before the start of PSU: Ambition of the Illuminus™.

The infestation of the alien SEED was thought to be under control by the end of PSU, but a new menace has stricken the Gurhal system. Alongside a new character named Vivienne, players must investigate the contamination and clear out the affected wildlife. In this intriguing new installment, players will delve deeper than ever before into the mysteries of Phantasy Star Universe.

Play-Asia

I used to like Phantasy Star Online before on the dreamcast, though I never tried playing it online due to our crappy dialup connection back then. Being a very big fan of the Genesis games, I was a little put off by the series’ new direction but it was still nonetheless addicting.

With Phantasy Star Portable on the PSP (funny how they have the same acronym lol) out now, I guess I should try getting this game for some ad-hoc multiplayer sessions with my friends.

Resident Evil 5 Scores High

Resident Evil 5 has been reviewed already by a couple of magazines here and there and has been scoring big (hopefully it gets review averages as high as its predecessor). Here’s a couple of the scores it got:

Empire Online: 5/5
Famitsu: 48/50
Gamepro: 4.5/5
OPM: 5/5

Everything about the game just screams quality to me (don’t care what others say about the controls, they work perfect for me). If the campaign runs long enough and there’s a good amount of things to unlock, I’ll be playing this game for a long time once its in my hands ^^

Bioshock 2 First Details

Looks like some new info was unearthed from the teaser site There’s something in the Sea for the sequel to the hit 360/ps3 game.

According to details unearthed on the swanky flash site, the story revolves around the disappearance of a seven-year-old girl from a sleepy fishing town overlooking the coast.

The website states: “Local fisherman Eamon Clune, 44, and his wife Charlotte (32) were awoken by the sudden shattering of a window in the front room,” adding, Moments later, his daughter Maura, age 7, screamed. Mr Clune rushed to investigate the noise only to notice the unknown attacker racing out of the broken window with ‘incredible speed’”

“Due to the moonless night, Clune was unable to provide a description of the assailant. He notes that the attacker was thin, above average height and wore some kind of ‘red light.'”

Read the rest here from Playstation Universe.

Bioshock had to be one of the best games I’ve played on the 360 so I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for the sequel.

Star Ocean: The Last Hope US release

The much anticipated US release of the 360 RPG, Star Ocean: The Last Hope will be taking place tomorrow and damn, its good to have some new RPGs coming out for the system. Despite all the talk of sub-par resolutions, disc-swapping issues and some questionable differences between the US and import versions (I mean, why didn’t they include an option to use the anime portraits? I’m sure a lot of fans would have appreciated this), its still my most anticipated game now other than Killzone 2 since RPGs are basically the genre the love the most.

Hopefully it lives up being a solid RPG since the 360’s been dying for a good one from the genre (we are still a long way from FF 13).

Quake Live now Open!

Quake Live

You read that right folks. For all those who weren’t able to snatch a beta key, ID is finally moving Quake Live from closed to open beta stage this Feb 24. There’s a timer on the site (7 hours left here) so you know when to start fragging online.

For those of you living under a rock, Quake Live is basically Quake 3 online with some fixes here and there, running straight in you web browser (IE and Firefox for now I believe), all for free! I was able to get into the beta a month or 2 ago and it definitely is Quake 3 in all its glory. Only problem was the missing servers here in Asia, which meant hellish ping times for me (3-second delay anyone?). Hopefully, the people behind this amazing app realize this and put out servers here so we can start joining in as well.

Visit the link below for the website:

Quake Live

F.E.A.R. 2

Just got my hands on the latest installment to the FEAR series (xbox 360 version) and I’m having a blast with it! It’s no Killzone 2 that’s for sure, but it still holds up if you ask me. I’ll get a review up as soon as I’m done saving my ass from that freaky psychic Alma.

New Trailers Out Now: Resident Evil 5 & God of War 3

Such a wonderful day it is today eh? Over at this part of the Earth, it’s Valentines already and I’m about to spend quality time with my girlfriend today to go see some hot air balloons take off to skies near here ^^. Before we leave though, give me 5 minutes to post up info on some new trailers for the up coming Resident Evil 5 and God of War 3 games.

To be honest, I wasn’t all that impressed with the God of War one. Mostly because it just looks like a higher-res version of God of War 2. It’s still pretty much a year away though, so the developers should have enough time to get this game looking much better. Resident Evil 5 on the other hand looks just as stunning as ever. I don’t know what sort of magic Capcom has under their crazy multiplatform engine, but it’s doing wonders with this game.

Anyway, the trailers can be found at gamersyde.com or just follow the links below to go directly to each one:

God of War 3 Trailer

Resident Evil 5 Trailer

And with that, I’m off to my date. Hope you guys have a wonderful Valentines Day too 🙂

New Bleach Title again?

I’m a big fan of anime but I admit, I’ve never watched the Bleach series yet (I mean, I’ve seen a couple of episodes here and there, but I never really followed the series). Maybe I should start watching it though since it seems to have a big following with all the bleach games coming out:

A surefire candidate for most milked series on the PSP, Bleach will be receiving yet another adaptation on the portable. Sony made the announcement today via a newly opened official website.

Bleach: Heat the Soul 6 is, despite the number, actually the seventh Bleach game for the PSP (in addition to the Heat the Soul games, the system saw Soul Carnival late last year). While little is known at the moment, it seems the game will retain the tag-based fighting system that debuted in part 5.

Aside from that, we’ll have to wait for Sony to share comment. A short video is available at the official site, so interested parties should check there for now.

Heat the Soul 6 is currently without a final release date.

Dead Rising 2 Officially Confirmed!

Last Friday I believe, a video with a familiar atmosphere was leaked to the internets and a lot speculated and hoped that it was from the upcoming sequel to the Xbox 360 launch exclusive. Turns out all them guesses were true and we’re going to get a new Dead Rising game on both the Xbox 360 and (due to Capcom’s multiplatform stance now) PS3.

This is straight from www.DeadRising2.net:

We’ve been speculating it for over a year and while rumors were rapid in the past few weeks, Capcom has officially confirmed that Dead Rising 2 will be coming to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

In Dead Rising 2, players will once again slaughter their way through thousands upon thousands of the living dead, using a plethora of weapons to butcher them. This time, however, instead of battling zombies in a shopping mall like the original Dead Rising, Dead Rising 2 takes place in a Las Vegas-inspired city loaded with casinos and flesh-eating blackjack dealers and zombified showgirls. Check out the screenshots right HERE to get an idea of what we’re talking about. Some other zombies we’ve spotted in the new screens just released are construction workers, ladies dressed up for clubbing, and police officers.

Capcom says that Dead Rising 2 will take the franchise to a “new level of zombie-killing fun with tens of thousands of zombies” and a chance to kill them in fun ways in the gambling paradise of Fortune City.

Dead Rising 2 is set several years after the zombie invasion of Willamette, Colorado. Unfortunately, Capcom tells us, that zombie virus was not contained at the end of the first game and spread unchecked throughout the U.S. Dead Rising 2 depicts a country where zombie outbreaks continue to strike.

Providing the player with hundreds of weapons was a big part of the original game. In the new screens, Dead Rising 2’s protagonist can be seen wielding a baseball bat, a giant-display cell phone, and an electric guitar.

Dead Rising 2 is being handled by a different developer from the first game, Blue Castle Games, who have developed games such as ‘The BIGS’ and ‘MLB 2K8’.

On another note, the Wii edition of the original game, Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop comes out February 24, 2009.

Here are some new screenshots of the game:

Looks pretty damn good eh. Capcom’s multiplatform engine sure is a beast and one of the better ones this generation (better than UE3 imo since it looks good on both 360 and PS3). I still play Dead Rising 1 now and then despite the brutal Save System so that should say something about how much I’ll like the sequel.