MGS: Peace Walker English Demo

This is a quick post. I don't think I've ever mentioned you can easily download the english demo for Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

Get it directly from Konami right HERE.

Enjoy!

The 101st PS One Classic Was Just Released

It's Star Wars: Dark Forces. Hooray! Guess what the 100th PlayStation One classic was?

XS Junior League Dodgeball

What the hell is that game? I have no idea.

I wish Sony would have just reversed the two. My brain prefers that the Star Wars game would have been the 100th release. Oh well.

Dark Forces is a very early 1st person shooter, we're talking about the era when the original Doom games were released. It looks, sounds and feels dated. It's a treat for Star Wars fans or those of the game itself. I get a kick outta playing it on my PSP. It takes me back to kinder, gentler time.

I wouldn't recommend it for everyone. Check it out if your a Star Wars fan. It's not bad for 6 bucks.

Snake Walks For Peace In Japan

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker just released in Japan TODAY!

The biggest Metal Gear game in history is exclusive to the PSP platform and for those who can speak Japanese, order here. Enjoy you lucky Japanese folks. *sniff* :(

The perfect Famitsu scoring game will be released in North America on June 8th. Yep. A Month and a half later. *double sniff* :(

Monsters (Probably) Stole My PSP Minis

When the PSP GO launched in North America on October 1st, 2009, the PlayStation Network Store was updated with a ton of PSP specific content.

UMD Legacy titles such as the Sega Genesis Collection, Sonic Rivals and God of War: Chains of Olympus, hit the network alongside the long awaited PSP edition of Gran Turismo. Another great addition was adding a library of budgeted, smaller PSP games.

Apple's iPhone/iTouch has a vast variety of unique, budget style games available numbering in the thousands. Development is very cheap for Apple's platform, so cheap in fact you can get cracking at it right HERE. Wow! That wasn't so hard, was it?

Sony saw a great opportunity in this new market and introduced their version entitled PSP Minis. This library has grown significant over time. I'll start reviewing some of these little pieces of heaven.

Monster's (Probably) Stole My Princess is an old school, action packed platformer in which you star as The Duke, aka Dracula. In it you take down giant monsters who (probably) stole your princess. The Duke jumps atop ledges as the monsters climb high to escape. Each ledge you jump on acquires a bonus point. This increases if you don't jump on the same ledge twice. As you climb higher and higher, attacking the monster with a third strike defeats him. The levels are intense as one tries to acquire a high bonus while attacking a quickly escaping monster.

Production value's are high. Beautifully animated creatures and detailed environments are all here. The audio is also impressive. This Mini is definitely worth it's $4.99 admission price. It is great stuff.

Solid Gold Walker

1UP.COM has highlights of a recent Hideo Kojima interview with Famitsu Magazine celebrating Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker going gold. Going "gold" in the video game development world simply means that the game is complete. It's ready to be shipped to retailers for happy boys and girls.

Highlights of the interview include -

"Nearly all the things one can do with a portable system are in here... It's just a huge amount of volume! I can hardly even ponder over it all. We wound up having to shift the release date as a result, but there was so much content that there was no way we could run QA on it all in time. I've never experienced anything like this before."

Cool! Sounds awesome Hideo Kojima! What else you say?

"This is only the beginning. I have things I want to do in the future that I can't do on the PSP -- but I can see, thanks to Peace Walker, that game design is not the problem with my new ideas. My take-home from this project is as massive as it was with the first Metal Gear Solid, but it's sort of hard to put it into words. We did too much here, really, and so if I list it all out, it'll sound like the project was a failure. Really, I just want people to try it out, to give it a play. Some aspects of it are experiments for the future, but I think the core game design is as true as it's ever been. In my mind, I've got the same 'Now I've done it!' feeling going that I had when we made the very first Metal Gear."

Bitchin'! I need a time machine to zip me ahead to June 8th.

3D Gaming At A Graphical Price

The news isn't a shocker. To produce a game in stereoscopic 3D, the hardware that's spitting out the image literally has to produce two images of the same game to create the effect. The hardware of course, is working a little harder resulting in the 3D effect requiring graphical sacrifices of the overall game. However, these sacrifices appear to be not crushing.

"WipEout HD was originally 1080p at 60Hz - obviously a good foundation to start from but in making the 3D build of this we had to go for two 720p images... Because it was 60Hz we could just drop to 30Hz and in actual fact that was it. There was no more work to do. That worked. It took very little time getting the game into 3D; there were very few problems with WipEout.", SCEE Senior Development Manager Simon Benson.

Sweet! Sounds great. What about bigger retail, graphical experiences like Motorstorm: Pacific Rift? Benson explains...

"Our geometry was already fine and we had lower resolution/lower fidelity models that would render at 30Hz for the split-screen mode, so we started with that... All we need to do now is find some pixels, so we turned to the hardware upscaling and again tried to squeeze as much as we could from optimization. But given that the game was already finished, there wasn't much headroom to find there. The compromise of some hardware upscaling and some more optimization managed to get us to the point where we could get the game working. But the important point was to avoid the frame-tearing... In the original game we varied field-of-view a lot to give speed cuing and acceleration cuing to the player, But in the 3D you don't really need that any more - you get it for free. 3D gives you that regardless. So we just made the field of view more natural."

Cool!

Check out the entire interview at EuroGamer. It's fascinating, awesome stuff!

Snake Recieves Another Perfect Score

Big time Japanese video game publication Famitsu, has awarded Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker a perfect score. Snake receives a 40 outta 40. It now joins the ranks of such legendary epics as The Legend of Zelda: Orcarina of Time, Soul Calibur and Kojima's own Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of The Patriots.

Congratuations to Kojima Productions!

I can't wait to play this!

After Burner Climax... Sega, This Is More Like It!

I've loved Sega all my life. Even through all the highs and lows. Just speaking the name SEGA in a sentence brings a tingle of joy to my soul. Sega means Sonic, Phantasy Star and great arcade games. When After Burner Climax was announced for the PlayStation Network I was excited.

After Burner Climax is a return to Sega's great joy. The original release was in arcades, back in 2006. You'd pilot an F-14D Super Tomcat, F-15E Strike Eagle or F/A-18E Super Hornet through 20 stages of adrenline pumped action. The stages are available through progressive branching paths. Plus, each fighter plane have their own in game balances.

Climax's visuals are gorgeous. It's soundtrack is exciting. Sega tickled the child within me. Oh, the glorious memories and new one's. It's available right now for $9.99 on the PSN Store. Get it!

Thank you, Sega.

Time To Throw The Pigskin

I was going to skip Madden NFL 11 this year. Then EA Sports keeps pulling me back in.

A recent trailer showcases it's new, innovative features. It looks awesome. Also, Madden 11 on the PS3 and PSP will be compatible. you can play your career at home on your PS3 and when you are traveling, you can copy your career progress to your PSP. That is awesome as well.

So yeah, looks like I'll be gettin' Madden 11 this year. Argh.

Click here to access the official Madden NFL 11 website.

Official PS Blog Plays & Completes Peace Walker... THREE TIMES!

It's pretty cool writing this blog. Writing what I like. Slammin' down unedited opinions. To be able to post pictures of Candice Swanepoel. Oh... living the dream.

Then again, it'd be pretty sweet to hit the big leagues and write for let's say, THE OFFICIAL PLAYSTATION BLOG. Why you ask?

Damn! Becuase Sid Shuman, Senior Social Media Specialist of that particular awesome blog has completed Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker Three times already. Oh, the glory! Curse you Sid! You lucky guy! Click HERE to access his article which details his game play experiences. It's great stuff!

Well you know what I can do that the PS Blog can't?

BBOOOOJJJJEEEE!!!! There ya go!!!!

*sniff* I wanna play Peace Walker too!! *double sniff*

;)

Will Trophies Ever Be Added To MGS4?

In the early 1980's, Jack "Big Boss" Snake established Outer Heaven. Located in the region of Galzburg in South Africa, it was a heavily protected fortress. In 1995 his son, Solid Snake would infiltrate the complex and destroy Metal Gear. This would lead to NATO to bomb the fortress, leaving it no more.

So what the hell does this have to do with the photos of Candice Swanepoel? She's a South African supermodel. There ya go. That's the Metal Gear connection. I thought, what the hell? It's so much easier just to throw a boring picture of Snake in this post, but I went for the extra mile for you, the fans and wanted to spice this sucker up! Your welcome.

Let's get on with the post's topic. Will trophies ever be added to Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of The Patriots?

If you don't see them added to the game the day Peace Walker hits store shelves on June 8th, then I wouldn't hold by breath. There is also the possibilty that a mega edition of MGS4 will be released in stores with trophy support. Again, I wouldn't hold my breath for this either.

I know there were special edition releases of all of the console editions of the MGS series, but my gut is just sayin' "no" this time. Why? Well if you look at the previous games, their re-releases were justified. They added all the funtionality of the games releases worldwide, missing elements thrown in the European editions would finaly make there way in the special editions making a complete package. Plus, Kojima and the gang would throw in a bunch of extra awesome crap to round out the package. With MGS4, the whole package was complete. The game was perfect. Nothing needs to be added. Plus, you got Metal Gear Online for free and online support for MGS4 adding neat things to the title for well over a year.

Only time will tell. I'd love trophy support for one of my favourite game's of all time. However, I wouldn't be to shocked if it never happened.

Stop The Press! OMG! Stop The PRESSSSSS!!!!!

MEGA NEWS 1

In Canada, PSP GO's are on sale at BEST BUY locations for $199.99 for 1 week (April 16-22). It's time to pick one up dudes.

MEGA NEWS 2

Starting in MAY, the North American PlayStation Network Store will be updated on Tuesday's instead of Thursday's. Reason why? To beat Microsoft at their own game. X-Box Live store updates on Wednesday.

BOOOOOJJJEEE!!!!

There ya go MS! Sony just 1up'ed ya.

Word!

Cut To The Chase Cast - 2010 - Episode 01

Kelley discusses the PSP's 5th Anniversary, looks at the explosion of recent Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker news and the recent launch of the iPad.

Direct Link Download

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This Just Kinda Came Outta Nowhere...

This is good. This is positive. A brand new LittleBigPlanet site popped outta nowhere containing some great stuff.

IGN has created a great site entitled, LittleBigPlanet Factory. Included are game design guides, videos and community creations all at your disposal. Check it out and enjoy!

The Music of Peace

One of the greatest accomplishments of the Metal Gear series is it's music. Sweeping, gorgeous, beautiful melodies that provide excitement, adventure, fear and love. Just as excited I am for the high adventure, political intrigue and awesome action of Peace Walker, it's music is just as important. Below is a video featuring the vocal single for the upcoming game entitled Heaven's Divide. Epic and operatic, it's everything you expect from series creator Hideo Kojima. It is awesome stuff!

The Best Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Trailer

With all the fanboy cry outs with the recent news about Peace Walker's marketing exploits, many missed out on what IS THE BEST TRAILER for the game. Entitled "MGS PEACE WALKER "TACTICAL ESPIONAGE OPERATIONS" this trailer displays everything you will be doing the game and it is huge. It is so mega huge that this could possibly be the greatest Metal Gear Solid game ever. Seriously, just watch this... WOW!

Enough Peace Walker News To Shake A Snake At

MISSION: PRODUCT PLACEMENT

"Regarding the collaborations, I have one reason for doing them. It's because I want to surprise players. If the surprise and freshness were lost, I would stop the collaborations. It's different from Hollywood-style merchandising." - Hideo Kojima via Twitter

Let's just get that outta the way. Yes, we know there is in game product placement for MGS: Peace Walker. They include -

AXE Body Spray
Dorritos
Mountain Dew
Pepsi
Sony Walkman

If this in game advertising means a huge marketing campaign in North American, then I'm all for it. The more people exposed to Peace Walker, then the more people want PSP's. The more people owning PSP's, then there are more users buying content for the device making the line much stronger. Success! ;)

MISSION: UNITE FRANCHISES

What's this?!?! A side game include in Peace Walker has Snake battling beasts from Monster Hunter Unite. This is a brilliant tie in. Simply stated, Monster Hunter is HUGE in Japan. We are talking like Grand Theft Auto big. Metal Gear has been popular in Japan but it has never reached the success or cultural phenomenon it is in North America. With a tie in like Monster Hunter, everyone out in Japan... and I mean EVERYONE IN JAPAN playing Monster Hunter on their PSP's will see this awesome cross over. Then they'll get the Snake fever, which results in hopefully explosive sale numbers for Peace Walker. Fingers crossed!

MISSION: BUNDLE BUYING OPTIONS IN NA

What's this as well?!?! The North American PlayStation Blog has revealed a couple of Peace Walker, PSP-3000 bundles headed on the start of Snake's mission on June 8th. The "Big Boss" pack will be released in GameStop's in the U.S. It may be released in EB Games across Canada, however there has been no confirmation. Check the above link for details.

MISSION: RECENT TRAILERS

Finally, let's round out this post with some awesome trailers. Enjoy! Get ready for June 8th, it's gonna be a hell of a ride!

MGS: Peace Walker - Game Opening Trailer



MGS: Peace Walker - Monster Hunter Unite Trailer



OPERATION PEACE WALKER: SUCCESS!

The iPad Just Launched In The U.S.

Apple's iPad just launched in the good'ole U.S.A. The 16-gig, Wi-Fi edition arrived with some sweet impressions and reviews.

So when does it hit The Great White North/Canada?

According to Apple Canada's site, "late April" and "at an unbelievable price". Hmmm... Interesting. We shall see.

The State of The PSP Union

There is a podcast brewin' in me to celebrate the 5th Anniversary of the PSP. Hmmm... It should be online soon. Until then, IGN has a great interview with John Koller, director of hardware marketing with Sony Computer Entertainment America.

It's a great interview and impressive in length. He gets to the beat with answers as to why it taking so friggin' long for UMD-Legacy titles to hit the PSN Store.

Check it out. It's great stuff!

So Much Sony News To Shake A Firmware Update At

Killzone 2 is $29.99! Killzone 2 is $29.99! WOOT!

The Official PlayStation Blog has unveiled that 10 sweet titles have joined the Greatest Hits Line. Awesome! Included are The God of War Collection, LittleBigPlanet Game of The Year Edition and inFAMOUS.

The one title I'm most excited about is the inclusion of Killzone 2. Killzone 1 on the PS2 is a tough, hardcore shooter. There's nothing wrong with that, it's intense and rough. Those are all positive qualities. However, for casual shooter fans, Killzone 1 was difficult. Developer Gurrilla Games would also release Killzone: Liberation for the PSP with great results. It is a 3rd person tactical shooter looking more like Commando than Resistance: Retribution. Liberation was far more accesible and is awesome. It's on the PSN Store for $15.99 and is worth every penny with a robust single player campaign and a full cache of multiplayer modes both on and offline. So yo! Killzone 2... You will be mine soon! ;)

We also have a recent firmware update which will nuke the Other OS Feature from older, phatter PS3's. I honestly really don't care. However, I know a few folks who have Linux on their systems. Sadly, they will be dissapointed.

Oh, this just in from TheKevinButler Twitter.

I feel bad for bald people. They have no place to keep their baby chocobo.

Food for thought.

Happy Easter or Happy Easters! Hmmm... Time to go watch Nacho Libre! :)