The triumphant return of ‘Latest UK Releases’ (it has been on a holiday to a nice sunny beach and, as a result, is now sporting one hell of a tan) is admittedly a rather boring one. I’ve highlighted only two games that I think are worth it this week (ok, Metroid Prime Trilogy is also pretty good but the games aren’t new so it only gets the bulletpoint treatment), complete with the usual short commentary from your’s truly.

Champions Online (PC) 4/9

Champions Online may not be coming to the Xbox 360 anytime soon but at least PC gamers can enjoy its lovely cel-shaded (or ‘comic shading’ as the developers refer to it) visuals. One of the more intriguing ideas the game employs is the ability to create your very own nemesis once you reach level 25. Defeating your nemesis’s minions will give you clues to the whereabouts of him or her, leading to a showdown. The level cap is 40, which may not seem like a lot but I’m sure it will be expanded upon in the years to come (providing the game lasts that long of course).

Dissidia: Final Fantasy (PSP) 4/9

Similar to a fighting game the one big difference is that it includes characters from nearly every single main Final Fantasy game in the franchise. Ever wanted to see Cloud and Squall fight it out? Well, here’s your chance. I don’t think Final Fantasy fans need any more prompting than that.

Other releases:

• Silas (PC) *Out now*
• Pool Hall Pro (Wii) 31/8
• Fate/Unlimited Codes (PSP) 3/9
• Il-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey (DS, PS3, X360) 4/9
• Guilty Gear 2: Overture (X360) 4/9
• Zorro: Quest for Justice (DS) 4/9
• I Did It Mum! Dolls House (DS) 4/9
• Warriors Orochi 2 (PSP) 4/9
• Metroid Prime Trilogy (Wii) 4/9
• SuperCar Challenge (PS3) 4/9
• The Humans (DS) 4/9
• SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny (PSP) 4/9

(Images source)

I hope you’re as eager for more information on the recently announced Fantasy Life (DS) as I am because Level 5 have responded to my wishes. What we have are two images of the games character designs (created by Hideo Minaba), each representing the twenty unique job-based “lives”. As explained before each of these “lives” have their own set of quests and a unique ending with their very own Nobuo Uematsu vocal theme.

Thankfully most of the hard work involved in guessing which job each character represents has been done by Andriasang, which posted a full list of the jobs that was first published in Japanese weekly game magazine Famitsu. Unfortunately you still have to match each job with a character from the picture, so put your answers on a postcard and send them in (e.g the comments section)! Some of them are obvious, like the fisherman, but others are a lot tougher to identify.

Hit the jump for the full list of jobs and a picture of them all.

(more…)

It’s now even harder to avoid playing Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars as Rockstar has announced that a version of the game for the iPhone will be joining the PSP version when it is released this autumn.

Rockstar president Sam Houser believes that the game is a “perfect match” for the iPhone;

“Chinatown Wars is a perfect match for the iPhone and iPod touch. We are very excited to bring this incredibly ambitious version of Liberty City, with this level of detail and immersive gameplay on Apple’s new gaming platforms,” (Source)

The best thing about this announcement is that the iPhone version won’t have to sacrifice the touch screen controls like the PSP version had to, so hopefully this version will be mostly similar to the DS version. I do have some reservations about how you will control Huang Lee (the main character), as some previous iPhone ports have used an on-screen d-pad which can often be a bit frustrating to use.

There are no screenshots yet (unlike the PSP version) but I expect it won’t be too long until we see some.

Rockstar is also bringing Beaterator to the iPhone (originally announced for PSN and PSP), a music mixer that has been developed in collaboration with Timbaland. Let’s hope that people will use earphones when creating their own tunes on the bus or train.

Both games will be out in autumn, with a firm release date to come at a later date.

EyePet, this cute little monkey type furby thing with big ears… You know, I have absolutely no idea what it’s meant to be, but even with the risk of shattering my non-existent tough guy image I have to say that it’s still really cute. Anyway, as I was saying… What? Now it’s hopping around trying to get me to play with it? Ok, just for a few minutes.

….

Damn loveable monkey thing!

Right, let’s get back to business. EyePet, the PS3’s new virtual pet, will be out on 23 October here in the UK – which has only just recovered from the great Furby invasion of the 1990’s (the things I saw in those years, Furby’s taking over entire towns and enslaving their populations. Those times are far too horrible to talk about) – so you can stop watching videos and actually play with the thing yourself pretty soon.

Oh, go on then, here’s one more video. Well, actually it’s above this post so you’ve probably already clicked on it, but for those of you who didn’t then I’m politely asking you to continue to read until the end of this post.

Still with me? Good, let’s continue. EyePet makes use of the PlaystationEye (yes, it IS actually useful for something), meaning that the monkey hybrid thing will appear on whatever surface you have the camera pointed at (it won’t actually appear in reality of course, but it will on your TV). You can then interact with the pet, such as reacting to a tickle, or scaring it when you make a loud clap. There are far cooler things you can do with it of course, such as drawing an object on a piece of paper, holding it up to the camera and having the pet draw a copy. If, for example, you draw the parts of a plane then a plane will appear and the pet will take off with a cackling laugh. You will then never see the pet again, and you will be about £50 out of pocket. Ok, the last part doesn’t happen but there are still plenty of things to keep your kids happy with. There will also be a wide range of customisable options; such as changing the colour of your pet’s fur, or dressing him up in cute little outfits.

Although I begged for one for months I never had a Furby, and I was always a bit sad that I missed out on that craze. Maybe I can relive my childhood fantasies with EyePet, even if it is just a virtual monkey thing on my TV screen.

Because I’m nice you can have one more video. This one is a developer giving a demo, so it actually shows how the game works and doesn’t just throw a cheesy promotional video at you.

(Image source)

There’s one big thing missing from Microsoft’s Xbox 360, and that’s any real representation of the MMO genre. Cryptic, developer of the upcoming Champions Online, believes that it’s not because developers don’t want to represent the genre on the 360, it is because Microsoft is holding back on coming with a way of how such a game would work through Live.

“Microsoft’s a big company, and they have to work out all the various issues related to MMOs,” explains Emmert. “It just takes time for the big beast known as Microsoft to get moving. I really have no explanation other than that, because it’s as baffling to developers as it is to everyone else.” (Source)

Cryptic already have a 360 version of Champions Online “ready to go”, but with Microsoft dragging their heels on the subject it doesn’t look like any 360 gamer will be controlling their very own superhero anytime soon. That means we probably won’t see it this year, but will we ever see it at all?

“Right now we’re just talking with Microsoft. Right now the ball is firmly in their court. We’re ready to go, but until we get the go ahead from Microsoft, right now we’re sort of waiting.”

This isn’t the first time this has happened. In fact the team behind Final Fantasy XIV told VG247 that their game was partly a timed PS3 exclusive because they were still in ongoing discussions about just how the game would work over Live. Of course, Final Fantasy XI is already out for the 360, so it does work in some way.

Personally I’m not sure MMO’s are such a good idea on the console, at least not for the time being. The 360 is good for online games, but on a far smaller scale, and I’m not sure the communities that form around such games as Call of Duty 4 would translate to an MMO. I’ve always thought MMO’s were a far better fit for a mouse and keyboard, but I would have said the same thing about FPS’s a few years back. Another thing is you would have to pay two subscriptions; one for the MMO and one for Live, so maybe the PS3 would be a better bet.

Meanwhile Sony have no such reservations about the MMO, with The Agency currently under development. Maybe we will see Champions Online on the 360 eventually, but it certainly won’t be in time for the PC versions release next week.

The main draw of an RPG is a storyline in which the main characters usually end up on some fantastic adventure, which may or may not involve saving the world. You usually pass through a whole variety of locations, from small villages nestled between a mountain range to magnificent castles. Sometimes they are only pit stops along the way, a place where you can pick up potions and weapons to equip your party with. Sometimes they play a major part in the storyline, while other times they’re just a spot to do a little character building. I’ve often wanted to stay in these places for longer than the developers allow. Sure, technically you can usually stay in a town as long as you want but you’ll run out of things to do eventually, moving on to the next place. While I do love exploring these worlds I also sometimes want to see how life goes on in these places. Enter Fantasy Life, which brings an end to a paragraph that has already gone on far too long.

Fantasy Life is being developed for the DS by the makers of Mother 3, which should already excite you enough if you know your RPG’s. The visuals don’t actually look that different to Mother 3’s, which is also a plus because I thought they were charming. Anyway, what is it you actually do in Fantasy Life? Well, apparently you just do what you normally do in your real life, and that’s living it.

You begin by creating a character, giving yourself a name, gender, appearance and job. You can pick between jobs such as a miner, dancer or a treasure hunter (there are 20 in all) and the objective is to complete daily quests based around the job you have chosen. Progress will be measured through how much money you have gained and how happy you currently are. They do eventually end, so your life won’t be going on forever. You will be doing all this while listening to the music of famed composer Nobuo Uematsu, my all-time favourite composer.

It sounds like a mix between a traditional RPG and Animal Crossing, especially as people can visit your town through both ad-hoc and online wireless functionality. I’m looking forward to hearing more about it!

Similar Games:

• Animal Crossing (DS)

Back in June I told you that Rockstar had decided to bring GTA: Chinatown Wars to the PSP. Rockstar dated it earlier this week – giving us a 20 October release date – but we didn’t really get any further information on the game or any screenshot showing what the game will actually look like compared to the Nintendo DS version. That has now changed, as Rockstar today released some screenshots of the upcoming PSP version.

If you compare it to the DS version then obviously the game is graphically better looking, but it’s nice to see they have kept the semi-3D top-down perspective instead of going full 3D like Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories were. The lighting effects look to be a lot better, obviously taking advantage of the PSP’s power over the DS. Overall it is looking a lot better, but graphics aren’t everything when we still don’t know how the game will play.

The DS version made use of the touch screen through mini-games; such as smashing the window when you get trapped in a sinking car, or sorting through rubbish to find a concealed weapon. Will these mini-games disappear from the PSP version? Or will Rockstar find another way to implement them? It won’t be the same if they simply put a cursor in that you have to control with the analog or d-pad. At least we’ll get better music to make up for it, well hopefully anyway.

I guess, as I seem to say a lot these days, we’ll just have to wait and see. Hopefully it will sell more than the DS version, which is probably what prompted Rockstar to port the game to the PSP in the first place.

The game will be available in both UMD form and by download through the Playstation Network.

If you’re like me, and millions of other people, then you probably really enjoyed Final Fantasy VII; which still makes the list as one of the best RPG’s or even best game of all time. You also probably didn’t want that enjoyment to last, but unfortunately all good things come to an end. Except people didn’t want that, and there still exists a hardcore community of Final Fantasy VII fans that are still involved in the world through fan fiction, and also lap up every little thing that arrives set in the same universe (such as the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children film, which I thought was pretty good even if Cloud could suddenly jump around like he was in The Matrix). They also want a remake, no, they DEMAND a remake.

Square Enix has since moved on, such as making new Final Fantasy games like they should be doing, but they’re still milking the popularity of Final Fantasy VII through releasing spin-off’s such as Crisis Core. So, if they’re so prone to milking their most popular games then why don’t they give in to fan demands and just remake the damn thing already?

“There’s no official project that’s up and running for a remake of Final Fantasy VII at this point. Both Toriyama-san and Kitase-san were involved in the development of the game, however, and it holds a special place in their hearts. They do talk about it on a personal level, like, ‘If we did it it would be like this or like that,” Square Enix producer Yoshinori Kitase and Motomu Toriyama told VG247.

They added;

“So, they do talk about it, but there’s no official project yet. But there’s that PlayStation Network release that just came out, so if you could play that for the time being, it should be fun.”

It makes sense that Square Enix wouldn’t want to channel a whole boat load of resources into a remake as they’re far too busy concentrating on making a handful of new Final Fantasy games. Personally, as much as I loved Final Fantasy VII, I’d rather have new Final Fantasy games then a remake. I also think the games charm would be lost with a HD graphical upgrade. I do enjoy playing the PSN re-release on my PSP while sat on the toilet though, not that there’s much charm in that. What I want is for Final Fantasy VIII and IX to be re-released on PSN though, because then I’d be in heaven.

We played it. We Loved it.

Now let it go!

Pyro Studio’s is apparently set to return to everyone’s favourite setting of World War II (well, five years ago maybe). Reports say that the studio will begin work on a new instalment of the classic strategy franchise Commandos. However, work will not begin until Planet 51 – a game based on the upcoming film – is complete, which will surely win many awards and will be voted one of the best games ever made!

Ok, now that my sarcasm is out of the way I will give you some further details. The as-yet untitled sequel is set to be closer in playability to Commandos 2 and not Strike Force, which was panned by the majority and is viewed as “a mistake” by Pyro themselves. That’s all we really know at the moment, but if the previous sentence is true then Commandos fans will surely be looking forward to the new instalment.

If you’ve never played the games then you will want to know that it’s basically an RTS where you control a small group of British Commandos. It was first released on the PC in 1998, and had you combining the skills of each individual commando to complete your mission. For example, one commando may be good at setting traps for your enemies to unwittingly fall into, while another prefers to go in guns blazing. The latter was usually pretty inadvisable though, as stealth was usually the most effective way to complete a level.

If you want to try the old games yourself then the Commandos Battle Pack (which contains Commandos 2: Men of Courage and Commandos 3: Destination Berlin) for £28.18 is your best bet. I would say that price is a little steep though, as you could probably pick up the pack for less than £20 (maybe even £10) considering the games are only priced at around £3 individually. They’re still well worth trying out though, even by today’s standards.

UPDATE: Pyro Studio’s is now denying the claims that they’re working on a new Commandos game.

“The news story that Gamer.nl published is totally false,” Pyro told Eurogamer Spain. “We always had in mind to bring back to life the Commandos series; this isn’t something new, but nowadays there’s nothing official or decided and everything is still a wish, nothing else.” - Eurogamer

So, maybe fans will be waiting even longer for a new Commandos game after all.

DRAGONS!!! That’s what Guild Wars 2 is all about if this stunning new trailer is anything to go by. What’s stunning about it? Well, the first half is pretty much just artwork but don’t let that put you off because if you stick around you’ll see some absolutely gorgeous in-game footage. I always thought the first game looked amazing, even on my sub-standard PC, and hopefully it will again be optimised for those who can’t afford expensive rigs (I suppose MMO’s always have to have some degree of flexibility in the graphics department, or they couldn’t raise a large playerbase).

So what’s the sequel all about? Amidst all the drama of co-founder of NCsoft, Jeff Strain, and another staff member leaving just over a week ago (although ArenaNet says that the development of Guild Wars 2 will not be affected) there has actually been very little information on the game. The slate isn’t totally blank though, so let’s sum up what we know so far.

Apart from the attractive scenery there are a number of changes over the game’s predecessor. Firstly the whole game world is persistent, much like World of Warcraft, although instances will still play their part; including in the games main storyline which, to be fair, makes sense. Player choices will also impact on the world at large, although I doubt it’s going to be as complex as the player driven world of Eve Online. PvP will retain the guild versus guild battles of the first game (it wouldn’t be called Guild Wars otherwise!), but large-scale PvP will also be introduced. It’s a world battle that will take place in a place called The Mists, although I’m sure more places will be added over the games lifespan.

So, that’s pretty much all we know at this point. Details will probably continue to trickle out over the next few months, so keep an eye out for more info here as I loved the first game so I’m a keen follower of anything new about its sequel.