You can race as Casey Stoner in the newest MotoGP video game

Pulling their chairs up to the screen and turning on the game, they quickly discovered that they could race as any of the current racers competing in the MotoGP and a total of 17 circuits were available for them to race on and the newest video game even has a new feature for this year, an all new Arcade mode. In this mode they were able to take part in different types of race challenges, before giving the Career mode a try. In this mode you can compete in all of the races and manage your team as you try to build up your reputation as a two-wheeled racer both on and off the track. They were even told that when the game releases later in the year, players would be able to access free downloadable content from the real 2010 MotoGP season as it unfolds in real time, and keep their virtual 2010 season up to date with the happenings in the real season. You’ll even be able to compete in the different classes of the MotoGP, the 125 cc, 250 cc, and even the Premier class, and take your bike online to compete around the world against the best virtual two-wheeled racers on the planet. This game will be realised later in 2010, probably about March and is being developed by Monumental Games and published by Capcom, and should be a riot for any fan of the MotoGP.

In other news, the Moto2 prototype bike of Monster Tech3 is being tested for the up coming 2010 MotoGP season, and apparently the first tests have been going pretty good for the team and they expect to compete for the 2010 MotoGP title. French rider Florian Marino was testing the bike this week, before the real racer Raffaele de Rosa gets on the bike later in the week in Valencia.

The testing of the bike went pretty well and they ran some pretty good times, despite just taking the bike through its first test run, and if they can get it running a little better, this sportbike might have enough speed to compete. Of course tests don’t always tell you everything you need to know about a bike and its ability to run fast and win. The bike will have to be tested under all different weather conditions and running conditions yet, but so far, things are looking good for the team.

“Image: Zuma Press”

Post from: EveryJoe

MotoGP 2010 is a Virtual Adventure

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves picks up where the first game left off, only this time, the focus is on developing the main character by piling as many intense situations onto him as possible. This makes for an edge-of-your-seat roller coaster ride of a game, full of thrills and spills, and cinematic-quality storytelling.

If all of that was too much hyperbole, let me boil it down for you: I don’t own a PS3, but after seeing Uncharted 2 in action, I’ve never wanted to own one more.

Images: Copyright 2009 ©Naughty Dog.

Post from: EveryJoe

E3 ‘09: Uncharted 2

The PS3 exclusive Heavy Rain is one of the most talked about titles of the year, though no one is entirely sure what kind of game it is. Is it an adventure? A shooter? An advanced platformer? The trailer and screenshots don’t make it all that much clearer, but what you will see is that the game looks stunning, with ultra photo-realism, and that it has a rather impressive storyline going for it as well. Take a look.

Images: Copyright 2009 ©Sony.

Post from: EveryJoe

E3 ‘09: Heavy Rain

Sony finally revealed the release date for the highly-anticipated God of War III at E3 2009, which will mark the end of the God of War trilogy. GoW3 drops March of 2010, but the trailer has you everything you need to know if you’re wondering what to expect.

Note that this trailer is not recommended for younger viewers.

Post from: EveryJoe

E3 ‘09: God of War III

Taken from the E3 2009 show floor on Tuesday, June 2nd. Much more to come throughout the week!

The Stay-Puft Marshmellow man from Ghostbusters, right outside the convention center to promote the new video game.

Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters.

LEGO Universe promo poster. Sadly, the game is not playable on the show floor.

Eidos booth.

Xbox booth.

Beware the Rabbids!

A mech thingamajig from James Cameron’s Avatar.

EA Games booth.

A Prius 3 promoting The Sims 3, in South Hall. (Note the floating green crystal.) Appropriate, no?

Warner Bros. Interactive promo area for Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest.

Inside the Batman: Arkham Asylum demo area. Kind of sums up all of E3!

Holy E3 Expo, Batman!

Nintendo’s booth.

The first-ever concert held live and in a persistent MMO game. In this case, the band is The Dares, and the game is Free Realms.

DJ Hero being demoed at Activision’s booth.

Post from: EveryJoe

E3 ‘09: Sights from the Show Floor

The Shrine Auditorium was the site for Sony’s E3 2009 Media Briefing Tuesday morning, where the big news was the PSP Go, God of War III, and the upcoming PlayStation motion controller.

Sony kicked things off with this slick video that introduced us to the hardware and software of PlayStation:

Next, they showed us tons of game demos for the latest and greatest PS3 games, including Uncharted 2, where the crowd went wild over a firefight that ended inside a falling building:

There was the first public unveiling of live game play from MAG, with 256 live players all on the screen at one time:

We watched a new trailer for Final Fantasy XIII, after which the audience was stunned by the announcement of the PS3-exclusive Final Fantasy XIV Online. There was a trailer for this one, too. And it’s coming in 2010, just like XIII.

Agent, a new game from Rockstar, was talked about but not seen.

But worth admission alone was the live demo for Assassin’s Creed II. I videoed this bad boy, check it out below:

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get much more video than that at the Sony press conference, as my video camera’s battery died.

In the vein of Little Big Planet, a kind of game where you “create, play, and share,” is next-big-thing Mod Nation Racers. It’s a racing game where you can customize out the wazoo with simple but powerful level editing and creation, and it’s coming in 2010.

The Last Guardian, the next game from the creator of Shadow of the Colossus, got a huge reaction from the crowd.

Gran Turismo 5 displayed uber-realistic graphics, while the long-awaited God of War III, the final game in the bestselling PS exclusive trilogy. It looks ultra violent and ultra gruesome, just the way fans like it, and will hit in March of 2010.

Longtime PlayStation evangelist Kaz Hirai took the stage to tout the next big thing in PlayStation Portable: the PSP Go, a new, more compact PSP with a slide-out control pad that’s intended for users who prefer to download their games digitally instead of buying UMD discs. PSP Go launches October 1st and will be priced at $249.

Hirai also announced four new titles for the PSP:

• Gran Turismo PSP, a fully featured GT game with 800+ cars
• Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, a true sequel that fills in a missing chapter from the saga of Solid Snake. Being scripted by Hideo Kojima himself.
• Resident Evil Portable comes to PSP in 2010
• Final Fantasy VII comes to PSP as a downloadable game starting today

Sony had to answer the challenge thrown down by Nintendo and then Microsoft on the motion-controller front, and its answer is an as-yet-unnamed peripheral device that’s basically a wand with a lighted orb on the end that the PS Eye camera can track with “submillimeter accuracy.” (Think of a motion-capture suit — like the one used to create Gollum in the Lord of the Rings movies — with a single ball on a stick.) A few tech demos were shown to demonstrate an early engineering build of this wand controller, showing how the wand can simulate guns, swords, painting tools, hands that grasp and throw, and much more. You can even hold one wand in each hand, for more complex movements. The rate at which it mapped to the real time movements of the user was impressive, but like the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, it maps only arm movements, whereas Microsoft’s Project Natal is promising full body tracking. PlayStation’s motion controller is launching Spring 2010.

Not a bad press conference. A little dry in a few spots, but overall very engaging.

All photos and video by Robin Parrish.

Post from: EveryJoe

E3 ‘09: Sony’s PSP Go & motion controller

I have read over the past couple of months about all of the wonderful, AMAZING [!!!] DLC [downloadable content] that has been available to PC and XBOX360 users who play Fallout 3 and have felt a smidge of envy.

OK. It was all out envy and lust and a pinch of anger tossed in for good measure.

While I readily admit that I LOVE my PS3 and am happy with my favorite platform, the lack of DLC for a game that has sucked me into the black hole of time suckage left me bitter.

Apparently Bethesda felt my pain since they have announced that DLC is coming to a PS3 near you [and me].

From the Fallout 3 website:

We are pleased to announce that Fallout® 3 downloadable content (DLC) is coming to PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. We have been working on implementing it for a while and look forward to bringing it to PS3 gamers via the PlayStation Network. Operation: Anchorage will be released for PS3 in late June, followed by the release of The Pitt and Broken Steel 4-6 weeks apart. Release dates will be forthcoming.

In addition, a new update will be released for PS3 that will allow users to download and play the new DLC. The release date for that update will be announced at a later date.

There are also two new DLCs planned for all three platforms:

• Point Lookout – Explore a massive new swampland area filled with new quests and content.
• Mothership Zeta – The aliens have returned, and they’re pissed. Experience an alien abduction first hand and find out if you’re tough enough to survive.

Point Lookout will be available in late June for Xbox 360 and PC. Cost will be 800 points or $9.99. It will be available through Xbox Live and Games for Windows Live and through token cards available at retail. Point Lookout will be available on PS3 after the first three DLCs have been released.

Mothership Zeta is scheduled for release in late July for Xbox 360 and PC. Cost will be 800 points or $9.99. It will be available through Xbox Live and Games for Windows Live and through token cards available at retail. Mothership Zeta will be available on PS3 after Point Lookout.

If you could see me now, you would witness a grown woman doing the happy dance.

No. Seriously. I just did a jig.

Image|Bethesda

Post from: EveryJoe

Fallout 3 DLC Coming to PS3

You will also get an UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves Multiplayer Beta voucher (the bonus will be inside the box with your purchase).  Get the full details on Amazon.com.

Now that we’ve gotten those great promos out of the way, let’s talk about the game details!

In the first open-world action-adventure title exclusively for the PlayStation 3, you will step into the role of Cole, the long man to survive the massive explosion that levels six square blocks of Empire City.  You will get to experience what it’s like to change from an ordinary human as you develop electricity-based superpowers.

The coolest part?  You get to decide where the story goes but you’ll quickly learn that what you do impacts the citizens and city environment.  Will you use your powers to do bad or good things for Empire City?  It’s entirely up to you but while you figure it out, you can enjoy being able to scale the cityscape and develop new skills.

Sounds incredible.  Too bad I don’t have a PS3… I guess I’ll just have to enjoy the trailer and other gameplay videos that pop up on YouTube.

Post from: EveryJoe

Pre-order “inFamous” on PS3

The 20GB console is the least expensive but it’s also the least powerful.  There is less disk space and gamers will not be able to connect and play games online.  You will, however, be able to play PS1 and PS2 games via the Emotion Engine along with those for the PS3.  This console is probably best for “light” gamers who don’t play a lot of intense, graphics-heavy games.

Both the 40GB console and 80GB consoles allow owners to engage in online gaming (PS3 games only) but they obviously differ in terms of hard disk space (the 80GB stores the most) and are unable to play PS1 and PS2 games.

The 60GB console is well-rounded due to the fact that it allows the owner to play PS1, PS2 and PS3 games as well as only PS3 games.

In summary, here are some general guidelines

• Buy a 20GB console if you plan to play regular PS3 games but do not want to play online.
• Buy a 40GB console if you want to play PS3 games both on and offline.
• Buy a 60GB console if you want to play PS1, PS2 and PS3 on and offline games.

I hope this helps clarify which console to choose!

image: Amazon

Post from: EveryJoe

Tips For Buying a PlayStation 3

Apparently, the new addition is set top be unveiled at the upcoming E3 gaming convention this June and I’m pretty curious about it.  Of the three main consoles right now, PS3 appeals to me the least but it has to do with game selection just as much as anything else.  What’s next?  Sony will come out with a Mario-type character to go along with the new controller?

I can’t say that I blame them, though.  Times are tough and they’ve got to find a way to compete.  I know that the Sixaxis PS3 controller already is supposed to detect motion but it’s nowhere near as sensitive or flexible as the Wiimote.

So what’s a fledgling company like Sony supposed to do?  They are going to take the idea and one-up it.  How?  By fitting their new controller with tiny LED lights and a small webcam to track movement.

I don’t know how that’s going to work out but I’m not going to knock it until I see what it looks like and how it works.  I still doubt that I will put down my Wiimote and Xbox 360 for the PS3 but stranger things have happened.  Maybe Sony can come out with a product to put them back in the race again.  I’m sure they are counting on it…

image: Amazon

Post from: EveryJoe

PlayStation 3 Getting Copycat Wii Controller?