Teh E3 News: Sony

Hey guys, Dave here covering Sony’s show at E3 2009. Note that this is all in order of what happened at the conference. (Some stuff shall be missed out – general figure stuff like PSN and PSP figures).

First thing Sony showed was some footage of the Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Closed Multiplayer Beta. The lucky few that got an invitation to be part of the closed beta (I myself was!) were told that it would be available for download that night. The footage shown was gorgeous showing of some destruction able environments, quick time events, dynamic cover and general shooting the crap out of people.

Following afterwards was footage from upcoming PS3 exclusive MAG (Massive Action Game) which is a multiplayer only title which features a massive 255 player limit. That means that it’s possible to play a game with 254 other people!

Next up Kaz Hirai came on stage to unveil the PSP GO! (which was leaked onto the Internet early anyway... But still, Sony joked about it, Jack Tretton cracked a joke about leaks in there type of business earlier on in the show). As the image shows the PSP GO! Features no second analogue stick. PSP GO! Is 50% Smaller than the first PSP and 40% Lighter, which is a large improvement! It comes a 16GB memory and a slot for expansion cards. PSP GO! Also features no UMD drive, thus games are downloadable only (there are rumours Sony are going to put the UMD drive back in, and that Sony are trying to create a way for people to download PSP game’s they have already bought for free). Also unveiled along with the PSP GO! Was a new PC media manager for the PSP, and a new XMB function called “Sense Me”, which creates playlists based on your desired mood (this is actually available on some Walkman phones).


Gran Turismo PSP and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker were both unveiled next for the PSP. GTPSP will feature over 800 cars and 35 tracks with six different variations. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is set 10 years after the events in Metal Gear Solid 3 and from the trailer shown, there were multiple Snakes. Both are due for release in 2010. Jack Tretton then came back on stage for a quick round-up of PSP titles forecoming. These featured Resident Evil PSP, Little Big Planet, Monster Hunter: Freedom, Hannah Montana (Hooray!!) Harry Potter and Motorstorm: Arctic Edge.

A new PS3 game created by Rockstar, called “Agent” was announced. Barely any information was announced about it though. All that is known is that it is an espionage thriller set in the 1970’s, and a PS3 exclusive.

Assassins Creed 2 footage was then shown which looks stunning. The Developers pointed out that Leonardo Da Vinci would create your weapons and items in the game, (such as the famous Da Vinci Glider). New AI will feature making it harder to hide, as will 30 new weapons and dual take downs.


FFXIII was then announced to be coming out Spring 2010, then, which I’m sure many people wet themselves at hearing: Final Fantasy XIV was releasing in 2010, is an online RPG, and PS3 exclusive. Then came the biggie: Sony showed off their own Motion Controller, which looks a lot like a wand with a glowing ball on the top of it which was tracked by the PSEye (PS3’s version of Eye toy). They then showed a live tech demo of some guy playing Tennis, baseball, golf, and using a whip and desert eagle, which was fired using a button on the controller, mentioning that doing so without a button would feel very unnatural (perhaps taking a pot-shot at Microsoft’s motion controller here!). They stated that this was only a prototype (and a very good prototype at that) and they are hoping for a spring 2010 release.

Modnation Racers and Play.Create.Share were then shown. Modnation Racers is basically PS3’s version of Mario kart, but people can create their own tracks and riders and then share them with the world. Play.Create.Share is what Sony called this new genre.

Team Ico then showed a trailer for the final part of the Ico trilogy: “The Last Guardian”. The trailer had amazing attention to detail, textures and lighting. A quick teaser trailer for Gran Turismo 5 was then shown, which showed off some vehicle damage (a first for Gran Turismo).

The last thing shown by Sony was a God of War 3 demo. The God of War 3 demo was described as being better looking than anything ever, on any platform. It featured a huge lava man destroying scenery and making a new path for, still as pissed off as ever, Kratos to run through.

So, that’s pretty much all that Sony showed at this years E3. Sony certainly have a lot to live up to, after showing all this. I for one hope they come through. Next Years E3 will certainly have a hard time beating this years!

Teh E3 News: Konami

Hey guys Mark here and I'm gonna be looking at what Konami had to offer at this years E3.

This is the image 360 fans were left to look at when Hideo Kojima revealed Metal Gear Solid: Rising at Microsoft's conference. Finally a Metal Gear game for 360! This is what Kojima's teasers were counting down (along with something else I'll talk about later). This appears to be Raiden, The main protagonist of Metal Gear Solid 2 and a side character in MGS4 and I personally looking forward to playing as him after seeing him as a super cool ninja in MGS4 =D. It looks like he has a Cyborg Exoskeleton (thanks wikipedia) and an eyepatch. This suggests it will be set after MGS4 because he lost both his arms saving Snake in that... Then he still saved Snake without his arms (by wielding the blade in his teeth). There's another piece of artwork showing Raiden on the back of Crying Wolf (a member of the "Beauty and the Beast Corps") from MGS4... Apparently though this game isn't going to be worked on until next years E3, but ya never know with Kojima...

Another game shown was the other game Kojima's site, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. This is a PSP game set ten years after MGS3 and four years after MGS:Portable Ops. It appears to have Big Boss in it and there are multiple Snakes in the trailer, so Co-op perhaps?

Konami's third and quite possibly my most favourite of the three is definitely Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. I love the Castlevania series, and I love Metal Gear Solid. So whats it gonna be when Hideo Kojima says he's gonna try to make it? Kickass (hopefully =P). It is said to be nothing like the other games in the series, so sorry if you wanted to hunt down Dracula with the vampire killer. You play as Gabriel, a member of a group known only as the brotherhood of light and your wife is murdered by these monsters and her soul is trapped for eternity and she guides Gabriel. Also in the trailer was a strange mask which is quite mysterious indeed.

So that's it from Konami really this year at E3. I'd say they have certainly built up hype for these games and hopefully they're gonna rock (especially Castlevania!) Konami are definitely gonna have their hands full making these games though and I'm hoping they can deliver what they've promised and shown us this year at E3!

Image from cache.gawker.com and IGN.com

Teh E3 News: Intro and Nintendo

Yo guys! For the rest of this week and the next us guys at Triforce Games will be reporting on news from E3. We will be covering Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Ubisoft and Konami. All the other companies will be summarized in this issues 'Teh Gaming News'. Now onto today's topic... Nintendo!

Now First off Nintendo have done well this E3. Very well in fact!

First off is TWO new Mario games! Super Mario Galaxy 2 and New Super Mario Bros Wii have both been announced. New Super Mario Bros Wii is apparently coming out later this year with drop in/out multiplayer/co-op (I say this because much like Lego Star Wars you can both help and hinder each other). Super Mario Galaxy 2 on the other hand will be much like the last but with Yoshi's! They seem to have powers much like as in Super Mario World and also new power ups for Mario can be expected. Such as a giant drill that can help you... Well, drill through stuff! Bee Mario seems to have returned from the last Galaxy game. SMG2 is going to be harder and will use even more innovative ideas.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers has finally shown up after no news from it for ages. It was play-able at E3 for the first time and seems to be a more serious take of a FF game for the Wii. Oh and it has Chocobos. =D

Metroid: Other M was announced as well. A Third Person ish shooter made by Team Ninja (The guys behind Ninja Gaiden). After watching the trailer I think I can safely say that this could rival the brilliant FPS games made by Retro Studios and I can't wait to see how this will turn out.

The long awaited sequel for Camalot's RPG Golden Sun has came to light (See what I did there?) on the DS. I haven't played the original Golden Sun games for the GBA but as far as I know they are good and this will (hopefully) be a good place to start for new people to the series. The graphics seemed very FF3 DSish and with bosses that take up two screens what more do want in a hand held RPG?

On the subject of the DS more Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story was shown. Some more of the story-line was revealed as well. It seems that Mushroom Kingdom's residents have caught a virus called blorbs (which makes them swell up like balloons), while Bowser has eaten a 'lucky mushroom' that somehow turned him into a hero vacuum and sucked Mario and co into his stomach. You control Bowser on the top screen and the Mario Bros at the bottom where each others actions make an impact on each screen. With the usual humor found in Mario RPG's coupled with the great battling mechanic I am sure this game will be worth a look when it comes out.

Carrying with DS games its onto The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks. Not much more has been shown other than a new trailer with Link riding around on his train being chased by a big Gohma/Crab thing in a tunnel. Boss battles on the train perhaps? Some more of the controlable 'Darknut' like guy has been shown and how it will be used in battle and puzzles. If its as good as Phantom Hourglass then its a get as soon as its out!

Now, onto the big news of the week in my books. Being a big Zelda fan when the new Zelda Wii was released I was a happy person to say the least. Not much has been said other than it will use Wii Motion Plus. Some artwork was shown as well hinting that maybe Links without a sword? Or does the mysterious figure standing in front of Link got something to do with it. Knowing Nintendo we won't see anything till next years E3. So until then let the big wait begin!

Hideo Kojima

Hey guys, Luke here. I'm not up so late this time but I'm still waiting and hopefully for the last time. I'm guessing it will be as it is E3 this week so they would announce it on the site first. Earlier today the rain stopped and it became sunny around about the time that Metal Gear Solid: Rising was shown for the Xbox 360. Could the sun be the Rising sun? Coincidence or will they announce MGS for the PSP? Or will it be something completely new? Furthermore in the background was an 8 or a B but so far no one knows. Ok so it is the day after but the news was Metal Gear Solid: Rising and The PSP exclusive Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. The teaser site was for E3 which began this week, and we will have full coverage of that on the weekend (5th - 7th).

That's all guys.
Play nice.

Ghost Squad

Hello, Callum here with a review of Ghost Squad. Now if you don't know what this game is and have never seen or played it before then i suggest you go and play it. It is a fabulous game.

It throws you straight into the game pretty much straight away, just click start and your shooting some random guys. There are three main levels to this game but after a while they all get repetitive, because they are the only three levels.

There is also the ability to level up your character, you can unlock new costumes and weapons so it gives you the chance to play looking like a panda. As you level up as well you also get to play each level differently for example you may be asked to deactivate a bomb, but when you level up you can leave that to your team and go down some stairs to take out some bad guys.

There is also a boss at the end of each level. Each boss requires you to use a different skill, like locking on, sniping and just heavily firing at them.

This is a very good game and pretty inexpensive as well and it isn't suprising as much of a good game as this is it is so repetitive and is just gets so boring after a while so yes it's worth getting it but it's just too boring in my opinion, if you're a fan of shooting games get this but maybe Call of Duty is more your thing.

Final verdict: C

Second Opinion

Yo Guys Josh here for a Second Opinion! Basically Ghost Squad for the Wii is the Arcade version BUT you have to unlock the other costumes and guns. It plays just like the Arcade version, it feels like the arcade version so if you like that then you'll love this! I am a big Ghost Squad fan and have put in so much money into the game Sega should really give me this for free.

Now when using the Wii controller its okay but it feels so much better with the Wii Zapper. It feels JUST like the arcade version. This game may only have three levels but in each level there are many different paths for you to take and although it may get repetitive after a while, there should still be enough to keep any trigger happy Wii owner enough to do. Not only that your scores our posted online so you can try and beat your friends others from around the world!

Picture from: http://jorpress.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/ghost_squad.jpg

Casual Hardcore Games?

Yo guys! I live in a household where I am the only true gamer. My Dad plays a few RTS and FPS games and that's about it. How much I try and educate my sister to play decent stuff, its hard (especially when my Aunt buys her games like Imagine: Pets!), but I do try and come half way with her and there's few games I can do that with. Some of these games are actually not bad. Mario Kart Wii for instance. It's not as good as say, Double Dash or MK DS but its still passable as a mad capped Nintendo racer. I think us as gamers need to be more open to the casual market. I am not saying buy Imagine: Dentist because we all know that's going to be bad but something like Peggle deserves you to at least look at it. Okay it has cartoon little characters and it actually uses bright colours but its still a good game!

What brought me on to do this is the arrogant people at my school who believe only Gears of War is the only good game in existence and don't realize how good some games can be e.g. Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts. I lent that game to Luke not so long ago and after that I haven't seen it since. Its been passed around all my friends as they all make stupid vehicles to pwn Grunty with. Sometimes people need to be a bit more open minded. So try a casual game today! You may actually enjoy yourself.

picture from: http://www.blogcdn.com/www.tuaw.com/media/2009/01/peggle-1.jpg

Hideo Kojima

Hey guys it is Luke here. Ok so it's about half 2AM on May 27th and i have just stayed up for the teaser timer on the Konami website to run out.I am going to keep this short as I'm incredibly tired but ,very excited about this so i thought I'd keep you guys posted. So this being the second time i have stay up for this, but did it disappoint me like last week. The answer being although disappointing at first, as i had to wait about half hour for the site to load once the timer had finished for updates and what not. I felt this sort made the whole thing anti-climatic. Then i nearly cried as the timer restarted so i watched for a bit and saw some new letters so i looked out for them to see if i could spell anything (hell i waited a long time may as well make it worth while). At that point i was scared half to death by something popping out at me I'm not going to spoil it for you, head on over to:
http://www.konami.jp/kojima_pro/next/index.html to see what it is. But it has basically announced a new metal gear solid game. So all in all it was well worth the sleep deprivation, but i still have to wait another 116 hours til the next one. Great. This is a very tired but happy Luke saying good night or good morning however you take it.

*SPOILER ALERT*

Hello, this is Jacob here. If you haven't looked at the page already but are going to then do not read this until after you've seen it or if you'd just like to know what it is without going on then i will tell you.
In the background there are several letters and numbers that appear which you could work out for yourself or go on a site like IGN/Gamespot where they would probably have the news posted. A man is also seen to appear on screen several times, most of you will probably be thinking that it's Solid Snake, but it's not Solid Snake. Any Metal Gear Solid fan that has played all if not most of the Metal Gear Solid games could tell that it is actually Naked Snake (Big Boss) who is the main protagonist of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. You can tell by his signature eye patch, and by this I am guessing that there is a new Metal Gear Solid on the way that will be mainly based on Naked Snake like Snake Eater. This is not 100% but this is just an opinion based on the hints given.

Teh gaming news Episode 7

Yo Guys! Its Josh and today I am announcing that we have a new team member! Marshy aka Luke will be covering Teh Gaming News from here on in. So without further ado. Over to Luke!

PS3 and Xbox 360 get new bundled consoles.

PlayStation 3 is to get a bundle console, which will be bundled with latest Sony's groundbreaking game Infamous .It is going to be a 80GB and will cost you £279.99 and will be released on the 29th of may. The Xbox 360 console has only been confirmed so far in Australia it will come packaged with both gears of war 1+2 and a red cardboard box. No one knows if it will be released in the EU or US yet so we will keep you posted.

New modern warfare two trailer

Modern warfare 2 (or call of duty 6) has a new trailer which is the first of the three to last more than 30 seconds or show a decent amount of gameplay. Furthermore the official site was launched complete with trailer.Also Infinity Ward also announced that over 13 million people have played on Call of Duty 4's multiplayer since release two years ago. But that is Xbox 360 figures alone. Also i have heard that there will be eleven story missions which is better than the last installment of the call of duty series. But it has been revealed that there will be 11 extra missions for co-op rumour or truth we'll have to wait and see. Games out 10 of November and don't forget to to check out the site and the the trailer here http://modernwarfare2.infinityward.com/

Square Enix is set to announce three new titles

This week Square Enix is set to announce three new titles , two of which are set to be multi-platform. There is no Square Enix press release so it will be pre-E3, but can these announcements be as good as Square's announcements last year when they revealed that FFXIII would be coming to the Xbox 360. There is only one way to find out and when we do we will post it up.

Hideo Kojima's next game teaser spoiled already

Hideo Kojima if you hadn't been following has a new game announced but no-one knows what. The site that has been set up seen here http://www.konami.jp/kojima_pro/next/index.html it has a basic timer and thunder in the background while what appears to be the letter S,E,Q, but in a Japanese magazine on the back cover the is a black box with a ? mark in it. One reader showed it to a webcam and it revealed what we believe to be one of the cardboard boxes in the popular game Metal Gear Solid with a ! mark above this box also on a different magazine there was another box which had a orange can with Metal Gear Solid bad guy Ocelot’s face stamped on the side. If the ad was not to be released yet is another story. If not heads will fly.

Games to become real in 15-20 years.

According to many sources that in nearly 10-15 years game will have achieved graphic realism. This report comes hours after another source say it will be nearly 20 years before we will able to smell games. So far many companies say there will be no stop to how real games could become even to overtake real life , not sure how it will but it apparently will. Epic engineer Tim Sweeney said "So we’ll certainly see that happen in our lifetimes; it’s just a result of Moore’s Law. Probably 10-15 years for that stuff, which isn’t far at all. Which is scary ". It is very scary as less than 10 years ago we thought square arms were as far a it would go .

And that is teh gaming news from Triforce Games newbie Luke.


Thanks Luke! Now before we go off to play more Halo I just thought I should mention to you guys that we have a new rating system coming in soon! Basically we will be giving 5 sections (Gameplay, Graphics and Presentation, Sound and Replay Value). Then an over-all score will be given. This score will not be determined by the other three scores seeing as a game can have brilliant graphics but be rubbish. This new scoring system should help add detail in what we think of the game. This system will come in place in June. If you prefer the old way please leave a comment!

That's all from us this month! See you guys in June!

Gaming Diary: Elder Scrolls: Oblivion

Yo guys! In this months Gaming Diary I'm talking about my adventures in Elder Scrolls: Oblivion.

My character is an Orc called Ghazghkull (which I totally didn't steal after flicking through the Warhammer 40k rule book). I made him your average Orc and I decided to act like one too. One of the first things I did was kill off a whole village and killed many guards. When I say 'killed' it was more like I ran away until they got killed by something and I finished them off (E.g. I was running away from one in a cave when he fell down into a spike pit.). If that wasn't happening I was usually being chased by angered horses that I hurt by accident.

After realizing I had caught 3 disease's, still only level 1 and having a bounty of 5000+. I thought it was about time to do some quests. So I joined The Dark Brotherhood. Which I really enjoyed. The fact there seemed to be many ways to kill one person was pretty cool. Although the one where you had to drop the mounted head onto the elf's head was hard. A lil tip: Go through the basement! I wish they had told me that back in The 'Hoods lair.

Which leads me neatly to what I love about this game the most. How you never know what's going to happen! This elf had a body guard of sorts who weld a big ass war hammer. I was under strict instructions by my employer to keep him alive or I wasn't going to get extra stuff. So after escaping without hurting him and protecting him from the guards (while he was chasing me of course) I thought I won't be seeing him again. How wrong I was. Later on, I was going to a little pub in Burma (I think) to sell some stolen goods. I walked into the pub when suddenly a big man stood up with a big hammer and ran at me and started to beat me up! I was like 'What have I done to deserve this!' Then I realized who it was! It was my old body guard 'friend'.

Stuff like this is what makes Oblivion a great game. The fact that you never know what's going to happen and its set in such an world it seems anything is possible. Now I know the PC version is much better so please excuse me that I'm playing the 360 version but my PC isn't up to much so this is the only way.

I will review the game... In a few years time when I feel I have got everything out of it!

picture from: http://digitalbattle.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/oblivion.jpg

Left 4 Dead Survival Mode

Hey guys, Mark here and today I shall be reviewing Left 4 Dead's new DLC. The best thing is that valve love us so much that we get it free. Now before you ask about the picture, I couldn't find any of the DLC but I'll look while I do the review just in case there are more =D

Basically the DLC is a new mode called survival where you must hold out for as long as you can with limited supplies against a never ending horde. This also contains all the special infected so expect a lot of teamwork protecting and being saved from the clutches of Hunters, Smokers and the general infected. The DLC has about 16 maps (can't say I've counted though) and most are sections from the campaign. There is also a "Last Stand" map where the players are in a lighthouse.

This mode is very addictive as you will often find yourself trying to beat your previous score, and it is really good to play with friends as well and tactics play a key role, for example you need to place fuel tanks where the zombies will be, and organize ammo runs when its hopefully safe. It can also be funny when the Tank spawns with his zombie buddies and beats the living hell outta your buddies.

Overall for free DLC the survival pack is a definite must have for any left 4 dead owner because it is different to the versus, and campaigns once you've done them, and is something different to play. It is great with the AI and with friends. Although I must say at time the AI can be very annoying. For example I had killed a lot of the zombies, then I slipped and fell off the roof (I needed a buddy to pull me up) and along comes Bill, who looks at me, helps me up then drops me and leaves me to get killed by the horde when he could have saved me. Damn it Bill!

Second Opinion

Yo guys its Josh! Not so long ago I went over to Marks and we played the Left 4 Dead survival DLC with are friend Bill via Xbox Live. Although your fellow survivors AI isn't up to much if you're playing with friends it can be a laugh watching the zombies mugging your AI companions. The best way to describe the DLC is to refer to the well known flash game Boxheads. Basically its you against a horde of never-ending zombies wanting your brains. Its important however to prepare booby traps for the zombies so you can set them on fire and what not. Although this will only give you a few extra seconds. The key to success is to find a place to camp that's near supplies but make sure the zombies can only get to from one area and be prepared. Unlike Mark and Bill when they camped in a room and the 50 odd zombies fell on them from the air duct! Stuff like that makes Valve games brilliant!

Picture From Sarcasticgamer.com