Lessons in life, brought to you by Prince of Persia
They’re more than just games, apparently they’re also sources of epiphanies and life lessons. Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia (DS) producer Ben Mattes and level designer Michael Mcintyre don’t want their games to be just games - they also want gamers to pause and reflect as they play.

“I think one of the things we really want people to take away from this game is that there’s more to it than meets the eye,” said Matters. When we take bad guys down, he’d want us to think about how corruption affects us. When we save the world, what does it mean to us? When this noble savage helps the guardian of light, what does this represent?

While that’s what they would prefer, Mattes also said is alright if you don’t. In fact, he cites The Simpsons as an example - you can laugh along to it, and you’re not required to process any more than that. “We’re really conscious of not hitting the player over the head with a sledgehammer about that kind of stuff, maybe they’ll get it, maybe they won’t,” he said.

I think what’s kind of neat is that you don’t have to care about that, and you don’t have to get that, and you can still have lots of fun. But if you do get it, maybe, just maybe, you’ll ask yourself a question about your own life after having played this game and feel like you’ve learned something. Maybe. And if you have, I think we can pat ourselves on the back as developers by saying we’ve allowed people to grow just a little bit — just a little bit — as humans solely through entertaining them. Not many mediums can do that.

They don’t want to reveal exactly what they have in store so that players won’t be on the lookout for anything in particular. In fact, they’d prefer that gamers come up with their own theories about what the devs are sending across.

They do have a point. Plus it’s extra satisfying to play a game knowing it made you think, at least for some of us. But it’s also fair to those who prefer to just aim and shoot to not require for them to enjoy the game. This is one of the reasons some people didn’t like Xenogears back in the PS One. Some found that it’s too much to process, and it dragged the game between long intervals of long processing and not fighting.

• Prince of Persia: full trophy list
• Taking action: Prince of Persia Glorious Gameplay Trailer

Buy: Prince of Persia [(PC)]

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Dead Space release dates moved up again
Here’s something that doesn’t happen everyday. A game’s about to be released earlier than expected! Imagine that! It is possible after all! Electronic Arts‘ Dead Space was originally tagged with an October 31st release date, but now it’s been moved up a week early.

The console versions for PC version, meanwhile, also gets bumped up the calendar with an October 20 launch. This is the second time the release dates for Dead Space were moved up. That’s a nice way to get your treats early for Halloween.

• Peek-a-boo: Dead Space gets pre-Halloween release

Buy: [Dead Space (Xbox 360)]
Buy: [Dead Space (PS3)]

Source: pc.qj.net

The official press release which confirms MGS 4 PS3 bundle

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Tags: sony ps3, xbox 360 vs ps3, xbox 360 cheats, nintendo wii consoles, ps3 cheats

Burnout Paradise Legendary Cars Pack - Remaining Cars Unveiled
Wow! We got an immense response to our recent unveiling of the 88 Special – an incredible hovering car! But, the 88 Special is just a one quarter of our forthcoming Legendary Cars pack. Now it’s time to show you the 3 remaining cars. We’re keeping things pretty much under wraps on these vehicles for […]

Wow! We got an immense response to our recent unveiling of the 88 Special – an incredible hovering car!

But, the 88 Special is just a one quarter of our forthcoming Legendary Cars pack. Now it’s time to show you the 3 remaining cars.

We’re keeping things pretty much under wraps on these vehicles for the moment. After all, we’ve got a ton of exciting content arriving at the beginning of Feb to tell you about first. But before we get into that, we couldn’t resist bringing you the first images of these spectacular vehicles.

Boostin’ makes me feel good!
First up the Manhattan Spirit. Not the fastest car in Paradise City, but this reimagining of Burnout Paradise’s Hunter Manhattan should keep the spirits at bay.

Fans of the original will know that this underused beauty is great for stunts. This customized special version is even better, but like all the Legendary Cars, this has a trick up its sleeve – hit L3 and boost to find out what it does.

This car does not exist
This is the Carson Nighthawk. Denied by the government and disowned by Carson, this ultra rare version of the Carson GT is the ultimate super pursuit vehicle!

The custom lighting array triggered by boost makes this the most distinctive-looking vehicle for night time events in the dangerous world of Paradise City.

One for the good ole boys
And finally, the Cavalry Bootlegger. Branded with the Mexican flag and tagged as a tribute to The Chicanator, one of our big-time Mexican Burnout fans, this is a classic modified Hunter Cavalry.

Hit a massive jump and press L3 to sound the incredible horn – it’s one of the defining moments in Paradise City.

Also available in orange.

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Tags: console nintendo wii, xbox 360 walkthroughs, sony ps3, xbox 360 cheats, guitar hero wii

Sony gives gamers community websites

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Tags: wii game console, nintendo wii bundle, xbox 360 cheats, nintendo wii, cheat codes

Harmonix: Guitar Hero music studio too restricting

During a recent press event, Dan Teasdale, the lead designer for Rock Band 2 (Wii, PS2), was asked about the music studio feature included with Guitar Hero: World Tour (PS3, and Wii):

We’ve dabbled around with stuff like that before, with Frequency and Amplitude, and we learned a lot of lessons from it, the main one is that you can’t do it half-arsed. If you want to do a way to let players create and distribute music, you have to go all-in - not just do it as a bullet on the back of a box.

He declared that his plans for the Rock Band franchise aims at making music sharing “an authentic experience.” While he wants people to be able to freely create music and express themselves, he also wanted to be sure that the same people know what they’re doing and not be tied to some “dodgy sample.”

That sounds like a challenge, Mister Teasdale.

Now, normally I’d have a thing or two to say about being so critical about a feature that you’ve yet to put in your game but with “Cerulean City” from Pokemon once enjoying the top spot in Guitar Hero: World Tour’s top 50 custom songs list… I think I’ll keep my peace for now.

• Viacom will pay huge bonus to Harmonix’s Rock Band creators
• Foo Fighters DLC available for Rock Band on November 11

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Microsoft find gamesave tampering solution

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Microsoft withdraws from HD DVD, no longer making HD DVD add on

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Tags: wii virtual console games, wii games, xbox 360 cheats, ps3 cheat, nintendo wii

The Many Wii Wheel Prototypes

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New PlayStation.Blog Features On The Way
Here at PlayStation.Blog, we’re always looking to improve your user experience. I’m happy to announce that two often-requested features are nearly ready to be implemented: PSN sign-in and author comment-reply indicator. The latter will be activated tomorrow morning (Pacific time). Whenever one of our authors replies to one of your comments, it’ll be indicated below the […]

Here at PlayStation.Blog, we’re always looking to improve your user experience. I’m happy to announce that two often-requested features are nearly ready to be implemented: PSN sign-in and author comment-reply indicator.

The latter will be activated tomorrow morning (Pacific time). Whenever one of our authors replies to one of your comments, it’ll be indicated below the post. Clicking on this link will take you to the first reply in the comments list. This feature has been asked for by many of you over the last year or so, and I’m glad that our dev team was able to accommodate.

The other feature, PSN sign-in, is a significant and important step in the evolution of the PlayStation.Blog. Because we want all of you to continue to communicate via comments, we’re not launching the feature quite yet, but consider this your metaphorical 2-minute Warning. If you don’t already have a PSN ID - now’s the time. It’s free, it’s useful, and it not only will work here, but across PS.com, as well as on the PLAYSTATION 3 and PSP.

If, and we know this applies to the vast majority of you, you’ve already got a PSN ID, the migration process is super easy. When the time comes (we’ll let you know), you’ll you’ll be prompted to merge your blog account with your existing PSN ID. It’s just that easy, and you’ll only have to do it once.

We believe this will contribute to a better community experience, and better, more targeted discussion here on the Blog. It also lays the groundwork for further enhancement to your user experience. When we’re ready to roll-out the PSN sign-on we’ll post a mini-FAQ to cover any questions you might have.

We hope you enjoy these new features - please let us know what you think!

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Sony: Developers porting games down to Xbox 360 from PS3 to look better

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Tags: nintendo wii in stock, ps3, wii systems, xbox 360 bundles, wii locate

Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time to get movies and games
There’s no exchange for the love of a fanboy. This news just made my day. I am stoked. Stoked!

The Red Eagle Entertainment film studio is starting up a new video game publishing studio called Red Eagle Games, specifically to make games based on Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series.

The news just keeps getting better. They’re also planning to release the games to coincide with the release of Wheel of Time movies. The first movie, based on “The Eye of the World” is already in the works. It was leaked that Universal Pictures will be making the movie. They plan to make at least three, depending on how well the first one does in the box office.

They plan to release the games on all major platforms, even PCs, handhelds, and mobiles. Red Eagle is also planning to make an MMO as well.

Games based on other media tend to be on the sucky side, so I’m worried they might muck it up, especially if they plan to do it with a start-up company. But still. Stoked!

• Eragon Announced for All Consoles!

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Concept art for canceled Legacy of Kain sequel surface

Kain and Raziel of Legacy of Kain fame haven’t shown themselves since Defiance on the PS2, Xbox, and PC. From what I gather, there’s one more game that’s promised to conclude the storyline… which brings us to some good news and bad news.

The good news is a sequel’s been in development for some time now. The bad news is… well, it was in development for some time now.

Mmm hmm, if you haven’t heard yet, the sequel’s been canceled by Crystal Dynamics, and the only thing to show for it are a handful of concept art from one Aaron Hausmann’s online portfolio. From what it looks like, the graphic renders seem to be taking from the same post-gen Defiance engine.

I’m not an absolute Kain fan myself; the only one which I got to play (and thoroughly enjoyed, mind you) was Soul Reaver on the PSOne. I think it’s high time we see some next-gen love from the blood-suckers though. Cross your fingers that someone picks up the rights to make this game happen in the near future!

If you want to see more of Hausmann’s art work (he’s also done projects for Medal of Honor: Airborne, Luxor, and Sin: Emergence, among others), you can check his online portfolio via the source link below.

• Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and Pandemonium rated by ESRB, coming to PSN?

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PlayStation Store Update
Hey, everyone. It’s time again for the weekly PlayStation Store update. Qore Qore Episode 08: January, 2009 ($2.99) Episode 08 of Qore: Presented by the PlayStation Network travels to the Netherlands to go inside Guerrilla and get an exclusive look at one of the new year’s most anticipated games, Killzone 2. File size: 1377 MB (HD) Price Update Mercenaries 2: World […]

Hey, everyone. It’s time again for the weekly PlayStation Store update.

Qore

Qore Episode 08: January, 2009 ($2.99)
Episode 08 of Qore: Presented by the PlayStation Network travels to the Netherlands to go inside Guerrilla and get an exclusive look at one of the new year’s most anticipated games, Killzone 2.
File size: 1377 MB (HD)

Price Update

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames - Blow It Up Again DLC Pack ($1.99)

Rock Band tracks: “Are You Dead Yet,” “Hay Poco Rock n Roll,” “Ready, Set, Go!”, “The Real World,” “Tempted,” “Tutto E Possible” ($1.99)

Downloadable Games

Cuboid ($9.99)
A stunning 3D puzzle game in which players navigate ancient ruins and lush environments, maneuvering a rectangular block through mystical exits. Cuboid’s 66 twisted levels will bend your mind with their addictive puzzles, and engage the senses with amazing graphics and soothing music, immersing you in a surrealistic puzzle world.
ESRB Rated E
File size: 102 MB

Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom ($9.99)
The classic game comes to the PlayStation Network, combining the hottest features of Mahjong into a single game featuring a narrated story mode that whisks players away into a storybook adventure, revealing hand-illustrated ancient Chinese tales. Mahjong Tales delivers multiple game modes and features trophy support.
ESRB Rated E
File size: 262 MB

Add-on Game Content

NARUTO: Ultimate Ninja STORM Pack 6 (free)
Download Storm Pack 6 and unleash legendary ninja Anko as your support character in battle. The Storm Pack 6 also contains new Ultimate Mission to engage!
File size: 100 KB

Tom Clancy’s EndWar Faction Elite Pack ($3.75)
Unlock the 3 most elite battalions and some of the most advanced unit upgrades of Tom Clancy’s EndWar. Exclusive battalions include the legendary JSF 15th Special Operations, Spetsnaz Alpha Brigade, and Enforcer Corps Battlegroup 1. This download also grants immediate access to 6 exclusive unit upgrades (2 per faction).
File size: 194 KB

WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 Roster Update ($4.99)
Four New Superstars and Six Alternate Costumes! Download this pack and play as WWE Superstars Evan Bourne, Ted DiBiase, Super Crazy and Charlie Haas. Also includes a masked version of Kane, Kelly Kelly and Maria in Mrs. Claus outfits and alternate attire for Chris Jericho, MVP, Edge, Rey Mysterio. For song credits, please visit http://www.thq.com/svr2009.
File size: 627 MB

Guitar Hero World Tour
For all song credits please visit www.guitarhero.com

• “Por La Boca Vive El Pez” by Fito & Fitipaldis ($1.99)
• “Johnny” by Di-Rect ($1.99)
• “Degenerated” by Backyard Babies ($1.99)
• European Track Pack 02 ($5.49) - Downloadable Track Pack for Guitar Hero World Tour featuring “Johnny” by Di-Rect, “Por La Boca Vive El Pez” by Fito & Fitipaldis, and “Degenerated” by Backyard Babies. Please Note: Many songs are available both as singles and as part of a Track Pack, so please carefully consider your purchases before downloading.

File sizes: 27 MB - 43 MB (singles), 104 MB (track pack)

Rock Band
Build your Rock Band library by purchasing these song game tracks. For song credits, visit www.RockBand.com.

• “Hymn 43″ - Jethro Tull ($1.99)
• “Space Truckin’” - Deep Purple ($1.99)
• “Funk #49″ - James Gang ($1.99)
• “Take Back the City” - Snow Patrol ($1.99)

File sizes: 18 MB - 38 MB (singles)

Rock Revolution
For music credits, visit the Rock Revolution section of www.konami.com.

• “Cemetery Gates” ($1.50)
• “Mouth For War” ($1.50)
• “This Love” ($1.50)
• “5 Minutes Alone” ($1.50)
• “I’m Broken″ ($1.50)
• Pantera Pack Track Pack ($5.50) - The “Pantera Pack” includes cover versions of “Cemetery Gates”, “Mouth for War”, “This Love”, “5 Minutes Alone”, and “I’m Broken” made famous by Pantera. Expand your Rock Revolution track library by purchasing this track pack.

File sizes: 33 MB - 55 MB (singles) 212 MB (track pack)

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Tags: nintendo wii system, xbox 360 cheats, ps3 themes, wii cheats, ps3 cheat

Bruce Springsteen tracks free for download at Amazon
In line with the January 27 release of his “Working on a Dream” album, Bruce Springsteen hands out free downloads for your music player and your Guitar Hero: World Tour (PS3, Wii) through Amazon. More tracks yet again for Guitar Hero, they just keep coming don’t they?

The third single from that project, Life Itself, is already up in Amazon for free, and it comes with a new video. Now it joins My Lucky Day, which was already available.

My Lucky Day and Born To Run will be free downloads for Guitar Hero: World Tour from the day ol’ Bruce releases his new album up until February 4th, after which, the songs will get a two-dollar price tag.

• Nyko announces new heavy-duty drum metal replacement for Rock Band, Guitar Hero: World Tour
• Business Opportunity: GH World Tour band kit resale value over US 275
  

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Tags: cheat codes, nintendo wii, wii remote, nintendo wii bundle, wii for sale

New details on warranty firms 16.4% Xbox failure rate figure

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Xbox Australia confirms Xbox 360 price cut across all SKUs

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Tags: xbox 360 elite, wii release date, wii price, video game, xbox 360

Handheld Game of the Year
Gino D:

Best Handheld Game: God of War: Chains of Olympus

Runner’s Up: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Professor Layton and the Curious Village

Comments: If only they released the North American version this year, “Best Handheld Game” would have easily gone to Dissidia (which probably won’t be surprising to most of you QJ regular readers). GoW Chains is my vote for 2008 though, with Crisis Core and a very “opposite end of the spectrum” Professor Layton following right behind.

Best Handheld Game: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift

Runner’s Up: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Professor Layton and the Curious Village

Comments: A DS game over Crisis Core?! Do I want to lose all my credibility as a gamer? Well I’m still playing Grimoire, and Crisis is gathering dust, so I’d say my money was better spent there. They’re both Squeenix anyway.

Best Handheld Game: God of War: Chains of Olympus

Runner’s Up: Loco Roco 2

Comments: Ancient body paint’s never been this hot, thanks to the unbelievable graphics Ready at Dawn managed with God of War. Definitely a shining light in a year where PSP software’s struggling in quality population. Loco Roco 2 because a) they’re cute, b) it’s not just stupid, mindless fun, c) it makes time fly by so fast I quickly find myself having only two hours left for sleep before I drag myself back to the office. That’s when you know a game really is effective at dishing out the fun factor.

Best Handheld Game: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

Runner’s Up: God of War: Chains of Olympus, Wild Arms XF

Comments: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - Beautiful graphics, tight gameplay, and a story that still manages to elicit emotions even when you know damn well how it’s gonna end.

Seriously, the last battle (not the last boss fight) brought tears to my eyes.

God of War: Chains of Olympus - Graphically speaking, it’s kind of hard to believe that this is a PSP game. The tight control scheme adds to the enjoyment even though the enemies do get a bit repetitive at times. Hey Ready At Dawn, come back to PSP development please!
Wild Arms XF - This game got a lot of flak for a lot of things (story, sound, the way all your equips get wiped once you change job classes or when a party member leaves and then comes back), but for me, this game defined PSP strategy gaming in 2008. The hex-based system is a welcome addition and the different objectives instead of the usual “kill all enemies” is a godsend.

Best Handheld Game: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

Runner’s Up: God of War: Chains of Olympus

Comments: - The pieces of the story come together, and Crisis Core turns a tiny optional story scene in FF7 into a PSP classic.. people just had to get a PSP for this, if they were expecting it to come out on consoles.. it’d be worth buying a PSP just for this game..
- who can say no to kratos? He tops the 3rd person adventure game genre with his brutal hack-and-slash and bloodbaths.. this is the kind of game that you turn on in the day, then look up from your PSP utterly surprised that the sun has set..

Chris C:

Best Handheld Game: God of War: Chains of Olympus

Runner’s Up: Super Stardust HD, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

Comments: Confession time, I never really liked the original God of War… it was alright. And then God of War II hooked me, easily one of the best games on the PS2. Would Chains of Olympus live up to it? Easily, Ready at Dawn pulled it off and made it look like an effortless task. It’s a shame their PSP development games are behind them, because they were the best in the biz.

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Tags: nintendo wii, ps3 cheats, wii bundle, wii finder, wii guitar hero

Xbox 360 - Game of the Year
Gino D:

Best 360 Game: Gears of War 2

Runner’s Up: Fable 2, Left 4 Dead

Comments: GoW2 is everything GoW was, only bigger, better, and damn - the Lancer still takes the damn cake. Wish I could say Left 4 Dead was better (I’m a zombie fan, so there!), but it’s still GoW2, hands down.

Best 360 Game: Grand Theft Auto IV

Runner’s Up: Bully: Scholarship Edition, Ninja Gaiden II

Comments: Two words. Downloadable content.

Best 360 Game: Gears of War 2

Runner’s Up: Fallout 3, Fable 2

Best 360 Game: Gears of War 2

Runner’s Up: Left 4 Dead, Fable 2

Comments: Gears of War 2 - One word, folks: Horde!

Left 4 Dead - Left 4 Dead is the first and last word in co-op shooters. The fact that it so perfectly captures the feel of a zombie movie is an added bonus.

Fable 2 - The amount of things you can do in this game is just sick. The good kind of sick, that is.

Best 360 Game: Left 4 Dead

Runner’s Up: Gears of War 2, Fable II

Comments: - It’s dawn of the not-so-dead with the adrenaline jolt of being swarmed by fast-moving zombies.. fun to play alone, hilarious when you’ve got friends over. They can all talk about gears of war all they want, but that game didn’t even excel its predecessor… it’s a great game, but it won’t be my #1 Xbox 360 title…

Fable II puts the role in role-playing game.. character morphing, responsive environments, and allowing the player to play a more active role in how events unfold is a very welcome concept.. unfortunately, the stiff graphics that fall out of place in Xbox 360 pull it down hard..

Chris C:

Best 360 Game: Fallout 3

Runner’s Up: Burnout Paradise, Gears of War II

Comments: Those of you who’ve been around long enough might remember a little rant I went on a few years back bemoaning the lack of evolution in the modern RPG. It goes to show you just how much I respect the work put into Fallout 3 by the folks at Bethesda. You can’t ignore the game’s faults, and there are many, but the sheer amount of content, freedom of choice, the fact that there truly are repercussions for your actions makes this my absolute favorite game of the year.

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Tags: nintendo wii consoles, wii system, xbo 360 games, ps3 games, guitar hero iii for wii