As you are all aware, I've been totally immersed in the PSN these past few weeks- trying out demos, buying small games and generally giggling over the back catalogue of retro games. The release of FF VII alone made me giggle with glee for weeks on end. And now I feel the Cheshire Cat-esque grin on my face has no chance of subsiding with the promise of another great classic game, one which sits close to the top of my all time favourite games list-
EARTHWORM JIM
I found this nugget of info on another gaming site- Gameloft has announced it will be delivering the classic platformer Earthworm Jim to digital distribution platforms and mobile phones. Originally released on 16-bit systems back in 1994, Earthworm Jim stars the titular invertebrate who wears a super suit which grants him the power to fight the evil forces of Queen Slug-for-a-Butt. It's not clear, yet, whether this is an all-new game or a straight port of the original. As of this writing, Gameloft could not be reached for clarification.
"The game, with its humorous and edgy style, is a great fit for today's gamer who craves a fully immersive experience that is fun and easily accessible," said Gonzague de Vallois, senior vice president, Gameloft.
"Earthworm Jim resonates with millions of people worldwide and we are excited to have one of the best developers in the industry create this game for a new audience," said Herve Caen, CEO, Interplay.
Interestingly, SEGA announced last week that the original Earthworm Jim is a candidate for the next SEGA Classics release on Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) and PlayStation Network.
When it comes to the PS3 Slim, everyone kind of feels like a mushroom. We're all just kept in the dark and fed shit. Everyone out there is well aware of he rumours surrounding the release, or even the production of, the PS3 slim. I'd put my money on Sony developing the PS3, even if it is quite soon for their track record- Although I would say that the PS3 slim that appeared in a German auction site is most definitely fake.
And with rumours comes cleverly photoshoped concept art.
There has been everything from quite simplistic, "thin, black" designs.
Fancy looking silver models (Basically the same, but in silver...)
And even a few "real pics" floating around.
All pretty bland and boring really. Just the basic PS3 model (which if I'm honest, I think looks lush!) and made a bit smaller. But now it seems people are taking things a bit further- making the PS3 Slim even sexier!
This newly surfaced concept art, whether they're fake or not, gives me hope for an even better looking PS3 Slim then we've previously been lead to believe. Although we're still unsure of Sony's exact take on the Slims release, or even production.
As regular readers may know, I have currently been neglecting all my real games on the PS3 (and for that matter, every other console) to focus on the cheaper things in life- Free demos from the PlayStation Store.
This is why I haven't been updating as much, as it turns out I may have taken on more than I could comfortably chew over a few days. As I type, I currently have 50 demos calling my console home, (with several more still to be installed) taking up almost 70gig on my hard drive!
But don't worry, I'm not exactly planning on writing a review on every single demo that plagues my big, black baby (the only one not currently owned by Madonna). Instead I'm simply going to write short reviews on the one's I currently recommend, explaining why they're worth while.
So until I finally finish plowing through them all I thought I'd treat you all with some of the demos that have caught my eye so far...
TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 10 NO MULTIPLAYER. As I'm not a golf fan, I had no interest in this game. I downloaded it but couldn't get into it. So I called for some help on this one and got my cousin to play it for me. Here are his thoughts (but written by me, so I take all the credit) Same as others, with some new features- one of which is a replay after a bad shot it cuts to your character getting angry. That's quite funny. (Actually that IS canny funny! The character tends to throw a hissy fit quite a lot!) If you're a fan of the others, you'll enjoy this demo. For non golf fans this may be harder to get into. (I agree- it bored the hell out of me)
NBA 2K9 MULTIPLAYER Good Graphics. Simplistic game play- easy to use. Maybe to simplistic. Good fun. Worth it to play with a mate. That's all I have to say on this really. Give it a go with a friend- scoring ridiculous shots is always great fun!
THE CLUB MULTIPLAYER I personally found it a little dull on single player, but when I forced my cousin to play it was so much better. This game (or at least the demo) isn't anything special, it's all been done before, many, many times over. But that doesn't stop it being fun! The multiplayer game available is split-screen "Hunter vs Hunted". The first person to kill is the hunter and constantly gets points until killed. Just simply running around an abandoned prison trying to kill your friend is heaps of fun. Give it a go, worth having to play with friends.
WANTED NO MULTIPLAYER Graphics are decent, but nothing special. But that doesn't matter too much when it come to something that costs diddly-squat. You play a fellow that is like an assassin from the film (to be honest, it could very well be the main character, but I didn't care enough to notice) and have to work your way from the cargo bay of an aeroplane to the cockpit- killing everything with a pulse on the way. Fun for a while, but nothing lasting that makes me want to buy the game. Give it a go.
GHOSTBUSTERS NO MULTIPLAYER I'd heard mixed reviews about this games, so downloaded it with plenty of cynicalskepticisms. Then I heard those wonderful voices, coupled with a very inviting sound track that simply suck me right back to my childhood. In the demo you are the 5th, new member of the team and join them to bust a ghost in the library. You use the equipment to track and hunt the unruly ghosts before blasting them with your giant lasers of awesome (as you'd expect really). What I didn't expect was the tension in the atmosphere of the game, causing me to freak out if even a book wobbled on a shelf! Coupled with the lovely tongue-and-cheek commentary of your fellow Ghostbusters over the radio. I didn't expect to like this demo as much as I did and I'm now seriously considering opening my cob-web riddled wallet and buying the full thing! (I can see online multiplayer being great fun) You really have to try this one.
RAGDOLLKUNGFU MULTIPLAYER (up to 4) I didn't exactly have high hopes for this one, but ended up having a lot of fun and giggling a fair bit! There are a few modes to play with- Training, Challenges, Battle and Multiplayer King of the Hill. This game is easily worth it for the multiplayer alone- me and a few friends played this over and over! A must have for people with friends. (Unless you hated Little Big Planet, Enter the Dragon and Team America)
1942 JOINT STRIKE MULTIPLAYER This is simply an old-skool flying shooter. Bad guys come from the top, you (and your mate) and at the bottom. Shooting up. At the bad guys. Throw in a few power ups, special moves, ridiculous amounts of bad guys and a few bosses and this turns into a really fun little game. I can see the appeal wearing off after a while without buying the full game, but it's a good game to try out with a friend for an hour.
ECHOCHROME NO MULTIPLAYER I first saw this little genius of a game on a friends PSP. It's another game with an incredibly simplistic idea behind it with leads to very ingenious and complex puzzles to solve. The idea is to move the world around to ensure the little man walks to his destination safely. If there is a hole in the path you simply move the view around so that it is covered by a wall- out of sight, out of mind- and the man walks straight over it. Definitely needs to be played to be appreciated.
There. That's your lot for now. I haven't included the games that I hated or lost interest in instantly, but if people would also like to know which demos to avoid (if so, either leave a comment below, send me an email or TWITTER me) then I can write that up in the next installment.
There are other demos I am playing and enjoying that I haven't written up yet because some of these gems deserve much more time on them before I can so a decent, more detailed write up. Others I just simply haven't got around to playing yet (I think "Call of Juarez" is up next!) but will be written up next time.
Any suggestions for demos that you recommend I play, please feel free to write your suggestion on a rock and hurl it through my window.
The team at Zipper and SCEA are happy to announce that MAG will hit North American retailers on January 26th, 2010.I would expect MAG to release on the 29th in Europe as that’s a Friday.The release date had been rumoured of late to be sometime in early 2010 instead of the first thought fall 2009 release date.
You may of heard by now that the MAG beta is under way and emails are being sent out in the US to register to be invited to the beta, if you have not received a email don’t worry they will be sent out in waves just like the Home emails were. While here in Europe it’s been announced that only beta testers will be invited at the moment.With the game coming out in January of 2010, it should be more then enough time to sort out all the problems that may arise in the beta, and hopefully more people will be invited from the non beta/Gap testers as the game will need a lot of players to really test out those 256 player servers.
If you have not received an email yet and would like a chance to be in the beta the only thing i can suggest is try to be active on the MAG forums and if its anything like the Home invites, try to be active on your PS3 otherwise why would they invite someone who only plays their PS3 a few hours a month.
