The very first time I laid my eyes on Final Fantasy Tactics was way back in the day for the original Playstation or PSOne, and now finally being able to see it again on the iOS I get a huge sense of nostalgia. The renewed Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions has got a facelift and some added functionality this time around. Players will be able to pinch and zoom, rotate the map for a new angle, loading times a much faster, and some cut scenes can be skipped. The portable FF: Tactics is about a 500mb download priced at $15.99 and is currently out for the iOS systems and will be out for iPad later on this month.
Final Fantasy Tactics Out On iOS
Diablo 3 To Have Real Money Trading Auction House Transactions
Diablo 3 will have tons of new surprises laying in wait for players, and one big one will be Auction House transactions using real life money. Yes, you heard me correctly. Real money can be used in transactions at the auction house. There will be two different auctions houses available, one for normal in game gold transactions, and the other with real life money transactions. Players will have the ability to post items from different regions of different countries to regions other than their own. Since currency differs from all over the world, the transaction will reflect the exchange rate between each of the two different countries. The money transactions will be set up between player to player through Battle.net accounts. When items are put up, and when items are sold each transaction will have a set fee that will go towards Blizzard. Blizzard seems to have their heads on straight and looking to take a piece of the pie away from item and gold farmers by putting in a fee.
XCM Announces XFPS Rateup Adapter II Advanced for PlayStation 3
XCM has announced a new update to their XFPS Rateup Adapter for the PlayStation 3. XFPS Rateup Adapter II Advanced is the same as its predecessor but now comes with a mouse.
- Comes with XCM brand high-sensitivity precision mouse
- Compatible with all PS3 games
- Compatible with all versions of PS3/PS3 Slim (NTSC/US, PAL, NTSC/JAP)
- Can map the controller button keys to any key of the Keyboard
- Compatible with 95% of different kinds of mouse and keyboard.
- High sensitivity, precision and smoothness.
- Can adjust the mouse sensitivity from 2 extra wheels with 16 levels of adjustment for X and Y sensitivity to adapt perfectly to every mice.
- Built-in Turbo (Auto Fire) functionality. Independent Auto fire buttons: Eight customizable auto-fire buttons (no soldering required)
- Plug & Play – Just connect the XFPS RATEUP II Advanced to PS3/PS3 Slim (NO PC required).
- Ease of use: Just use the original PS3 controller to re-map itself to the keyboard.
- Both controller analog stick keys can also be mapped to the keyboard.
You can purchase this from Play-Asia and Amazon when it is released. No word on release date or price.
SW:TOR Breaks EA Preorder Record
Electronic Arts had plenty to boast about during their preliminary financial results report for the first quarter of 2011. Since Battlefield 3 pre-order sales are up 10% over it’s predecessor. The company was bolstered by top performing games like Portal 2, Crysis 2, FIFA 11, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12.  What may have come as a big surprise for investors was news that Star Wars: The Old Republic broke the already high record set by Battlefield 3 for pre-orders. Within the first 24 hours of pre-orders going live, the $150 Collector’s Edition sold out at EA’s own store, Origin.
Star Wars: The Old Republic is an MMORPG developed by Bioware and LucasArts, slated to release for North America and Europe Holiday 2011
Source: http://investor.ea.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=594196
3DS Prices Drop!
Nintendo is feeling the hurt with the limited amounts of 3DS handhelds being bought. To try to cut down on their losses Nintendo has decided to cut the price of the 3DS systems about 30 percent, bringing the the system down to around $170 come August 12. Does this sound familiar? Playstation 3 perhaps? This could possibly a reason to cut losses or it could be a great marketing play for Nintendo, since the window for the Vita’s release is coming up. Many of the early adopters of the 3DS need not worry about being ripped off. People who own a 3DS and connect to the eShop before August 11, 11:59pm will be automatically enrolled into the Nintendo Ambassador Program. What is it you ask? Basically it gives early investors the access to play free games, access to 10 free NES Virtual Console games on September 1 before their general release (these include The Legend of Zelda, Balloon Fight and Ice Climber), along with 10 more Game Boy Advance Virtual Console games like Yoshi’s Island, Super Mario Advance 3, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames and Mario vs. Donkey Kong by the end of 2011. Guess I’ll be picking up a 3DS come August 12.
Best…Stop?
It seems as though Best Buy is taking initiative in trying to become a top contender in the gaming industry. Beginning September 12, Best Buy is changing the way their rewards system functions. Best Buy will begin offering subscriptions to their magazine, @Gamer for $14.99/year which allows customers to be a part of the “Gamers Club Unlocked.” Being part of the “Gamers Club Unlocked” yields the purchaser a one year subscription to the magazine, double points on new software or accessory purchases, along with:
• 10% off all pre-owned software purchases
• 10% bonus credit on trade-in software
• Reward Zone Gamers Club exclusive offers
This all sounds eerily familiar, GameStop, anyone?
There has been a bit of a backlash in the forum community when it comes to the details disclosed as of late. The current rewards program Best Buy runs allows customers to enjoy a 500 point bonus whenever they spend $150 on games or game-related items. 500 bonus points, in addition to the 10 point-per-dollar they already receive gives them 650 points. With the new system, there is no telling whether or not they will continue giving out bonuses thus changing a $150 purchase, for example, from 650 points, to 150 or 300 points (strictly dependent on what you buy). Hardware purchases have been counting as double points since June 1 and it seems it will stop counting as double come September.
My guess is that customers should get their bonus points while they can, there’s no telling if the bonus will remain after September 12.
Pulled from the email:
The game is changing. New benefits. New rewards. It’s a whole new way to play the game.
Reward Zone® Gamers Club is leveling up. On September 12, 2011, you will begin earning double points on new game software, including digital content and accessories purchases. Plus, for $14.99 per year, you can join the optional paid level—Gamers Club Unlocked—where you’ll enjoy access to even greater benefits: REWARD ZONE GAMERS CLUBBetween now and September 11, 2011, you will continue to earn 500 bonus points for every $150 you spend on video games, PC games and video game accessories at Best Buy® stores or BestBuy.com®.
Then on September 12, 2011, you’ll automatically be part of the new Reward Zone Gamers Club. And you’ll have the opportunity to visit a Best Buy store and ‘level up’ to Reward Zone Gamers Club Unlocked. And because you’ve been a loyal Gamers Club member, we want to give you a preview of the new club. So going back to June 1, 2011, you’ll also earn double points on all new software and accessories purchases.
All this plus the Reward Zone points you earn every day for nearly all your Best Buy purchases, including gaming hardware. For the latest Reward Zone Gamers Club information, visit MyRZ.com.
The Humble Indie Bundle is Back!
Twice before the Humble Indie Bundle has released with a great selection of games available at a reasonable price. Why is the price reasonable? Because the person who purchases the game bundle is allowed to choose how much or how little they wish to pay for the package of games. This time around, the bundle is including Crayon Physics Deluxe, Cogs, VVVVVV 2.0, Hammerfight, and And Yet It Moves.
After buying the games, the purchaser decides how they would like the money to be split. The money can be given to developers, the Education First Foundation, the Child’s Play charity, a tip to Humble Bundle, Inc, or any combination of the aforementioned. After buying the games, they can be downloaded as many times as you wish, but normally on any given computer (PC and Mac included), once is more than enough times to download each game. As always, be generous as this is a charitable experience
Battlefield 3’s Weapon Customization
Are you just as eager as the hundreds who have pre-ordered the game to see what Battlefield 3 will look like in its final stage? Or are you in the on the other side waiting to see it fail because you prefer Call of Duty? Either way you put it, the Battlefield 3 Alpha has been released and from the looks of it, weapon customization is going to be at its peak in the Battlefield series.
As you notice from the picture above, trees are knocked down. That’s because the game uses real physics. If you throw a grenade in between three helpless trees. What happens next? The trees fall after the grenade discharges. If the grenade is too far away from the tree to knock it down, you can see the trees sway from the shock wave from the blast. That right there is only scratching the surface as to what the collapsible environment will look like. Also noticeable from the picture below is the laser dot attachment. If you place a red dot scope and laser dot mount on a gun, the laser will be visible wherever the gun is pointed to even if when you are running and the gun is swaying all around.
The game is currently in alpha, and yet it is still very beautiful, but that’s not all it has to offer. D.I.C.E. has really been working hard to get the sound right as well. There is a distinct difference in sound for what different guns sound like in different indoor and outdoor environments. Sounds will play an important role in combat, and most likely can be used as an advantage. From the looks of the Alpha, it seems as though Battlefield will once again be a big Call of Duty contender, but one thing is for sure though… It will still have drivers who get stuck on objects while driving in the middle of no where.
Norway Killer Used MW2 for “Training”
Anders Behring Breivik, has been been arrested, for being the suspect of killing of 93 innocent civilians in Norway last week. Anders wrote in his manifesto about his “training program” which included consisted of using Modern Warfare 2 for strategy, and World of Warcraft as an alibi for loaner behavior. Meaning being locked in your room for extended periods of time, and not answering any calls or messages. Not only has he killed people and forever ruined countless lives, now he has further bastardized the topic of video games leading to violence, and put it as a topic the media and government set their sights on.
[Source IGN]
Dead Island Hits (Playstation) Home
Deep Silver and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe announced today that the lovely dead heads of Dead Island are coming Home to roost. Come early September before Dead Island is released Playstation Home will become infested with zombies. What was once a peaceful Home square, will soon become the Royal Palms Resort. With the integration of the resort into Home, there will also be 10 mini games and challenges available throughout the weeks to win trophies and unlockables. The mini games will be similar to the real game itself. Players will need to craft items, and work with up to three other players to survive. Players who part take in the zombie infested home will be able to earn limited items for their Home avatar. Also players who complete all 10 mini games and finish will be awarded with an exclusive in game weapon called “Explosive Meat”. Let’s try to keep the chuckles down as you start the long list of “I just gave that zombie some of my exploding meat” lines.
