Belgians, Dutch jipped by Banjo, VP2 translations
From GAMER.tm: "Gamers in Belgium and Holland will be paying more than other European countries for Banjo Kazooie Nuts & Bolts and Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, due to the cost of translating both games."While both titles are widely expected to go on sale for around EUR 39 in most major markets, it seems that gamers in Holland and Belgium will be paying EUR 59 for Pinata 2 and Banjo Nuts & Bolts respectively.
"When asked by Dutch site Perfect-Rare why this was the case, a Microsoft Benelux spokesperson blamed the cost of translating both games and the relative size of both markets for the decision."
OXM Online: Tales of Vesperia Review
There's a point in nearly every JRPG when suddenly the entire world opens up and you're overwhelmed with an overabundance of side quests, mini-games, and new locations. We like to call this the "Airship GET!" moment. It's that "Aha!" when everything changes and the story takes a backseat to relentless plunder of goodies and secrets.About 25 to 30 hours into Namco Bandai's incredibly satisfying anime-styled romp, that Airship GET! moment occurs. The funny thing, though, is that as exhilarating as grabbing an airship is in Tales of Vesperia, you're still absolutely compelled to chase down the loose ends of the story. The credit goes to Vesperia's well-spun yarn about choice, responsibility, and the encroaching end of the world.
Pros:
* Pretty anime-style visuals.
* So many places to explore, mini-games to exploit, and things to do.
Cons:
* Spatial distance can be hard to judge in battle
Questionable:
* Why do you suck so hard at making curry, Yuri? Grrr!
Halo 3 Custom Racing Stage
Nothing short of incredible with what you can do with Bungie's Forge tool in Halo 3 on Xbox 360.Square Enix Plans To Take Over Tecmo
Today at 1pm Japan Time, Square Enix will be outlining its plans for a friendly takeover troubled game maker Tecmo. Square Enix's takeover would help the company gain a stronger foothold in the U.S. market with popular Tecmo titles like the Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive games. What's more, Tecmo's games will help strengthen Square Enix's current portfolio, which is heavily dependent on RPGs.This isn't the first time Square Enix has moved in on a beleaguered company. In August 2005, Square Enix acquired Taito and wholly owned the company as a subsidiary by September 2005.
Quantum of Solace Box Art Revealed
Activision released the new boxart today of Quantum Solace for all platforms. From the looks of it, the boxart could've been better… Now the real James Bond is in the boxart…Michael Phelps Has CoD: World At War And You Don’t
So what do you need to do to score a copy of Call of Duty: World at War from Activision two months early? Simple. Just dominate a sporting event on the global stage, bringing home a record-breaking 8 gold medals from the Olympics, and that baby is yours. This is a video from CBS's The Early Show, which shows U.S. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, otherwise known as The Seahorse, receiving a copy of the game for the PlayStation 3 at the end of the segment. Perhaps by the time the game comes out in November he'll actually have time to play it.AskMen: Infinite Undiscovery Review
From the review: "Square-Enix has a reputation of making great-looking games with phenomenal CG story elements. Don't expect that from Infinite Undiscovery. The traditional CG work is largely absent and the visuals, while certainly passable on Xbox 360, won't drop your jaw. The stars, at least visually, are the nice special effects that fly about from magic and special attacks. This makes for a pretty and almost blinding light show in most battles but also leads to many instances where the framerate slows to a crawl. And as more characters and enemiesclash on screen, things tend to get worse.Fortunately, you can play through this, as the majority of slowdown occurs during the animations for moves you've just executed.The music is a highlight, as there really isn't a bad piece that ever plays in the background. While the score won't be remembered among the greats in Square-Enix history, it's still very good. The voice acting offers only English dubbing, but the majority of characters are at least average in their delivery. There are only a few that truly stink. Oddly, there are some cut-scenes without any dubbing, and these can sometimes occur sandwiched between two dubbed pieces. I'd guess about 80% of the cut-scenes are dubbed, with the rest mysteriously (and seemingly randomly) lacking voices."
BioWare: The Pixar of Game Developers
This article details BioWare's meteoric rise to the top of the console RPG heap as they supplanted former genre mainstay Square-Enix. By drawing a parallel between the game and animation industries, the author describes how Western RPGs like Mass Effect eventually gained more mind-share than the Japanese juggernauts in this open love-letter to BioWare.Quote: "Bioware is in a good place. Recently being eaten up by Electronic Arts, they now have the unlimited resources that only EA can provide."