Ragnar’s Realms

Today,  

Filed under: Peripherals

There are a lot of little things we can do to help the environment. One, for example, is switching over to solar energy. Solar powered batteries seem like an ideal companion for the PSP. Just set up a charger somewhere in or near your home that gets plenty of sunlight. Take your PSP out during the day, and when you come back, you’ll have a fully charged PSP battery at your disposal — all with no impact on the environment.

Unfortunately, there aren’t too many options for those interested in getting a solar powered battery for their PSPs. At least, not yet. The best one we discovered is the Solio Universal Solar Charger. Currently retailing for $100, it can be a bit pricey. It’s high-tech stuff that’ll not only work with your PSP, but also work with your iPod, cell phone, and more. According to a Solio representative, the product may be expanding to GameStop stores next year, as they’re looking forward to reaching the lucrative gaming market. We’re getting a hands-on with the product soon — stay tuned.

Another alternative includes the Solar Charger by Logic3. Or, you could just build your own battery …


PSP Fanboy is a proud participant of Blog Action Day. Today, we’re joining the thousands of blogs around the world to speak about one issue that’s important to us all - the environment. To read up on other things you can do, check out our friends at GreenDaily.

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Today,  

Filed under: Hunter, Patches

For those of us with hunters that aren’t quite up to max level as of yet — and I include myself here — there is good news in store as well. There are several new pets available in Dustwallow Marsh, namely the Noxious breed of windserpents. With a level range of between 35 and 39, these would make great pets for those preferring the melee hunter role (there are more than one of these out there, right?)

I am sorry to tell you that there have been a couple untamable models added to the game, including an Orange Dragonhawk and a lovely brown Amani Eagle. Let’s hope that Blizzard changes their mind about that bird in the future, because I know of a couple of people that would love to have one.

For a complete list of the new Patch 2.3 pets, check out the Mania’s Arcania page here.

[via Mania’s Arcania]

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Admin wrote: 

Filed under: Fan Stuff, God of War

Many readers have been sending us tips, saying the God of War demo discs simply have not arrived in their inbox. A representative from SCEA confirmed with PSP Fanboy that the discs were shipped out the week of September 24th. Everyone that signed up for the demo should have received it by now. We’d like to know the truth.

DO NOT VOTE IN THIS POLL IF YOU DID NOT SIGN UP FOR THE DEMO DISC FROM THE OFFICIAL GOD OF WAR WEBSITE IN THE SUMMER. These results, and your comments, will be sent to Sony so that we can investigate what’s really going on. Your help is much appreciated!

Did you receive the God of War demo disc?
	Yes
	No
Free polls from Pollhost.com

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Admin wrote: 

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

They are, according to top executives in the film industry. Ticket sales for the first week of October are at their lowest since 1999, and the industry is worried that those dang video games might have something to do with it.

Advertising Age reports that ticket sales were down 27% from last year, and that the likely suspect is the recently-released Halo 3, with over $300 million in sales and countless hours of multiplayer mayhem keeping potential movie-goers strapped to their couches. Now, in a wholly different way, video games are on the radar of the film industry, as studios begin to sweat the unforeseen competition. Oh, for the days when piracy was the only concern!

[Via CVG]

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Today,  

Filed under: News

It seems like Silicon Knights is finally ready to throw back the curtain on Too Human, and impressions are coming in from all over the place. Right now, previews can be found on GameSpot, IGN, and 1UP. The long and short of it is that it looks like Too Human is on the right track. One thing worth noting, all the previews take great pains — probably under the suggestion of Silicon Knights — to explain that the game is not an all out action affair. It is, as we have noticed in the past, more akin to dungeon crawlers like Diablo. If you find yourself in the market for such a game, Too Human will likely do quite nicely. The previews note that there are a wide variety of items and equipment to be looted from enemies. The loot system is compared to that of World of Warcraft, with tons of customizable weapons and armor. Naturally, the most effective items are the hardest to find. In fact, certain items require that you find blueprints and pay an exorbitant price to have them crafted. The right-stick-controlled combat is described as working very well most of the time, but still in need of some fine tuning. Finally, it was revealed that Too Human is designed to be played through many times in order to max out your character’s level. The level cap is set at 50, and Silicon Knights says that characters from the first installment of Too Human can be imported into the future sequels of the trilogy.

Overall, it’s sounds like things are looking up for Too Human. Check out the various previews at the links below.

Read — 1UP Too Human preview
Read — IGN Too Human preview
Read — GameSpot Too Human preview

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Today,  

Filed under: Business

As is normal this time of year, companies have begun shuffling papers in the mad scramble to report their quarterly earnings to shareholders and the world at large. The latest to do so is Ubisoft, which today announced that it has been making money hand-over-fist lately with total second quarter sales of $172.89 million, a hair over a 25 percent increase from the same time last year. Much of this success was laid at the feet of such releases as GRAW 2, as well as Jam Sessions, Blazing Angels 2, and movie tie-in Surf’s Up.

Strong sales of back catalog titles also helped to contribute to the company’s financial prosperity, while officials note that some 75 percent of Ubi’s sales during the first half of the year came from games for the newer crop of consoles, compared to just 40 percent last year. If we had to venture a guess, this might mean that the firm could begin to inch away from the safety net of the PS2 in order to devote more effort toward projects aimed at the so-called next-gen platforms in the coming months and into the new year. Ubi also expects third quarter sales to climb a modest 6 percent to around $449.24 million.

However, all this money seems to have caused the company to rethink its upcoming release schedule, and as such it has chosen to “postpone” the release of four unannounced titles until to sometime next year. Additionally, Gamasutra reports that the earlier announced Wii exclusive Nitrobike from Excitebike 64 devs Left Field has also been pushed out from this holiday’s release window into a more nebulous someday.

Still, it’s hard to get too broken up about this given that the rest of the delayed projects remain unknown. Ubi still has a good deal of confirmed releases on the horizon, with highlights including the highly anticipated Assassin’s Creed and Haze, as well as Beowulf and the sequel to Rayman Raving Rabbids. If Ubisoft has its way, it will be swimming in its money bin by the close of the current fiscal year, with total yearly sales of €825 million ($1.17 billion) anticipated by the firm.

[Via press release]

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