Ragnar’s Realms

Today,  

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Action

Our BFFs over at PS3 Fanboy have noticed something interesting about the “Accomplishments” received while playing the PS3 version of Devil May Cry 4. Though it’s not the first game to copy and paste the in-game achievements from the 360 version, DMC4 is the first title to recognize the accomplishments with a PS3 system screen, rather than an in-game notice.

This could possibly mean nothing, but it’s equally possible that Devil May Cry 4 may be one of the first games to send accomplishment information to the PS3 system, for integration with services like the upcoming Playstation Home. We’ve already seen that Home will feature trophies collected from various accomplishments in games. Perhaps this could be the key to that feature.

As drab as the accomplishments notice is, it’ll be interesting to see what it portends, if anything.

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Today,  

Filed under: News

Update: Oops, looks like our American calendar reading habits got the best of us again. This offer is for any HD DVD players purchased after October 1st and not January 10th like we originally stated. Color us embarrassed.

Good news for our friends in the UK, because now they’re getting in on the free HD DVD fun too. Microsoft recently made The Perfect Offer available to UK Xbox 360 HD DVD player owners, offering up five free HD DVD movies with player purchase. And just like the offer Stateside, the five free HD DVDs have to be sent for via snail-mail and must be chosen from separate categories of pre-selected movies (full list after the break). But what makes this offer even cooler is the fact that anyone who purchased the 360 HD DVD January 10th, 2007 October 1st, 2007 or later is eligible for the offer. That means if you picked up the player anytime after October 1st and have your receipt, then you can simply print off this form and send for your free movies. The Perfect Offer is one sweet deal and we’re glad to see that the marketing execs are allowing our friends in the UK to get in on it. HD DVD FTW!

[Thanks, to everyone who sent this in]

Movies included in five free HD DVD offer
Category A: (choose two)
Serenity
The Chronicles of Riddick
Hulk
Children of Men
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

Category B: (choose two)
Troy
Full Metal Jacket
Corpse Bride
The Prestige
Swordfish

Category C: (choose one)
Black Rain
Dreamgirls
World Trade Center

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Today,  

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Nintendo GameCube, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

- DS Lite: 76,069 2,785 (3.53%)
- PSP: 65,609 6,645 (11.27%)
- PS3: 39,178 16,746 (29.94%)
- Wii: 36,230 1,684 (4.87%)
- PS2: 8,855 188 (2.08%)
- Xbox 360: 6,525 708 (12.17%)
- GBA SP: 153 58 (27.49%)
C-C-C-OMBO BREAKER!
- Game Boy Micro: 109 599 (84.6%)
- Gamecube: 38 31 (44.93%)
- DS Phat: 15 15 (50.00%)
- GBA: 0 4 (100.00%)

[Source: Media Create]

See: The magnificent archives

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Admin wrote: 

Filed under: News, Imports

More Dissidia: Final Fantasy new is coming in. Along with last week’s look at Final Fantasy X representatives, Tidus and Jecht, comes this week’s progress report. Tetsuya Nomura, revered fashion designer in the belts and zippers fetish industry and Dissidia producer, has stated in a new Famitsu mag that Dissidia is currently 50 percent done.

We’re a bit disappointed to hear that the title is only half done; however, it doesn’t come as a surprise. Only about half the cast has been revealed thus far (at least, half a list of protagonists/antagonists) and we suppose we’ll be seeing the rest to trickle in within the rest of the year. Check out the magazine scans here for more pics of Tidus and his dad, and, if you can read Nihongo, then check out the interview with Nomura.

[Via PSP Hyper]

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Admin wrote: 

Filed under: Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, Action, Adventure, Online

Reputable European publication Edge magazine is reporting that the upcoming Animal Crossing for Nintendo Wii is indeed going the MMO route, as previously rumored by fellow Future Publishing siblings Next-Gen. “A Japanese source has confirmed to Edge that the upcoming Wii iteration of Animal Crossing is set to be a social networking MMO,” reports the magazine.

No other details are known at the time, Nintendo has not provided any official confirmation. The article is found on page nine of the latest issue, which prominently features the PlayStation 3 on both the front and back covers.

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Admin wrote: 

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Battlegrounds, Arena

My wife’s Holy Priest got ganked on the Throne of Kil’jaeden the other day by a full Season 3 MS Warrior. She grouped with a Shadow Priest who was questing in the area and had also fallen victim to the bloodthirsty Human. They got ganked a couple more times while I took my Shaman over to lend them a hand. We managed to take down the ganker several times but not before he almost killed the poorly-geared Shadow Priest. Every time that the Warrior would rezz, he would immediately Charge the Shadow Priest and proceed to Mortal Strike him to within an inch of his life, despite getting heals from my wife’s Holy Priest and my Restoration Shaman.

After several more tries, the Warrior mounted up and proceeded to taunt me away from the group, the only one he hadn’t yet ganked, but I simply brushed him off with a /bored emote. My wife wondered why the Warrior kept on going for the Shadow Priest instead of herself. It only made sense, I replied, pointing out that the Shadow Priest was the most logical target considering he was undergeared. My wife countered that she wasn’t equipped in PvP gear, either, but I reasoned that since he’d killed her once, he knows she’s not specced Discipline because he’s seen Spirit of Redemption pop up. That meant no Pain Suppression, and that there’s no way she could heal through his damage.

One of the most crucial skills in PvP is choosing the right target, and encounters, matches, are won and lost through choosing the right target. This necessitates a full understanding of the limitations of one’s own class, a moderate knowledge of other classes, a familiarity with gear, and an awareness of one’s surroundings. It’s rapid threat assessment and measured response. Almost every encounter will be different, even with the same players involved. Even with a lot of experience, choosing targets in PvP can still so often go wrong.

Continue reading The Art of War(craft): Choosing PvP targets part I

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Today,  

Filed under: Culture, Online

We try not to highlight eBay auctions unless they’re absolutely ridiculous, and this one takes the (lying) cake. That broken potato chip is being auctioned off as Pac Man, and of course someone has placed a bid for it to the tune of $100. Are the winning bidder and auction holder co-conspirators? We really, really hope so. (Thanks, Brian) Check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
DS Fanboy Lite: Jan. 6 - Jan. 11
Joystiq Podcast 033 - CES 2008 edition
Today’s crossover video: Soul Calibur Star Wars

News
PSN Thursday: Folklore keeps telling tales, demo Stardust in HD
Assassin’s Creed DS is ‘Altair’s Chronicles,’ a prequel
SCi pulls out of buyout talks, stock plunges following Tomb Raider delay
Alone in the Dark delayed until September
Jaffe comes out for a unified game console standard
Wal-Mart ‘ends’ $20 Smash Bros. Brawl pre-orders
Nintendo, Sony sued for alleged patent infringement
Metal Gear Solid 4 in ‘last push’ for Q2 release
Resistance 2 to feature 60-player online, 8-player co-op, 2 campaigns
Kane & Lynch sells a million copies; [obligatory reviewer firing joke goes here]
Blue Dragon DS delayed indefinitely
Apollo Justice doesn’t object to Feb. 12 release

Rumors & Speculation
PS3 could get downloadable Sony Pictures Television content in DivX format

Culture & Community
Warning: You’ve got to read to play Harvey Birdman
Turn real drums into a Rock Band drum controller
EGM editor Dan Hsu talks about ‘blackball’ editorial

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Today,  

Filed under: Imports

Sony Computer Entertainment Asia has unveiled a quirky selection of items for people willing to throw down the big bucks this Easter season. We weren’t aware it was a big spending season, but there you have it. For spending a certain amount on select PlayStation products, around $256 (or $2000 HKD for those in Asia), you get the above PSP plushy pillow thing. Yes, you can hug your gaming addiction as you sleep. Spend more and you can get a polo shirt; even more and you’ll get a windbreaker. We agree with SiliconEra — the plush PSP is the sexiest item of the lot. Also of note: the blow-up PS3 is just a retailer item, so you can’t get that one.

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Today,  

Filed under: News, E3

Some things must be made clear. One, I played Bethesda’s Fallout 3 today. Two, I have never played a Fallout title before, so I can’t judge it based on the merits of the series. Joystiq will detail the differences between Fallout 3 and its predecessors in its hands on preview llater this week. With that out of the way, let me just throw this on the table: Fallout 3 is Oblivion with guns. It’s a short analysis, but I stand by it. If one were to expand upon this analysis, one might say that Fallout 3 is a post-apocalyptic Oblivion with guns. Having said that, allow me elaborate that this is a compliment. Oblivion fans will understand this. Upon hearing my analysis, our own Xav de Matos noted, “I think I need a cigarette…. that sounds awesome.”

Continue reading Hands on: Fallout 3

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Admin wrote: 

Filed under: PC

We’ll be honest: when we read about the recently announced PC-exclusive Crysis Warhead, we were a bit confused. Didn’t Crytek pres Cevat Yerli just say, “I believe we won’t have PC exclusives as we did with Crysis in future“? If that was his belief a whopping thirty-six days before announcing a major, AAA PC-exclusive like Warhead, we’d second guess arguing politics with the man, if we were you.

But lo, what’s this? Here comes Crytek’s Harald Seeley to explain that Yerli “was referring to any new projects [Crytek] will start in the future” and that “all new franchises [they] develop in the future will be created with a cross platform strategy in mind.” Speaking of that cross platform strategy, Crytek’s engine wizards have been busy squeezing the ship-sized CryENGINE 2 into a console-sized bottle and their efforts thus far have made the engine “even more scaleable” - an accomplishment that should be on display in Warhead. We’ll see how they did when we try to run Crysis Warhead on our trusty 486 this fall. Scale that!

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