The difficulty Criterion have had since Burnout 3 is how to top what they’ve done before. For this, the first “build-from-the-ground-up” high definition Burnout, they at least had the power of the PS3 and Xbox to help in that regard. The differentiation they have achieved comes through four main features: no load times, a High Definition graphics engine, exploration and general fooling around as an important game mechanic, and lots of online features including exploration and general fooling around.

You can finally consider loading screens in Burnout a thing of the past. In Paradise the only one you see is the one when you turn your console on and the game loads. The way they accomplished this is by taking a leaf out of GTA and Need for Speed Underground’s book – a streaming, persistent world. Criterion have designed a city from the ground up for you to drive in, and everywhere you go the game is constantly loading up buildings and roads in the distance, in the background so you never notice. This, combined with a much higher level of detail in the environments and cars and a commitment to 60 frames for second, explains why EA are not publishing the game on any platforms other than PS3 and Xbox 360.

Continue reading El33tonline’s Burnout Paradise review.

For other PS3 titles you should check out Testfreaks. They are doing a great job at aggregating reviews from multiple sites and linking in the best price. We like the aggregation, everything in one place means less surfing multiple sites and more time free to spend playing our never ending backlog of games.

Capcom has secured the exclusive worldwide rights to publish official video games and to create peripherals based on MotoGP across all platforms.

Last year saw the successful release of MotoGP 07 for the PS2. Capcom’s agreement will run for five years and will supercede the existing rights granted to publish titles on the PS2 platforms. Capcom will publish titles based on the 2008 MotoGP season for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2 and PC.

MotoGP is the world’s premier motorcycling championship. It consists of 18 Grand Prix events which are hosted around the world in fifteen countries and features top motorcycle manufacturers including Honda, Yahama, Suzuki and Kawasaki.

Mark Beaumont, executive vice president, officer and head of Capcom consumer software publishing in the Americas and Europe said “We are very excited to have signed this long term agreement with Dorna Sports, which for the first time grants one publisher worldwide multi-platform rights to the adrenaline fuelled world of MotoGP. We feel this move to a single publisher will greatly benefit our ability to develop titles that deliver more authenticity and excitement to the consumer.”

R-Type Command is a turn-based strategy game for the PSP. Atlus has announced that a playable demo for the game is now available exclusively at the PlayStation Store.

The demo promises a “taste of the many missions from R-Type Command as well as “an eye-opening hands-on glimpse into the franchise’s daring new direction.”

R-Type Command is scheduled to be released on the 6th of May.

The other day I noticed a green book with Mario and Master Chief prominently displayed on the cover. Now obviously it is not every day that you see video game characters adorning the front cover of a book in a bookshop so I went to invesitage.

Upon closer inspection I realized that it was the Guinness World Records Gamers Edition 2008. This is the first Guinness World Records book of video gaming achievements and includes record-breaking computer and video game accomplishments. This means you will be able to check out high scores and records, biggest tournaments, largest cash prizes, most successful games and of course bizarre facts and trivia.

It also includes a summary of the key events of the video gaming year and features reviews of new releases, new consoles and major tournaments. Gamers can also look forward to game strategies, interviews with professionals as well as tips and cheats, not that we need them you understand. The book features full colour photography and illustrations.

After browsing briefly through the book I can recommend it for any gamers’ shelf. The Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition 2008 is now available in most countries around the world, including the US, UK, Europe and South Africa.

For more information on the book, head over to the Guinness World Record Gamer’s Edition website.

As an aside, while I was later sitting in the bookshop café having some coffee, it was interesting to see how many people were inspecting the book. Guess there are quite a few of us gamers out there after all. Let us know what you think of the book and which tidbits were your favourite.

Sony is working on the next UK SingStar title for the PS2. They have called on SingStar fans to help create the new title by voting for a theme.

There are four possible themes: Boybands vs Girlbands; Cheesy Tunes; Divas; and 80s Vs 90s. You can vote at singstargame.com or on SingStar UK’s MySpace and facebook pages.

According to Sony, the chosen title will be released towards the end of 2008. After the theme is selected Sony will be asking SingStar fans to decide upon the tracklist as well.

Rock Band fans can now rock on to more Boston tracks. Earlier in the week the Boston Pack became available on Xbox Live Marketplace. Now Boston Pack 1 is available on the PlayStation Network.

The pack includes six songs: More Than A Feeling, Hitch A Ride, Peace of Mind, Rock and Roll Band, Smokin’ and Something About You.

Each song will cost you $1.99 on the PSN while the pack will set you back $9.99. The song pack is priced at $10/800 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live Marketplace while each song will cost you $2/120 Microsoft Points.

The new trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV has just been released. It is available now in HD on Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Network.

Rockstar’s final pre-release trailer is titled “Good Lord, what are you doing?” aka “Everyone’s a rat.”

Grand Theft Auto IV is due to be released on the Xbox 360 and PS3 on the 29th of April.

The Nintendo DS has wrestled the top position back from the PSP to be the best-selling console in Japan for the week ending the 23rd of March. According to the latest Media Create figures, the DS sold 65 055 units this week, almost 12 000 units more than last week’s 53 266 units.

Hardware sales up

Most of the systems recorded an increase in hardware sales this week, bar the PS3 and Xbox 360 which both dropped slightly in terms of sales. Nintendo’s Wii held on to second place in the console race with 62 404 units, also significantly up from last week’s 55 845 units. The Sony PSP sold 59 833 units, a marginal increase from last week’s 57 651 units.

The PS3 sold 12 874 units this week, roughly 2 000 units less than last week’s 14 934 units. Its younger brother is still selling steadily at 9 990 units in comparison to 9 930 units last week. The Xbox 360 sold 1 407 units, slightly down from last week’s 1 744 units.

MHP2G to spike PSP sales?

What is interesting to note is that the Nintendo DS has now passed the PS2 in terms of life-to-date sales. The DS stands at an impressive 22.164 million while the PS2 is at 21.083 million.

Looking ahead to next week’s chart, yesterday saw the release of Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G for the PSP in Japan. Judging from the queues which stretched around the block, the title sold extremely well on it opening day, in fact there are even early reports that several shops sold out of the title yesterday. The title is sure to record impressive software sales which will no doubt impact on the hardware sales of the PSP. It is almost sure to beat the Nintendo DS this coming week. Any one care to wager on first day and first week sales for Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G?

Check out the software chart for the week ending the 23rd of March.

Source: Media Create

Image Source: gpara.com

Sierra Online has announced that the award winning card game Lost Cities will be available exclusively on the Xbox 360 this Spring.

Lost Cities sees players drawing from a pool of cards as they attempt to amass the most points and make prosperous expeditions through various lost cities. Prepare to venture through the Himalayas, the rain forest in Brazil, the desert, volcanoes and the ocean.

Lost Cities has been priced at 800 Microsoft Points.

Ninja Gaiden 2 is due for a worldwide release in June. The game will arrive on North American shelves on the 3rd of June with worldwide releases set to follow later in the month.

It has just been confirmed that a free demo of this Xbox 360 exclusive will be available on Xbox Live Marketplace in May. Developed by Tecmo and Team Ninja, Ninja Gaiden 2 sees players guiding Ryu as he embarks on a journey to avenge his clan. Head over to El33tonline’s earlier coverage or to the game’s official website for more screenshots and information on the game.

Sony has disclosed that there is a “possibility of unauthorized access to personal information on the PlayStation Store through PC’s, a content download service of the PlayStation Network.”

In a post on SCEA’s PlayStation blog and on Sony of UK’s official website, Sony has confirmed that “although unlikely, it is possible that the passwords of a small percentage of PlayStation Network users may have been changed through unauthorized access, making it possible to view users’ personal information and/or use the Wallet for the PlayStation Store.”

Sony does, however, assure users that “PlayStation Network accounts do not display entire credit card numbers, so any unauthorized access to your PlayStation Network account is very unlikely to compromise your credit card number.”

Sony has taken “immediate measures” to sort the problem out and to restore security to the system. Sony will get in touch with customers who may have been affected but they are advising PlayStation Network users to sign in to the service – it seems that your account is safe if you can sign in with your pre-set password.

Sony is running a God of War Machinima competition. Gamers can head over to the God of War Machinima website and use the God of War online editing suite to create their own God of War Machinima. You can choose from a large library of clips, text, effect, music and you can even add your own voice to the video using a microphone, headphones or speaker.

Become a God of War Machinima

After you have completed your video, you can publish it and embed it to your social networking pages as well as upload it to the God of War gallery so gamers from around the world can view it.

By registering on the site and submitting your video before the 19th of May, you stand a chance to win prizes including a PSP, a copy of God of War: Chains of Olympus, an exclusive God of War artwork print, God of War T-shirts as well as Kratos action figures.

My Easter weekend was spent largely observing life from the couch in my lounge. The past few months have been a gamers’ delight with a plethora of top titles for all the platforms being delivered into our grateful hands. And while it hardly seems fit to complain about this sort of thing, I must admit (rather shamefully) that I still had not got round to playing The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Although I had ventured into Hyrule on a few occasions, I had not offered myself up to the realm completely and surrendered myself to the beauty and ingenious that is Zelda.

I will pretend that I did not hear that collective sigh of disbelief. Continuing along my path of honesty, I will admit that I did not even start the game on my own accord. After spending the morning and afternoon shooting aliens in Capcom’s Rocketmen: Axis of Evil, I found myself delving into my games draw to pick out my next gaming adventure. My friend Peter (an all-time supporter and motivator of Zelda who has introduced me to many, many sweet games) hinted not so subtlely that I really should make a decent start on Zelda. I decided to jump in and I have not looked back since.

Continue reading Lisa’s editorial on Revelations of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

The latest Pokémon adventure for the Nintendo DS has topped the Japanese software charts for the week ending the 23rd of March. Pokémon Ranger: Batonnage debuted at number 1 with a whopping 242 000 copies.

This week saw a total of seven new titles debuting in the top ten, ensuring that software sales were boosted from last week’s rather dismal performance. The top ten was mostly dominated by Nintendo with eight of the ten titles being for Nintendo platforms, five for the NDS and three for the Wii. Sony scored the remaining two spots of the top ten with one PS3 title and one PSP title.

The nearest contender to Pokémon was Hudson’s Deca Sporta for the Wii which entered the charts at number 2 with 65 000 copies. From Software’s Armored Core for Answer for the PS3 was also new at number 3 with an impressive 54 000 copies while EA’s SimCity DS 2: From the Past to the Future entered the fray at number 4 with 49 000 copies.

Nintendo’s Wii Fit drops two places to number 5 with 48 000 copies while Super Smash Bros. Brawl tumbles three places to number 7 with 41 000 copies. Namco Bandai’s Tales of Rebirth for the PSP debuts at number 6 with 47 000 copies. Banpresto’s Crayon Shin-chan: Arashi wo Yubo Cinema Land for the Nintendo DS is new at number 8 with 35 000 copies and Nintendo’s DS Beautiful Letter Training plummets from last week’s number 1 to number 9 with 35 000 copies. Konami’s Time Hollow: Seeking the Lost Past for the Nintendo DS is the last new entry in the top ten, selling 34 000 copies to round off the top ten.

Post continues, click to read more…

The full version of Gran Turismo 5 is “still about a year away.” This is the latest word from Chris Hinojosa-Miranda, SCEA Associate Producer.

In a post on SCEA’s PlayStation blog detailing the GT5 Prologue soundtrack, Hinojosa-Miranda addressed a gamers question about whether to buy GT5 Prologue or wait until the full version of the game. His reply “Also, to further clarify, GT5 is still about a year away. You should just decide now to buy it, enjoy it, go online and race against anyone and everyone, rank number one worldwide, get the girl (or guy) and become the most popular kid in town.”

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue is due to be released across North America on the 17th of April. European gamers will get to race a bit earlier with the game arriving online on the 27th of March and hitting retail shelves on the 28th of March. Head over to the game’s website for a cool video.