For starters there is a lot of hype on the re-mastered classic game from PS2 to PS3. Fans of the game expect on the improvement in graphics, sound quality and the bonus features will not be disappointed with this release on the PS3. Let’s begin with the graphic details, first thing that you will notice is the higher resolution rendering at 720p and very smooth game play that create so much differences when compare to the PS2 version. It’s just looks sharper and more details without any jagged lines due to the 2x Anti Aliasing and running at 60 frames per second. Secondly is the graphic textures which is now uncompressed but unfortunately it’s remain the same size not bigger size like most would hope for but still looks very good although not really next gen quality and same thing with the geometric details which also remain the same. So with the uncompressed texture reveal more details and color depths even it is stretch to 720p resolutions because of the 2x Anti Aliasing to smooth/sharpen out the pixilation of the texture when stretch. On top of that the game now supports 16:9 wide screens for a great wide experience that was not on the PS2. Other graphic improvement are the particle effects like water, fire and magic effect are also improved to reveal more details and color depth. The game play mechanics remain faithful to the original and there are no installation require, just play direct from the disc like in the PS2.

The disappointing side is the menu control which is based on PS2 control with “X” to enter and “O” for back which can be confusing at times but these are minor issues. The main complain here is the in game video which are quite disappointing because it is still using the same low resolution video from the PS2 which does not look comparable with the improved game graphics. Another issues is the claim to come with exclusive God of War 3 demo can be misleading because God of War 3 demo is not on the game disc but a piece of paper with the redemption code to download the demo from PSN. This is really annoying having to purchase the game and then have to spend the effort again to download the huge demo files from PSN just to play God of War 3 Demo. Overall it is still a very good title because of the value you get from 2 great PS2 games for the price of less than 1 normal game. Even if you have played both game before it is still good to play it again on PS3 for the improve graphics and wide screen experience.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

You must have heard about it coming and read about but this is my take after reading through the available news that has been release so far. This is the thirteen installments of the famed Final Fantasy RPG series by Square Enix and it is the first Final Fantasy series on the new generation of PS3 or Xbox 360 console. Final Fantasy XIII theme this time is futuristic and also magical and the usual Square Enix style ATB (Active Time Battle) system gameplay with some changes. The last Final Fantasy XI was on PS2 and you must be wondering what happen to Final Fantasy XII, well it was never release on console but it was actually release on PC platform online only.

Sony have been having a hard time trying to get Square Enix to make Final Fantasy XIII exclusive for the PS3 due to the poor sales of the PS3 that will impact the sales of the game. Square Enix have to make a costly choice of porting the game to Xbox 360 while half way developing the game on the PS3 platform and impact the release date of the game at the same time, in hopes to increase the sales. In order to satisfy their business partner Sony, Square Enix will make Final Fantasy XIII exclusive for PS3 in Japan only.

The game is schedule to be release on December 17 this year in Japanese only and the English version will be in spring 2010. If you can’t wait for it you can get the English version from Asia region PS3 in January 2010 but the manual will be in Chinese. Square Enix only anticipate the sales of Final Fantasy XIII will be about half of compare to the last release in PS2 due to the poor sales of PS3. I don’t want to talk so much on the game story and character which I will leave for you to explore when the game is release which is more fun especially with Final Fantasy RPG and I don’t want to be a spoiler . Enjoy the screenshots below.

The rumor about Nintendo releasing a bigger screen for the portable DSi is now confirmed. This is probably driven by below expectation of the sales of the DSi which was not really well receives as it only comes with built-in camera and also the removal of the cartridge slot that really does not create the attraction or wow factor for people to buy or upgrade. The Nintendo DSi XL will come with 2 x 4.25 inch LCD screen with improve battery life as compare to the normal DSi which only come with 3.25 inch screen but even with the increase in size the resolution of the screen remain the same. It comes with 2 stylus of choice, the new one is bigger and also the existing normal size stylus. Basically the Nintendo DSi XL mainly target for people who want to use it for movies or web surfing with a bigger screen it will make it easier to do so and also RPG games that you have to read a lot.  Sony PSP have been enjoying this competitive edge up until now that Nintendo decide to compete on those areas as well. It will be release in Japan on November 21 with 3 colours and the price tag of 20,000 Yen and will be release to the rest of the world in Q1 2010. Following this announcement do expect there will be price reduction of the existing DSi model for this coming Christmas.

Specifications

• Screen Size: 4.2″ (10.67cm)
• Dimensions: 161mm (W) x 91.4mm (L) x 21.2mm (H)
• Stylus: 1 Style with 96mm length, 1 Stylus with 129.3mm length
• Power: Power supply for DSi, Battery
• Weight: 314g
• Internal Battery: 3 hours
• Battery Runtime:
  Brightness 1 – 13 to 17 hours
  Brightness 2 – 11 to 14 hours
  Brightness 3 – 9 – 11 hours
  Brightness 4 – 6 – 8 hours
  Brightness 5 – 4 – 5 hours
• Preinstalled DSi product:
  DSi Browser
  Moving Memo Pad
  Chotto no Nou o Kitaeru DSi Training: Bunkei-Hen [Brain Training: Arts]
  Chotto no Nou o Kitaeru DSi Training: Rikei-Hen [Brain Training: Science]
  Meikyou Kokugo Rakubiki Jiten
• Input/Output: DS card slot, SD memory card slot, Power supply, Stero Headphones, Microphone

This is a brand new fantasy action adventure game developed by Platinum Games and publish Sega that have been receiving quite a lot of attention lately due to excellent review by famous Japanese game reviewer Famitsu prior to the release. It was originally plan for Xbox 360 then later ported over to PS3 due to Sony improved business relationship with Sega. The game designer Hideki Kamiya for Bayonetta is also famed for designing Devil May Cry game series and promised over the top action game play in Bayonetta.

Story of the game focuses on Bayonetta who is a witch that have been awaken from her 500 years sleep. She wake up with no memories of herself and the world she is in and while progressing in game will reveal back her memories. Bayonetta wield 4 handguns and also other melee weapons like katana and in the game she can perform melee, range and magical attacks to face angelic enemies. Her greatest attack is using her hair to transform into various type of extreme oversize attack like giant boots, fists or monsters to assault and also what she is wearing is also her hair transform as into her costume. There is also a lot of effort the in art design particularly the fashion of the characters design, environment and also her face to make her of look like a cold beauty.

Expect to have 10 to 12 hours of game play with 5 levels of difficulty and can be play with a single attack button that have automated combos in the easiest mode. Currently the game is set to launch in Japan first on 29 October 2009 and rest of the other regions in January 2010. There have been report that the PS3 version of the game suffer from poor frame rate probably due the game was originally design of Xbox 360 and porting over to PS3 was not done properly. Hope that Platinum Games provide a game patch to solve the issues and fix the problem before releasing the game in other regions.

I got the Asia version of the game and I finally finish the game in the story mode and here is what I think about the game. There are no screen shots or videos in this review because I don’t have any video capture device to grab from, if you want to see the game screen shots click here. For the story wise I am not going to cover also because there aren’t much to talk about but just think of it like a good guy ninja clan with the charter to stop the evil fiend from hell. There are 17 chapters all together an average 30 minutes to complete 1 chapter but there some chapters are really long so I think about 9 hours to finish playing through the story mode. The extra contents are the 3 chapters dedicated for Momiji, Rachel and Ayane play using existing stages in the game with some modification. Team mission game play is basically survival game trying to fend off all the horde of enemies using the 4 characters in Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 without any time limit and chapters challenges basically play specific chapter to try to get as much karma points as possible to obtain certain ranking to unlock additional character costumes.

The story mode may disappointing to some of those who actually played part 1 of the game because in Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 you get a brand new stage every time you finish a chapter and you can’t visit back the old stages. You don’t get to explorer and reveals more area to expand the map like in part 1 of the game so there is no one huge area where you can travel of over previous stages. This also means you can’t farm for essences. There are 9 types of weapons to choose from and you will be able to grab them all as you progress through the chapters. The different types of weapons can be effective in taking out certain types of enemies example the Eclipse Scythe is very good at slashing limps off common flesh types of enemies and weaken their attack capability and as for mechanical types of enemies then the Eclipse Scythe will not be so effective because it is difficult to cut through them so using Emma Fang (big claymore) will easier to bash those mechanical enemies to the ground and give the opportunity to do more damage while they drop to the ground. Basically each type of weapon will have a different type of effect on the types of enemies. Regarding the Ninpo (magic attack) in the game, to me all the Ninpo function almost the same and your hero are invincible from damage while casting them so they are good at attacking lots of enemies. There will be the usual Muramasa statues all over the stages for you to shop for items and also to upgrade your weapons but in this time upgrading weapons are free but can only upgrade one weapon at a time and upgrade will be only available at certain later chapters. The additional chapters for Momiji, Rachel and Ayane; they can only able to buy items and cannot upgrade their weapons but they can grab the items at much lower price compare to Ryu. Projectile weapons are shuriken, bane bow and howling cannon but Rachel will have machine gun and Ayane will have exploding shuriken. 

Following the tradition of previous games the enemies will not be idling and will attack constantly with their combos and also boss fight is not always 1 boss so better save up the healing items because sometimes you to take on 2 bosses 1 after another without knowing. Overall I feel the game play of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is easier but still very challenging because of the few changes they made like now there are more save points so you don’t have to start too far off to where you fail in the game and also now the save points will charge your health full as well. Another thing is also in this game your hero started off with more health compare to part 1 which will buffer for your mistake.

If you have played the 360 version of the game you will not be disappointed with the PS3 version because the additional content is worthwhile especially the network co-op game play and also the new character you get to try out. So it maybe the same game but it is much refine and will not feel bored but will feel something new instead. But as for me I was expecting more additional content than that since they have 1 year time since the launch on the 360 and also missing out the one huge area to map to expand and roam around like in part 1. I will also love to see the new characters in this game to have interaction with each other like cross chapters between chapters so it will be more meaningful to have them around rather than seeing them to have their own separate mission especially Rachel and Momiji. Overall it is still a very solid challenging game that can be nail biting at times but you will always get a sense or chance that you can beat it. One last thing to note if you use or have Momiji, Rachel or Ayane in the game, you can jiggle your Dual Shock 3 to make their big assets jiggles as well  

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Note: If you are playing on the single player story mode and remain sign in to PSN it is a good out idea to sign out from PSN before playing on single player story mode because you will be automatically exit from the game immediately if your network suddenly loss network communication like in my case where my wireless router was accidentally turn off.

Another great old game for this coming Christmas holidays is God Of War Collection. Nope it is not a new game but a re-mastered of the best action adventure hack & slash game from PS2 to PS3 system. So it is a collection of God Of War part 1 and 2 that will be re-mastered into HD 720p resolution and will be running 60 fps with 2x anti aliasing. That’s right one of the best PS2 game that have won many awards is coming to HD and already look very good on the PS2 and will look even better on PS3. There are many 3D hack & slash release before it but never quite reach the hype of gamers expectation after moving to 3D gaming but this game set the bar on how 3D hack & slash game should be. It is currently plan to be release in November 2009 and selling cheap for 2 games for the price of less than 1 regular game at about 40 USD. At the moment there are no screenshots available yet but there are more discussion updates here.

Alright I know the game have been announce for quite sometimes and it is already release in Xbox 360 but I want to reiterate few things since this is a great action game and it will be release next week on PS3 and I can’t wait play it since I like the first Ninja Gaiden Sigma.

Let’s begin by looking back a bit, Ninja Gaiden is popular series back in 8bit and 16bit console era and they are great games but those series are consider the first generation. The second generation series is release first on Xbox, Xbox 360 and PS3. There are no stories related between the first series (1 gen) and second series (2 gen) personally I don’t think there are any stories to talk about because it is basically a pure action game. So the second generation of Ninja Gaiden series is more like continuing the Ninja Gaiden game reputation with a new story and new 3D platform setting. The new series was first release in Xbox and then ported to PS3 dubbed Ninja Gaiden Sigma with quite significant additional new contents.

The game play of Ninja Gaiden is all about nail biting outstanding hacking & slashing of evil demon. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 stories will continue from Ninja Gaiden Sigma. Now Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 for PS3 will have a whole lot more additional new contents when compare to Ninja Gaiden Sigma. The new stuff are the co-op mode, new stages, new playable characters like Ayane, Momiji & Rachel, new weapons, SixAxis play mode support and etc.. Unfortunately it is also comes with reduce bloodshed (less blood) and less gore when compare to the Xbox 360 version which have crazily huge amount of blood squirting off from slashed enemies.

For those who have played the new generation of Ninja Gaiden series know that this is a very challenging game to play but very fun. Even in normal setting most people would find it extremely difficult to even pass through the early stages. I have never played Ninja Gaiden 2 on Xbox 360 but I expect the same challenging game play in Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2. There are a lot unhappy people in regard to Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 releases on PS3 especially those bought the Xbox 360 version will find that they are losing out on the additional game contents and would have to buy the game again on PS3 just to play the new contents. This is probably cause by Microsoft trying pay more to get “Time Exclusive” game titles to be release on Xbox 360 first and when that 1 year time exclusive is over the publisher or developer can choose to release the game on other platform of course they need to add new stuff or else people won’t buy the game.

If you like challenging hack & slash action adventure games, this game should be very high on your wanted list and also this could be the final Ninja Gaiden game as the lead game designer Tomonobu Itagaki left Team Ninja and Tecmo the publisher have not made any announcement about any sequel or new development for the Ninja Gaiden series.