Funktion

Does anyone know any good deal for a PSP model with an UMD drive?

I have a question: if I purchase a US copy of 3d Dot Heroes (since it's currently a bit hard to find here in Europe), will I be able to patch it (apparently there's an update available that adds some content), since the game isn't from the same region as the console? I still don't own the console (funnily enough, I do own 5 games for it ), so I'm not sure how it handles the access to patches and DLC for games of different regions.

I asked this because I just saw that VGP.ca has a "region free" section for 3DS titles on their website: http://www.videogamesplus.ca/default.php?cPath=561 Here's hoping they are right, and that this region-lock thing will be on a case-by-case basis.

A question, since I haven't followed news on the 3DS all that closely: has there been any confirmation if whether all 3DS titles are region-locked, or if this will be a case by case thing (such in the case of Xbox 360 games)?

The game was released in a few European countries yesterday. Here in Portugal we also got the game in English. I picked up a copy today. Wow, I can't remember the last time I went to a store to purchase a local release, since importing always ends up being a much cheaper option. The game is being sold for 39.99€ at the stores I've checked. It's strange what they are doing with this game, since it has the potential of being a big seller. Looking at the cover (which even has a few shiny bits), it's clear some care went into preparing this release, so it's perplexing why the game is currently being "dumped", with some markets getting very low stocks, while others are not even getting the game at all. Is Nintendo doing this to "protect" the upcoming release of Pokemon Black & White, as a way to avoid a potential competitor?

Because I imported the game from the US, and it still hasn't arrived...

The game's now £12.99 at HMV.

This move of region-locking the 3DS killed much of my excitement for the console. I own a ridiculous number of games for the DS (it's easily the console for which I have more games, last time I checked I had 130, but that was some time ago; for the record, all bought brand new, and I own zero pirated releases or flash carts), many of them US or Japanese releases for games that never saw an European release (for example, most Atlus USA releases). I can safely say if I was unable to import and play these games, my enjoyment of the console would be much smaller. I would have missed out on games such as Etrian Odyssey II and III, The Dark Spire, Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2, Jump Ultimate Stars, and many more. I just have to look at the last 3 titles I purchased for the DS, and none of them got an European release: Nostalgia, Sands of Destruction, and The Legendary Starfy, all of which I imported from the USA. This move, baring a 180º change on the European market (which I honestly don't believe, for some reason we are still treated as the "black sheep" of gaming), pretty much ensures that I will be unable to play a huge portion of the games I was looking forward to. Let's be honest, how likely are European releases of any new Etrian Odyssey titles, when Europe never got any of the sequels? Or most titles that Atlus USA releases, for that matter? How likely are we of getting most of those charming and "bizarre" Japanese titles that rarely leave it's home country? In my eyes, Nintendo has been making very disappointing choices. Be it in terms of its software output (either by releasing mostly "casual" titles with very light gameplay, or by releasing tired rehashes of their usual franchises, with barely any effort, ideas or "new" gameplay, save for some exceptions, of course, like Mario Galaxy), be it in terms of its hardware (they released the Wii as a very limited piece of hardware, instead focusing on motion controls that, at least before the release of the Wii Motion Plus, were too unreliable, not to mention barely any title actually made a worthwhile use of motion controls). I would be lying if I said I would not purchase a 3DS, I will sooner or later, but it definitely won't be a priority, and certainly not at its release date.

None taken. I was just joking with the fact that, when writing something in another language that's not your own, sometimes you don't express yourself the way you intended.

Give me a break, English isn't my first language... I don't usually enjoy 3D action titles such as Devil May Cry, God of War, and so on. I find them fun for a very short amount of time, but afterwards I struggle to remain interested, mainly because of the repetitive gameplay mechanics (which, like I stated, is a bit odd, since I'm a huge fan of games with pretty much the same gameplay mechanics, but in 2D... ). What I do enjoy is the horror genre. And I really enjoyed what I played so far of this game, despite featuring gameplay I'm usually not really a fan of, probably helped by the whole "ambiance" of the game, along with great fidelity for the past games in the series. It kept me interested in what happens next. Anyway, the point of my original post was to simply say: the game is surprisingly fun, very true to the previous games in the series, and anyone who enjoyed the previous games will probably find it to be greatly enjoyable. Also, it can now be found for quite cheap at Zavvi.

I've been pretty busy at work, so I only started playing the game last night. I must say I'm enjoying the heck of it, far more than I expected (since I'm not really a fan of the genre for this new game). As a fan of the horror genre, I always had a special place for Splatterhouse (and Castlevania). There's just something about the simple premise of going in alone to a mansion or castle to fight demonic creatures to get your girl back. How more manly can it get than that? Unlike the Castlevania series, I wouldn't say the games in the Splatterhouse series are particularly good. They featured somewhat "clunky" gameplay, and all you did was basically walk in a 2D plane (Splatterhouse 3 changed that a bit) and beat the crap out of everything, until you reach a usually frustrating boss encounter that beats the crap out of you in return. But the whole "grotesque" graphics and look of the game, along with that minimalistic and spooky soundtrack convened to form an "ambiance" that got me hooked. When the new game was announced, I wasn't really impressed. It just didn't seem like a Splatterhouse game. Most screenshots featured locations and enemies that were unlike anything from past games (too bright, too clean), and it just seemed they dropped a character with a Splatterhouse mask in yet another generic action title. Plus, I'm not really a fan of these 3rd person action titles, since I usually get easily bored with 3D "hack and slash" gameplay unless it's an RPG with plenty of quests to do (yes, I'm not a fan of games such as Devil May Cry and similar; after 10-15 minutes of fun, I simply have to drag myself to continue to play, which is ironic, since I love 2D Beat 'em ups and play pretty much everyone I find, and they involve the same, if not more, repetition :p). Somewhere along the line the original developers where dropped, and a new team stepped in, including some of the people who made the universally panned Afro Samurai game, and my interest went down even some more. It was when the Retro Trailer I previously posted was released that my curiosity and interest for the title were finally picked, and I equally enjoyed the trailers that came afterward. So last night I started playing the game, and like I mentioned I'm pleasantly surprised. The team that handled the game clearly knew the original games quite well, so there's plenty of clever nods to the past games in the series. A good example is when the perspective changed the first time to a 2D plane, like the original titles, and new versions of tracks from the first game started playing. It just felt like a Splatterhouse game. Like I mentioned several times already, I'm not a fan of 3D action titles such as this, but the whole grotesque atmosphere and look that always characterized the series is back, and the game managed to keep me fully interested for the 4 hours or so that I played yesterday. While at first the number of moves may seem limited and the combat a bit shallow, when you start getting upgrades the number of moves and combos you start making will actually make for some fun gameplay, and you will be beating and chopping your enemies to pieces in painful ways. In my case I think it helped that the gameplay is more similar to a good ol' beat'em up, with body to body combat, unlike most 3D hack and slash titles that mostly use weapons and somewhat ranged combat. The voice acting on this game is also top notch. Dr. West (one of the plenty H. P. Lovecraft references in the series) sounds great, like a cultured yet insane person, and the wisecracking mask (yes, the mask speaks, and it keeps dropping sadistic puns that seem like they came from any of the Nightmare on Elm Street sequels) makes things always fun, and interested in what comes next. Additionally, the game adds a few things to help keep your interest. You unlock quite a bit of side-content to help flesh out the characters (and their background stories) and the whole universe of the game (the origin of the monsters, ...) such as gramophones spread throughout the game, which play what we can call bits from an audio-log from Dr. West (which in turn unlock pages from a journal of his experiences, all with audio narration), and pieces of naked pictures from Rick's girlfriend (which also feature info on when and where they were taken, along with some audio bits from Jennifer). Additionally, the game keeps unlocking new things such as new moves, arenas for an alternate mode (which in turn unlock more content for the main game, such as weapons), masks, and let's not forget emulated versions of the older games in the series: Splatterhouse (Arcade), Splatterhouse 2 (Mega Drive) and Splatterhouse 3 (Mega Drive). So far I only unlocked the first game, since I'm at chapter 3. If anyone in here enjoyed and is familiar with past titles in the series, I recommend you give this game a look. For those interested Zavvi is now selling the game for £17.95 (Xbox 360 and PS3 versions). I paid almost twice that amount...

I was reading some more info online, and I read on Microsoft's website that the licenses are attached to gamertag and console, and not hard drive. In my case, I'm still using the same console, the only thing I'm changing is the hard drive. Do I still need to transfer licenses?

I just ordered online a 250GB hard drive for my 360, since I ran out of space in my 20GB hard drive a long time ago. For those who upgraded their discs, I was wondering if you could give me a few tips on how to perform the switch without any problems. A few doubts I have: -my content is "fragmented" between my 20GB hard drive and a USB 16GB pen drive; I know the kit is supposed to copy the content from the old hard drive to the new one, but what about the content from the USB pen drive, will it copy it at the same time, will I have to copy it afterwards, ...? -I heard something about "transferring the licenses" from one hard drive to another; I have a few games that were removed from the service, will they cause me any problems? -what is the data that the transfer kit doesn't copy from one disc to another?

Good to know. I also ended up purchasing the Wii version, which unfortunately is yet to arrive, but it's good to know the end product delivered in the "fun" department, just like the original games.

There is a demo! But it's a flash demo (I should have been more specific... :p). You can play it here. It's awesome.