Gadgets and Video Games

It seems that Nintendo DSi owners in Japan have already started digitally receiving their copies of the newest firmware, v1.4. The refresh brings little more than the Facebook photo uploading we heard (very little) about back at E3 2009 .

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DSi firmware v1.4 drops in Japan, Facebook connectivity arrives alongside

Did you notice? Namco’s now-gen Splatterhouse reboot was nowhere to be seen at this year’s E3. Following the game’s troubled development history , that wasn’t much of a surprise to those of us in the know , but we decided to send off a query to the folks at Namco Bandai, just to make sure. They told us, “Namco Bandai Games America Inc. is hard at work on Splatterhouse

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Surprise! Splatterhouse missing 2009, splattering in 2010

The Xbox 360 Arcade pack just got a bit more useful. The mysterious 512MB Arcade unit seen yesterday is real! Microsoft confirmed to Eurogamer that it has doubled the memory on the “Jasper” motherboard of the hard-drive-free system. However, of course, not all of that space will be available to the owner: “The Xbox 360 system software uses some of the included 512MB memory;” Microsoft’s statement reads.

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Confirmed: New Xbox 360 Arcade systems have 512 MB on-board memory

The E3 Expo management has issued a survey to some attendees that includes some questions about adding a new conference segment to the proceedings. The questions attempt to gauge interest in having “a conference program covering multiple industry topics, including panel discussions with industry leaders, at future E3 Expo events.” Further questions narrow down potential topics, including “Interactive Entertainment Business trends,” Game Development,” “Game Career Development,” and “New Product Demonstrations.” Of course, querying attendees about this is by no means a confirmation that E3 will include panel discussions in the future, but it is an indication that the organizers are thinking about it.

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Survey suggests addition of panel discussions to E3

When Sony first revealed Afrika , it was a marquee first-party PS3 title used to show off the power of the system. Three years later, it’s finally being released in North America, by tiny third-party publisher Natsume , who is more familiar with Harvest Moon and handheld games than anything shown off at a press conference. How did this happen? According to Graham Markay, Vice President of Operations for Natsume, Finny the Fish was instrumental in the deal

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How Natsume picked up Afrika (bonus: trophies confirmed!)

Despite his comfy Jason Bourne-like turtleneck and new ‘tude, Sam Fisher hasn’t been able to reinvent himself as far as his aging body goes. Splinter Cell: Conviction will see our stealthy superdude slinking around in his 50’s, an age mostly associated with dust and Werther’s Originals . “He’s pretty old, actually,” a game dev told VG247 back at E3 , further adding that Fisher would definitely be in his 50’s for Conviction . Heck, we could only hope to look that good when we hit our 50’s! So, Sam, what’s your secret? Centrum Silver ?

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Old Sam Fisher is old in Splinter Cell: Conviction

Considering the impressive demo of Final Fantasy XIII running on Xbox 360 shown off at the Microsoft presser during E3 , we were shocked to find out recently that the build being demoed was actually less than six months old. The game’s producer Yoshinori Kitase told Giant Bomb during E3 that, “Up to the trial demo version that was released in Japan, [the game] was PS3-only in terms of development.” He explains further, saying, “The Xbox 360 version is definitely following after the PS3 version, but [we] were finally able to come to a point in the PS3 development where some of the staff could take their hands off and start programming the 360 version.” Seems as though the claims that the PS3 version would be complete before work on 360 development started were a bit … overzealous

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Development on 360 version of FFXIII just two months old

RUSE is shaping up to become a nice addition to PC gaming, and also to the vacant market of real-time strategy games on consoles. Halo Wars and Red Alert have pretty much been the only standouts, but where’s the real depth and longevity of a title like StarCraft ? Ubisoft’s RUSE is hoping to fill that gap, and based on the time we spent with it recently, it may be just the thing. That is if it’d stop with the gimmicks like showing it at E3 on a Microsoft Surface table and just give us the console goods. Not all of us have a spare $15,000 sitting around

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Hands-on: RUSE (and its steep learning curve)

Nintendo E3 2009 checklist: Mario? *check* Zelda? *check* Metroid? *check* Are we missing something? Head past the break to find out! Continue reading E3 2009 highlights: The Nintendo roundup E3 2009 highlights: The Nintendo roundup originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:00:00 EST.

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E3 2009 highlights: The Nintendo roundup

The Target flyer for the week of June 14 shows the retail chain will offer gift cards for two very particular game purchases. First off, customers who buy both Tiger Woods PGA 2010 (with Wii MotionPlus) and Grand Slam Tennis will receive a $20 Target gift card. Meanwhile, those who purchase Guitar Hero Smash Hits (which isn’t out until Tuesday) will receive a $5 gift card, no matter what platform they buy it for. However, we should also mention there are Smash Hits pre-order specials from several other retailers, so you should check to see if those are still available. Target offers gift cards with MotionPlus games, Guitar Hero Smash Hits originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:45:00 EST

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Target offers gift cards with MotionPlus games, Guitar Hero Smash Hits