BitSnark

Ok, I can say I didn’t expect this. Lost Odyssey developer Mistwalker studios is developing a title for the Nintendo Wii to be published by Nintendo, known as The Last Story.

Details are thin on the ground and all that jazz, but at the very least the smart money will being it being an RPG an not, well, anything else.

When Mistwalker head honcho Hironobu Sakaguchi said that he was developing an AAA RPG, we had assumed that he would be referring to an Xbox 360 title.

Obviously not.

Coming quitely literally hot off the heels of monstrous success that their last release Bayonetta gave them, those talented bods at Platnium Games have announced their newest title -Vanquish.

While no gamplay footage was shown, a snazzy CG trailer was on display showcasing a setting that is part Halo, District 9 and PN03.

No platforms or further details were give, but 360/PS3 seems like a likely bet.

More as and when.

That which many thought would never happen, has finally happened. It seems the Microsoft’s exclusivity agreement with Rockstar for the GTA IV DLC has finally been revealed as a timed one, as this morning Rockstar games have confirmed that Episodes From Liberty City will be getting a release March 30th.

Just like its 360 counterpart, the PC & PS3 versions will be standalone and not require a copy of GTA IV to function.

Rockstar head honcho had this to say: “It’s been a long time coming, but we are proud to finally deliver Episodes From Liberty City for the PC and PlayStation 3. We appreciate the patience of our PlayStation 3 and PC fans worldwide, and we look forward to putting the games in your hands this March.”

Additionally, the episodes will be downloadable through their respective digital distribution platforms.

Win.

Important things to note here:

1) It’s a multiplayer demo that clocks in at a 1.35 GB download.

2) You get to try out the Port Valdez map.

3) The demo ends on February 25th.

4) Why the heck are you reading this blog and not downloading it?

Enjoy.

The style obsessed and trendy folks who were watching a cheery Steve Jobs unveil the Apple iPad last night, found themselves swooning over it’s smart dimensions, iBook functionality and of course, just how the hell they were going to justify forking out $499 + for such a frivolous device.

For the rest of us however, who are interested in y’know games, the iPad surely doesn’t represent anything to get too excited about, if at all.

EA was on hand to throw their support behind the machine, showing us in-game demonstrations of Need For Speed Shift and a Tiger Woods Golf title. Both games appeared to be running at a smooth clip, with fairly high resolution graphics; think slightly higher-def PS2 visuals and you kinda get the picture. Apple also revealed that the iPad is also 100% fully compatible with existing iPhone software and boasts a double-pixel enhancement method which effectively allows the natively lower resolution titles to be viewed on the larger screen without any noticeable degradation in visual fidelity.

Based on this, it seems like Apple find themselves in a little bit of a predicament if they are attempting to market it in any shape or form as a gaming platform. Ironically, the first obstacle that they have to overcome is their own success. The well-known success of the app store and it’s sub $1 purchases has led to consumer expectation that the majority of iPhone titles are cheap throwaway entertainment, with only ‘premium’ titles such as GTA: Chinatown Wars hitting that $9.99 mark.

Therefore, who will really fork out more for what will ostensibly be only graphically superior versions of iPhone titles that they already own, or could purchase at a cheaper price? Michael Patcher, the well known analyst for Morgan Wedbrush Securities alluded to the fact that Apple were a victim of their own success and that with the current pricing model, consumers will be loathed to pay more and developers would need to double prices to $19.99, to make any kind of decent profitable return.

Additionally given the touch control input of the iPad, it seems likely that just like the iPhone, its strongest titles will be games that leverage that functionality in new and interesting ways; with games like Rolando springing to mind. These games however, are already available in iPhone form and while the compatibility with the App Store is most welcome, there really isn’t a whole lot that the device can do (in functional terms at least), to distance itself from the iPhone.

This, compounded by a high retail price across all SKU’s, will create a strong entry barrier for consumers, ultimately meaning that the rest of us, who don’t look at games as throwaway entertainment, will still stick with our PSP’s and DS’s as our preferred form of portable gaming.

Just my two cents.

Via that almighty conduit of communication that is Twitter, developer Criterion has confirmed that they will be showing off their much anticipated take on the long running Need For Speed franchise.

Behind closed doors.

So yep, no lovely media for the masses to gorge themselves on, but as always some folks have problems keeping their gums from flapping so expect leakage of details from said presentation in the near future.

Debunking the original rumour that the only way UK folks would be able to play the God Of War Collection would be through the ludicrously priced Ultimate Edition of God Of War III, comes the confirmation that the God Of War Collection will be available to purchase at a date and price to be determined.

Good news this, as not all folks like importing games and additionally will not want to fork out £110 just to enjoy the God Of War Collection.

On Thursday February 11th, Microsoft will host their X10 gaming show. An expo designed to showcase all things 360, the last one took place in 2006 with the X06 show and featured a number of announcements such as the new Splinter Cell game (oh how that one has changed) and the revival of the Banjo Kazooie franchise.

Unlike the previous shows however, this show will seemingly be based around raising awareness of known key releases for the rest of the year such as Halo: Reach, Fable III and of course, Project Natal.

As always, it would be silly to discount the notion of any new announcements, so keep your eyes peeled for any developments that arise from the show.

Square-Enix has confirmed that classic JRPG’s Final Fantasy I & II, will hit the iPhone with new touch controls, new dungeons and additional bonus content.

A release date and price has yet to be determined.

Monster Hunter Tri, y’know that best selling Wii game in the land of the rising sun that doesn’t involve fitness, raising an animal or bashing question-marked blocks with your head, is due to receive a European release on the Wii sometime in April.

The four player online co-op enabled title, will continue the Monster Hunter tradition of killing big beasts and doing quests to amass lots and lots of lovely loot. In addition to this, there will also be a two-player co-op arena mode and an in-depth story mode which acts as a good starting point for folks new to the monster bashing series.