PS3 Fanboy

Eternal Sonata will be out in North America in a little over three weeks from now. Those of you who've held out getting the original title on the 360 are probably looking forward to that Oct. 21 date, but how does playing the game right now on your PS3 sound? Sounds good, doesn't it? Well you can download a newly released demo off the Japanese PS Store if you wish and see how things look on the PS3. While you wait for your 600MB download to finish, why not have a short read of our demo impressions to help get you through it?

Anyway, if you've been interested in this title, you might have played it on a friend's 360 or perhaps tried out the XBL demo previously. If you've played it before, you'll notice right away that the game on PS3 looks exactly the same as the original. In other words, it still looks incredibly beautiful with its rich colors and crisp, sharp graphics. Also, if you've already tried out the 360 demo, you'll notice that this new Japanese one is practically a carbon copy -- it follows Allegretto, Polka and Beat on a trip through Tenuto Village and the Heaven's Mirror Forest. So if you've tried it out before, then there's nothing new here for you -- unless you want to make comparisons between versions. For those who've never played Eternal Sonata, you should definitely make some time to try this demo out and continue reading after the break.

Seemingly every high profile video game gets a Limited Edition these days. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm is no exception. The gorgeous PS3-exclusive anime fighter will be getting its own primo pack. It'll come packaged in a deluxe SteelBook™ (it's really trademarked) case featuring alternate artwork with a protective slip cover. Each Limited Edition bundle will include an exclusive soundtrack music CD featuring 18 original tracks, an individually numbered limited edition Laser Cell™ depicting Naruto and Sasuke in battle, and two exclusive limited edition collectible cards. The Limited Edition will go for a $10 premium, with a retail price of $69.99. It will be available through GameStop, Best Buy, GameCrazy, Amazon.com and other select retailers this November (not October, as previously announced).

PS3 hardware is at the heart of one incredibly popular Namco Bandai game. You may have heard of it -- it's called Tekken 6. While we patiently wait for the inevitable console port, it appears that the Japanese developer has created yet another arcade game for the PS3-powered System 357. Razing Storm is an arcade light gun game set in the year 2030 -- and players must take down (you guessed it) terrorists.

According to Siliconera, the game will produce glorious HD graphics for use in the cabinet's massive 62 inch screen. The environments appear to be completely destructible, and enemies are supposed to respond to their surroundings with advanced AI. Those that frequent light gun games are familiar with the incredible stupidity of light gun enemies.

While critically lampooned, Time Crisis 4 (a PS3 exclusive) was a fun attempt at recreating the light gun genre for home play. We wouldn't mind seeing Razing Storm make the console transition -- we really want to dust off our Guncons.

Unfortunately, ensemble titles involving characters from multiple Japanese companies traditionally failed to get released in the US due to licensing issues (think Namco x Capcom and Jump Super Stars). So most of us pretty much thought Cross Edge was going to suffer the same fate; afterall, it features characters from IPs such as Darkstalkers, Disgaea, Ar Tonelico to name a few. Luckily, Siliconera is reporting that "trusted source" has informed them that a company "we know very well" will be releasing the title stateside.

We are crossing our fingers and toes hoping this is true, and it will certainly help quench the thirst of PS3 owners for JPRGs. Check out the known roster of the game after the jump, again courtesy of Siliconera.

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 will be headed to the US in 2009, Bandai Namco announced today. Originally named Gundam Musou 2, the game will feature an online versus mode, as well as "larger Mobile Suits, more epic battles and compelling storyline." It sounds like more of the same mech-on-mech action, but if you are a fan of the Dynasty Warriors franchise, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

How about a picture of these giant mobile armors? That's one of them above. Check out more screenshots in the gallery below.

[Via press release]

The Japanese adore all that is Gundam and Dynasty Warriors. So it wasn't long before someone decided to mash these two ideas together, which resulted in last year's Dynasty Warriors: Gundam (a.k.a. Gundam Musou in Japan).

It looks like Koei is bringing us another installment of the series named, you guessed it, Gundam Musou 2. Though more or less the same hack-and-slash affair, the sequel will predictably contain more robots, new attacks, new special moves and more weapons. A new story mode brings a playable version of the first original Gundam theatrical release Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack. Lastly, mobile armors that are ten times the size of your mech will serve as some of the game's bosses. Mobile armors confirmed to be in the game include the MA-08 Big Zam from Mobile Suit Gundam and the NZ-333 Alpha Azieru from Char's Counterattack. For more details on this game, check out 1UP.

Release date is pegged for this winter in Japan for the price 7,800 yen. No release dates for other regions have been announced for the time being.

If you're one of the few that's already in the Home beta, you may have already experienced the underwhelming virtual arcade, located in the Games Space within Home. The new version being released for Japan will expand the arcade offerings, and the new choices look yummy. Namco Bandai is offering seven games within Home, with four revealed already: Dig Dug, Galaga, Pac-Man and Xevious. Three more "secret" games will be revealed later.

More intriguing, a 2D Home-exclusive version of echochrome can also be accessed from within Home. With more and more game offerings being added to the online service, we're confident that everyone will want to access the virtual world at least once -- if only to play these games.

[Via Joystiq & Siliconera]

Over the weekend, a video of Darth Vader and Yoda fighting each other in Soulcalibur IV was leaked onto the internet (and then it was subsequently pulled). Currently, Darth Vader lives only on the PS3 version, while Yoda lives only on the Xbox 360 version. Could Namco Bandai be planning DLC which unlocks the famed Star Wars characters in both versions? It would make a lot of sense, wouldn't it?

According to the Korean PlayStation site, Yoda will be available for download from the PSN. That sounds like DLC to us. While Namco Bandai hasn't confirmed anything yet, we wouldn't be surprised if Yoda (and who knows what other characters) ended up appearing in Soulcalibur IV.

[Via Siliconera; Image via GamersReports]

Namco Bandai finally fessed up to the existence of an English language version of Eternal Sonata at E3 this year. The upcoming PS3 version will add tons of new features over the Xbox 360 original, such as new cutscenes and characters. Playable characters include Serenade and Crescendo, and players can now customize the look of members of their party with a variety of new outfits. There are also new dungeons and different endings.

Players can expect Eternal Sonata on their PS3s this Fall.

Despite appearing in the Soulcalibur IV UbiDays 2008 Transcendence trailer, Algol didn't become official until today. Heralded as the "strongest character ever in SC series" by character designer Hideo Yoshie, Algol possesses the Soul Calibur on his left hand and the Soul Edge on his right. He can also fly in the air and has ten kinds of weapons built into his body. Algol's armor is of a bird motif and originated in an ancient kingdom lost to the sands of time. While the above picture shows Algol when he was still human, his hair color change signifies his transformation into something more.

Gallery: Soulcalibur IV

According to online retailer amazon.com (data collected by PunchJump), Namco Bandai's upcoming fighter, Soulcalibur IV has been far more popular on PS3 than on the Xbox 360. Pre-orders for the fighter have been impressive on Sony's console. The PS3 versions of the game have amassed 72% of sales (52% premium, 20% regular edition) compared to the 360 versions' combined 28%.

Such impressive numbers show that a third-party title can perform just as well, if not better, on PS3 than on Xbox 360. What can account for such an impressive showing by PlayStation fans? Could it be the series regulars from the PS2, the superior D-Pad, or the dark allure of Darth Vader over Yoda?

[Via N4G]

Despite earlier reports of a mandatory hard drive install of more gargantuan proportions, a scan of the back cover of the Japanese version of Soulcalibur IV shows much more reasonable requirements. The mandatory install itself will be 2,850MB or 2.85GB while a save file will start at 2048KB or 2MB. Obviously, the more characters you create, the more space it is going to take up on your hard drive. Does this seem more reasonable to you guys? Do you still mind sacrificing some HD space for faster load times? Or still hoping developers eliminate them altogether?

[Thanks, Emophia!]

The anime invasion of Soulcalibur IV is relentless. It never ceases to end; with now having the fifth character revealed, how many more does Namco plan on adding? The latest anime-inspired, original combatant to join the roster is Kamikirimusi. She's some sort of half-demon and is a creation from Hirokazu Hisayuki whose previous works have included The Visions of Escaflowne and Tekken: The Movie.

As we've mentioned in previous posts, all the new anime cameo characters are female. None are male. Perhaps, that's a good thing as it balances out the very male-centric Star Wars cameo cast (Vader and his apprentice for the PS3 version). With Soulcalibur IV's release only three weeks away, it's a wonder what other stuff Namco will hit us with next.