Insomniac Talks In-Game XMB & PLAYSTATION Network

In a recent interview with Insomniac's Chief Creative Officer Brian Hastings, he discusses the power of the PLAYSTATION 3 and new IPs.

One of the questions that Brian Hastings is asked is about the PLAYSTATION Network, and how it's not a service as well built as Xbox LIVE. They ask him his views on the subject.

He replies that once Sony allows in-game XMB access, a lot of LIVE's advantages will go away. He goes on to say that Sony has some advantages over LIVE, being the fact that they support dedicated servers for their games, which allows us to create a lag-free play experience and avoid host advantage problems.

He also says that the PLAYSTATION Network's open approach to the online gives the developers more freedom to design the players online experience anyway they want.

Hastings likes some things about LIVE that he wishes Sony had done. One being including a headset in every PLAYSTATION 3 package, helping to build the online community and make friends online. He also likes achievements and he wishes they were part of PLAYSTATION 3 games as well. He likes the idea of comparing your score to other gamers like you can do on LIVE.

[Read: Brian Hastings Interview]

Devil May Cry 4: 29 New Screenshots

Capcom just released a big bunch of images from Devil May Cry 4, showing four characters. Those characters being Dante, Blitz, Nero and Kyrie. Enjoy!

View the screenshots at the link below.

[Via GamerSyde]

Naughty Dog Interested in PLAYSTATION Network

In a recent interview with Naughty Dog, GamesIndustry asks Evan Wells about their interest in the PLAYSTATION Network:

"I think it could come in handy during some of the transitional roll over periods between games if there hasn't been enough pre-production work done to get started on the next big project,"

Naughty Dog could use the online PLAYSTATION Store to provide downloadable content for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, their first PLAYSTATION 3 release. In Uncharted, there are also medal points, expecting that soon they can be attached with PLAYSTATION Home.

Hopefully, in the future we will see these implements.

[Via GamesIndustry]

Assassin's Creed: Thoughts of the UFC

In t his new video, the fighters of the UFC give their thoughts on Ubisoft Montreal's newest release, the assassin's game where you control Altair, Assassin's Creed.

Valkyrie of the Battlefield: New Preview Video

A new preview video of the upcoming Valkyrie of the Battlefield from SEGA for the PLAYSTATION 3. This new Strategy RPG will direct a group of rebels ready to defend their country Gallia to repel the invasion. The game proposes a unique fighting system a turn called BLiTZ (Battle of Live Tactical Zones), partly based on the management of units on the map of the battlefield. The release of the game is scheduled for spring 2008 in Japan, no word on a US release date yet.

Buzz! The Mega Quiz Review

This isn't your average game show. Regis isn't going to be asking you if you want to use a life-line on this show. Instead, we have everybody's favorite show host, Buzz, a crazy host who looks like the Canadians in South Park.

When RocketXL sent us Buzz! The Mega Quiz, I was waiting for the right moment to start playing. Then, two nights ago, my cousin got engadged (Congratultaions Roe!), her and some friends came over to celebrate, and we started up four hours worth of game time.

The game is not a game you can put down easily, it's an addictive title featuring wacky buzzing sounds, around 14 characters to select from, five gameplay modes, and eight crazy addictive multiplayer rounds, supporting up to eight players. Unfortunately, we only had a chance to do four players.

Of these eight multiplayer rounds, there is Point Picker, Pie Toss, Fastest Finger, Point Stealer, Final Countdown, and more, all in one game. My personal favorite has to be the Pie Toss, whenever you get something right, you pick someone to throw a pie at, but you need to act fast, you might hit yourself in trying.

Oddly, only about one of the rounds uses the big red buzzer, which is the round where you tell which of the pictures it the answer, as in "Who Is Taller?" and they show a picture of Shaq and Micheal Jordan. Whoever gets it right stays in, whoever gets it wrong is out until one remains, than the next picture stars.

Whats great about Buzz! The Mega Quiz is the longevity of the game. It features over 6,000 questions with subjects based on history, music, sports, movies, and even the unknown such as UFOs and paranormal events, which happens to be my favorite subject for those questions. Something that got me sad was that they called Kevin Federline a rapper in one of the questions. I guess they like to joke too.

Point Picker is the round where you get to pick your categories, each player picks a category, answers two-three questions on the category, then the next player gets to pick. You pick off of a wheel (shown below), I think you can pretty much tell which one is about the paranormal. After the questions are done, you move on to the next round.

Questions vary so much in this game. One second your answering what the national bird is of Minnesota, the other your listening to Funky Town and naming the artist.

Some other great features in this game were the Team Play, where you use one buzzer and keep passing it, or the QuickFire Quiz, where you pick your question list and see who's the fastest, and QuizMaster, where you ask your own questions, your friends answer, and you use a PS2 controller to tell your friends if their right or wrong.

Buzz! The Mega Quiz lacks online play, but thats fine really. As long as you got family and friends to play with, it will last you till the Buzz title we are really waiting for releases in the Spring of next year, Buzz! Quiz TV for the PLAYSTATION 3. As of now, Buzz! The Mega Quiz is enough to hold us off.

Now, to close this review off, if your the kind of person who likes to have fun, all at the cost of only $40 (four buzzers included), likes to mak their own questions and just have a blast with your surrounding people, then Buzz is the game for you. If your a constant watcher of Jeopardy and dream to be on it, then this is a game for you as well.

Presentation: 7.7
Buzz! The Mega Quiz doesn't really show any AAA-ness to it's look, but when you get into it, you can't get off.

Gameplay: 8.0
With over 6,000 questions to answer, chances are you'll probably never answer them all, so everytime you play, your going to see something new.

Graphics: 7.9
The game is not based off graphics, but what we see in the character models is a simple 70's type style players along with a South Park Canadian looking host.

Audio: 7.8
Buzz's constant preachings are quite annoying at times, but the game feature some nice background sounds.

Replayability: 8.9
It's a game for parties, it's a game for friends, it's a game for family, it's a game that doesn't end. This game will most likely last you at least a year if you're really into it.

Final Verdict: 8.1 out of 10

Ceramic White 40GB PLAYSTATION 3 Unboxed

Let's face it, there are some many crazy people out there who enjoy unboxing their system more than they do playing it. It's a moment of happiness. It says "YES! I finally got it!". Thats the reason these unboxing videos are so loved by the gaming community of the internet. So sit back, grab a soda, and watch the Ceramic White 40GB PLAYSTATION 3 (only available in Korea & Japan) get unboxed.