Section: Gaming News, Exclusives, Features, Collecting, Giveaways, Lists, Previews, Consoles, PS3, Gear, Accessories, Audio, Books, Displays, Furniture, Ads & Media, Movies, Other Media, Genres, 3D, Casual, Online, Party, Sim, Game-Genres-Other

Home Theater

Special items and Giveaways

This week members of the Sony Home community are treated to exclusive clips from Criss Angel’s upcoming show and an exclusive limited time free item at the theater now through Aug. 12, 2009. The free item is a coffin-style sofa for their personal spaces, also, while watching the clip players will be entered into a give away for one of two real-life coffins used in Criss Angel: Mindfreak and one of three Criss Angel: Burn DVDs and books. Only five winners will be selected and to participate register and log on to Sony Home and visit Auditorium 1 to watch the video. Players can find the Theater in Central Plaza or by selecting the space from the World Map.

Home Shopping Mall

There really isn’t anything new going on space wise on home but there are a few new items available at the shopping mall located in Central Plaza, check it out:

Threads 1

Males Only:

• Western shirt for 99 cents
• Scenester Street top for 99 cents
• Victorian Vest and Shirt for 99 cents
• Padded Jacket for 99 cents
• Flower Power Button-down Shirt for 99 cents
• Bomber Jacket for 99 cents
• Argyle Ensemble for 99 cents
• Down Vest for 99 cents
• Board Shorts for 99 cents

Females Only

• Buckled Boots for 49 cents
• Ski Parka for 99 cents
• Cheongsam Top for 99 cents
• Jean Shorts for 99 cents

Threads 2

Both Male and Female:

• Animated Smiley Face T-shirt for $1.99
• Animated Revolving Earth T-shirt for $1.99

Males Only:

• Band Jacket for 99 cents
• Animated Growing Vines T-shirt for $1.99

Costume Shop

Males Only:

• Deep Sea Diver Bundle cost $1.99

Individual items:

• Deep Sea Diving Gloves cost 49 cents
• Deep Sea Diving Boots cost 49 cents
• Deep Sea Diving Helmet cost 99 cents
• Deep Sea Diving Suit Top cost 99 cents
• Deep Sea Diving Suit Pants cost 99 cents

Females Only:

• Cave Woman Bundle cost $1.99

Individual items:

• Prehistoric Bracelet cost 49 cents
• Prehistoric Fur Boots cost 49 cents
• Prehistoric Bodice cost 99 cents
• Prehistoric Mini-skirt cost 99 cents

Read [Playstation Blog] Site [PlayStation] Site [Criss Angel’s Official Website]

Full Story ? | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article ?

Section: Gaming News, Features, Lists, Mashups

Haven’t caught all of the Gamertell news this week?? Here’s your chance to catch up on this week’s top 10 articles!

• Monster Hunter Tri on the way to the Wii in 2010
  ” Capcom’s formally announced what many of us already knew thanks to the company’s May investor briefing – Monster Hunter Tri, aka Monster Hunter 3, is going to be released outside of Japan. The game just…” MORE ?
• Special Effects: A few fanciful game industry predictions
  “There’s no doubt that the current economic recession is having an impact on the video game industry. Companies are downsizing, consolidating or closing (which means games are getting delayed or canceled), games stores are cutting back and game-related publications are also feeling the pressure. Of course, a recession cannot last…” MORE ?
• Apple App Store gaming update for the week of July 27 to August 2, 2009
  “The Apple App Store gaming update is Gamertell’s weekly look at the previous week’s Apple App Store game releases. We cover them all – good and not so good – in their respective categories with a breakdown…” MORE ?
• PlayStation Store Update: Let them eat cake! (August 2 to 8, 2009)
  ” This week’s PlayStation Store is featuring the game Fat Princess for $14.99 for the PlayStation 3, this game is about capturing and keeping your enemies princess while rescuing your own, except there’s…” MORE ?
• Sony Home Update: Zombies spotted, Fat Princess wants cake
  ” This week on PlayStation Home there are several new events taking place that will continue to entertain the PS Home community and one very promising upgrade to one of PS Home’s hangouts.? New and…” MORE ?
• Gamertell Review: Help Wanted for Wii
  ” Title: Help Wanted Price: $29.99 System(s): Wii Release Date: May 12, 2009 Publisher (Developer): Hudson (Hudson Soft) ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+ for Comic Mischief, Mild Cartoon Violence and Mild Suggestive Themes Pros: 50…” MORE ?
• Get Madden NFL 10 free with a Sports Illustrated subscription
  ” Boom! If you don’t have to be the first kid on the block to play Madden NFL 2010, Sports Illustrated has a deal for you. You can get 28 weeks of Sports Illustrated and a copy of the wildly…” MORE ?
• Pokemon Platinum owners can connect to Wi-Fi for Darkrai
  “Owners of Pokemon Platinum for the DS will be able to do what Action Replay DS owners have all probably done by now, get the Member Card to trigger the Darkrai catching event! The MORE ?
• Sims go around the world with the first Sims 3 expansion pack
  ” That was quick. EA has already announced the first Sims 3 expansion pack. Of course, we all knew this announcement was coming. Honestly, I think it’s a bit tardy. After all, the game came…” MORE ?
• A look at the allure of Harvest Moon
  ” The Harvest Moon games are something special. They’ve developed a devoted cult following, which people who have never experienced the games may not understand. Especially since, on the surface, each game seems to be pretty much the same.…” MORE ?

Full Story ? | Written by NEWS for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article ?

Section: Gaming News, Features, Giveaways, Ads & Media, Print, Game-Companies, Publishers, Genres, Sports

Boom! If you don’t have to be the first kid on the block to play Madden NFL 2010, Sports Illustrated has a deal for you.

You can get 28 weeks of Sports Illustrated and a copy of the wildly popular game for $49. There’s also an NFL films DVD about John Madden’s road to the Hall of Fame.

If you cancel the subscription you can keep the game and DVD for $26 (you get the rest refunded, they don’t hit you for an additional $26).

Needless to say, they’re not going to ship it to you before the game’s official release. EA’s a multi-billion corporation for a reason, folks. But if you can just wait 4-6 weeks, you can get the game for less than half of its regular retail price. If you can’t wait, well, I bet you’ve already got your pre-order turned and been obsessively playing the demo for weeks now. Yeah, me too.

Initial indications are that whichever route you take to purchase, this could be one of the years that Madden is more revolutionary than evolutionary. The big improvement EA is touting this year is the Pro-Tak animation technology. This reportedly allows players to break out of any tackle animation, so the play isn’t over until it’s over. This, in theory, makes it easier for running backs to keep throwing out the special moves and for quarterbacks to evade sacks.

As a defender, you can keep adding to the pile up to nine-man gang tackles. Fights for the fumble are getting more interactive with a button-pressing mini-game.

Yes sports fans, quick time has come to Madden Football.

Read [Time Inc.] Also Read [Examiner]

Full Story ? | Written by Brian Allen for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article ?

Section: Exclusives, Originals, Features, Nostalgia, Consoles, GameCube, PS1, PS2, Wii, Handhelds, DS, GBA, PSP, Game-Companies, Developers, Publishers, Genres, 2D, 3D, Sim

The Harvest Moon games are something special. They’ve developed a devoted cult following, which people who have never experienced the games may not understand. Especially since, on the surface, each game seems to be pretty much the same. Natsume obviously gets it, as the series is probably it’s best known property. Games in the series have appeared on practically every system, including the Wii, GameCube, PS2, PS1, PSP, DS, GBA, Game Boy Color, Game Boy and SNES.

It’s only when you take a closer look at the Harvest Moon series that you appreciate what the games allow players to achieve. I recently had the opportunity to rent the Wii entry, Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility, and fell in love with the series again because of it.

So if you’ve never played the games and are wondering why people are drawn to them, here’s a brief overview of Harvest Moon‘s many charms.

There’s more to the world than what you can see.

There’s a strong fantasy element present in the Harvest Moon world, in the form of the Harvest Goddess, Harvest Sprites, and occasionally the Harvest God, Witch Princess and Wizard Prince. These fantasy characters won’t do mystical and magical things every day, but sometimes Harvest Sprites will help you at your farm or the Harvest Goddess will bestow some kind of blessing. It’s really more about the element of fantasy being there, but the whole point of the game is to focus on hard work and real, daily life.

Hard work is rewarded.

In Harvest Moon the overall goal is to be a successful farmer. And, thankfully, there’s really no way to fail. If you want to focus on crops to build your wealth, go for it. Or if you’d prefer to raise animals, that’s fine too. There’s really no way to totally waste or lose money, especially in the Wii entry, Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility, where you can take a part time job during the day at one of the island’s establishments to earn some extra cash. As long as you’re making some sort of effort, you’ll gradually earn money that you can put toward expanding your place.

There’s no need to rush.

There are no deadlines in the majority of the Harvest Moon games. You can work at your own pace to achieve your goals, and you can spend as much or as little time a day/week/month playing the game to reach those goals. Once you’ve developed a basic farming routine for essential work and your character has built up some stamina, it’s easy to complete many tasks. There is an in-game clock, but unless it’s a festival day, you need to attend to a potential spouse event or you need to get to one of the stores before it closes, you can pretty much ignore that.

Small actions can make a difference in the lives of others.

Harvest Moon also has elements of a communication game. Players can develop relationships with all of the townspeople, and sometimes even the supernatural characters like the Harvest Goddess, Harvest Sprites, Witch Princess, Wizard or Harvest God. If you become good friends with people, you could unlock special events, earn the right to enter their homes, get special items, learn new recipes or perhaps even get one of the bachelor or bachelorette characters to marry your character. Building a relationship could be somewhat trying in earlier games, where you’d have to talk and give gifts to townspeople, but in more recent games relationships can be built by talking on a regular basis or working at the same job together.

No two games are ever really the same.

There are two basic plot elements to every Harvest Moon game – the Harvest Goddess is in some kind of trouble and there’s a dilapidated farm your character is going to restore to prosperity. Plus there’s the whole animal/crop raising and townspeople to make friends with. Aside from the fundamentals, Harvest Moon is sort of a sandbox game. Since there are no requirements that must be met to have a successful farm, you can achieve it any way you want. So you could mine, ranch, harvest, fish or work part time jobs until you get enough money to expand your little empire. Plus, there can be different villagers, crops or farm animals in each entry. Occasionally the tasks to assist the Harvest Goddess do require players to perform certain tasks, but again, assisting her isn’t mandatory. Each time you play, you can use different strategies to succeed.

Site [Natsume]

Full Story ? | Written by Jenni Lada for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article ?

Section: Gaming News, Features, Lists, Mashups

Haven’t caught all of the Gamertell news this week?? Here’s your chance to catch up on this week’s top 10 articles!

• New Battlestar Galactica series to begin airing January 2010
  “SyFy sent out a press release today (July 27, 2009) announcing that the new Battlestar Galactica series, titled Caprica, will start airing 9:00 p.m., January 22, 2010, on the SyFy channel. The first episode…” MORE ?
• Comic Con 2009: Gettin’ telekenetic with Mattel’s Mind Flex
  “Have you ever thought you had telekinesis? Well it turns out everyone does! I didn’t believe it myself until I tried out the new Mind Flex game by Mattel at Comic Con this year.? …” MORE ?
• Comic Con 09: Hands on with Smith Micro’s Anime Studio Pro 6
  ”? Animation and manga software company Smith Micro has just released it’s newest version of Anime Studio and Gamertell was able to get an exclusive look at it at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con.…” MORE ?
• Gamertell Interview: Madden NFL 10 Wii art director, Tim Spangler
  ”? I was able to meet the art director of the Madden NFL 10 for the Wii, Tim Spangler, at this year’s San Diego Comic Con (2009). Tim has…” MORE ?
• Three free, browser-based, text-based RPGs worth gaining experience in
  “RPGs weren’t always glorious, lavish epics with cutting edge graphics, intense character development, voice acting and entire world to explore. No, they started out more simply. With pen, paper and people’s imaginations. Some people have sought to reclaim that nostalgic…” MORE ?
• Apple App Store gaming update for the week of July 20 to July 26, 2009
  “The Apple App Store gaming update is Gamertell’s weekly look at the previous week’s Apple App Store game releases. We cover them all – good and not so good – in their respective categories with a breakdown…” MORE ?
• PlayStation Store Update: Shattered (July 26 to Aug. 1, 2009)
  ”? This week’s PlayStation Store is featuring the game Shatter for $7.99 for the PlayStation 3, this…” MORE ?
• Opinion: When a DS device is an in-game tool, a game becomes believable
  “Video games are designed to take players into an entirely new world. The goal of developers is to make this new environment identifiable, and to create an atmosphere where players can lose themselves in this virtual world and feel they’re a part…” MORE ?
• Comic Con 2009: A closer look at three new Playstation games
  ” Playstation was hands-on at Comic Con this year and Sony brought out a few of its best games for the PS3 and PSP to show off. I attended a media party at the Hard Rock Hotel (across the street…” MORE ?
• Comic Con 09: A peek at DC Universe
  ”? DC Comics fans are surely anxious for the release of Sony Online’s newest MMO, DC Universe, to come out on the PC and PS3. I was able to get a look at this awesome title at MORE ?

Full Story ? | Written by NEWS for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article ?

Section: Exclusives, Features, Interviews, Ads & Media, TV, Web

Fear Clinic is one of the first series that will be exclusively online and will play exclusively on Fearnet.com sometime in October 2009. The show is directed by Robert Hall (Sarah Connor Chronicles, Laid to Rest) and includes horror greats Robert Englund and Kane Hodder (Freddy and Jason, respectively), co-stars Danielle Harris (Halloween remake) and newcomer Lucas Till, among others.

The show is about Dr. Andover (Englund) who claims to be able to cure any phobia by using his patented “fear chamber.” Several unsuspecting clients come to his clinic hoping to get cured. They realize however, the horrors that are in store for them. There are five episodes made so far, each dealing with a different phobia.

I was fortunate enough to sit at a roundtable interview with Hall and the actors to discuss this upcoming series.

First up was Englund, who I could write this whole article about alone. Englund was a nice, docile old man, despite the usual characters he plays. He is also very animated and loves to talk about his projects and past endeavors. It was actually hard to keep him on the topic of this series.

“[Fear Clinic] is looking to raise the bar on the horror experience. It started with a script written by Aaron Drane who wanted to put this series on the web, so we had to figure out how to chunkcate these chapters into episodes.” He also mentioned that each episode would only be about 5-8 minutes long, and that it is all spent anticipating what will happen. “It’s great working with such a fun cast, but we end up killing off half of them.”

Hall, who is the director and producer of the series, was also excited to talk. “I grew up as a horror kid. Jason 7 was my favorite horror movie, so to be able to work with greats like Englund and Hodder is a horror kids dream.”

I asked what he thought about the series being on the internet rather than on TV and he said, “I’m actually cool with it being online, with things like Hulu and YouTube, I don’t think it matters anymore. You know it’s gonna get to people.”

I talked to Danielle Harris about her character Susan who is the first client. Her character suffers from scotophobia (fear of the dark). She said, “Susan’s parents died when she was young, and no one really cared about her. She meets Andover and, even though he is probably trying to kill her, he is the first person to really care about her, which gives them a weird sort of relationship.”

I asked Englund about his character and how he interacts with Harris’ character. “Andover can’t cure her and, because of this, she becomes his obsession, his Achilles heal, because she is his only failure.”

We will see Harris a lot in these episodes, as she tries to escape from this clinic, unlike the other phobia’s who will only be dealt with in one episode.

Kane, who is mainly a stunt man, plays Andover’s nurse in the series. He told me that it was great to work with such a great cast. “Me and Englund were actually in several movies together, but this is the first time we are in scenes, acting together.” He also told me that he prefers to be an actor and a stuntman because it’s easier to coordinate an actor when you are playing them.

Finally there was Lucas Till who is best known for his role as Travis in the Hannah Montana movie. “It is really cool to be able to work with Englund and Hodder in this show, I am not a huge fan of the horror genre, so this is all new to me.” Till worked previously with Hall in Laid to Rest, which is how he got the role.

I had a good time talking to these awesome people and it really got me excited about this new series. It is unclear whether or not their will be more than five episodes since, as Hall explained, it really depends on how the show does and how audiences perceive it. “I would love there to be more and more shows on the internet, and it is great that we are the first one,” Kane said.

Site [Fear Clinic] Read [Dread Central]

Full Story ? | Written by Jessica Moen for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article ?

Section: Gaming News, Exclusives, Features, PCs, Mac

Animation and manga software company Smith Micro has just released it’s newest version of Anime Studio and Gamertell was able to get an exclusive look at it at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con.

Anime Studio is a program that allows you create fun and detailed Anime cartoons. It’s easy to use and great for a beginning animator. I was able to get a hands-on view of all the features of this program.

The animator started out with a basic drawing – a big blob – and then got to the animating. By clicking on an icon, the animator was able to add bends to his blob so that it was able to bend it’s appendages. He also showed me how to expand or contrast an object so that it got bigger or smaller as it walked across the screen.

On feature I thought was cool was the motion sensor. The animator took an object and had it move across the screen for a few frames, then he added a sensor to a different object that allowed it to follow the first one across the screen. In this case it was a car driving down the street. He added a motion sensor to a chicken he took from the clip art and that caused the chicken to follow the car (at a distance) creating the illusion that it is chasing the car.

I was also shown various effects you can add to your animation such as rain falling, wind blowing, and even allow for a warp speed effect (for a spaceship). These effects are built into the program, and you can also create your own effects. There is also clip art included into the program for quick use, all you have to do is add the animation. You can even import 3D animation onto the program and into Flash.

From what I saw in the display, the controls all seem simple and easy to use. There are many different things you can do to make your character animated. As with everything, it will take practice to get all the effects down, but once you get to know how each icon works, you will be able to make great anime cartoons.

You don’t even have to be an artist, you can make a great cartoon using some of the clip art and scenery already included in the program, as well as your own crude or well drawn characters.

The product is in stores now and is available for $199.99. A bit pricey but worth it if you are truly trying to become an animator or just have a passion for it. It is available on both Mac and Windows.

Site [My Smith Micro] Read [Gamertell] Also read [Designer Today]

Full Story ? | Written by Jessica Moen for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article ?

Section: Gaming News, Exclusives, Features, Lists, Previews, Consoles, PS3, Handhelds, PSP, Gear, Accessories, Comics-and-Graphic-Novels, Gear-Other, Ads & Media, Movies, TV, Other Media, Home Video, Updates, Playstation-Store

This week’s PlayStation Store is featuring the game Shatter for $7.99 for the PlayStation 3, this game is an interesting twist to the old school classic Super Breakout with each level more challenging than the one before. The game features multiple game play modes, a trophy system, more than 90 minutes of original music and a leader board system so players can challenge friends.

Calling all Final Fantasy fans! This is a must download demo of all time. Dissidia Final Fantasy free at the PSN store for the PSP. In this game you can assume the role of your favorite Final Fantasy hero or villain in this battle of ultimate destiny. Who wouldn’t want a second chance to kick Kefka’s butt or even wipe the smile off Kuja’s face again? Or relive the battle between Sephiroth and Cloud? Fight in various environments every Final Fantasy game deserves.

Also, with Comic-Con 2009 underway the PlayStation Store has created a special category for all things comic related from movies to games and an exclusive sneak peek of an upcoming animated film Green Lantern: First Flight available for download.

PSOne Classics:

• Spec Ops: Covert Assault (PS3/$5.99)
• Wild Arms 2 (PS3/$5.99)

Downloadable Games:
*Free themes are available now until July 31, 2009, with purchase of any of these Tomb Raider downloads.

• Tomb Raider: Legend (PSP/$12.99)
• Tomb Raider: Anniversary (PSP/$12.99)

Game Demos:

• Call of Duty: World at War Demo (PS3/Free)

Bonus Game Contents:

• Cross Edge Fluffy Synth Pack (PS3/Free)
• Cross Edge Chicken Prediction Pack (PS3/Free)
• Cross Edge No Sense of Direction Pack (PS3/Free)
• Cross Edge Fickle Woman Pack (PS3/Free)
• Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires Additional Music Set 2 DLC (PS3/Free)
• Dynasty Warriors Strikeforce Pack 3 (PSP/Free)
• Overlord 2 Battle Rock Pack (PS3/$4.99)
• Killzone 2 Napalm & Cordite Pack (PS3/$5.99)
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2010 Banff Springs (PS3/$7.50)
• Wipeout HD? Fury Add-On (PS3/$9.99)
• Killzone 2 DLC Bundle Pack (PS3/$11.99)

Guitar Hero World Tour Music Packs:

• Vagrant Records Track Pack (PS3/$5.49)

Individual Songs:

• “All the World is Mad” by Thrice (PS3/$1.99)
• “The Martyr” by Senses Fail (PS3/$1.99)
• “Young Cardinal” by Alexisonfire (PS3/$1.99)

Rock Band Music Packs:

• Kings of Leon Pack 01 (PS3/$5.49)

Individual Songs:

• “Crawl” by Kings of Leon (PS3/$1.99)
• “Molly’s Chambers” by Kings of Leon (PS3/$1.99)
• “Sex on Fire” by Kings of Leo (PS3/$1.99)

• Rancid Track Pack 01 (PS3/$5.49)

Individual Songs:

• “Last One to Die” by Rancid (PS3/$1.99)
• “Time Bomb” by Rancid (PS3/$1.99)
• “Ruby SoHo” by Rancid (PS3/$1.99)

• Rise Against Track Pack 01 (PS3/$5.49)

Individual Songs:

• “Prayer of the Refugee” by Rise Against (PS3/$1.99)
• “Re-Education (Through Labor)” by Rise Against (PS3/$1.99)
• “Savior” by Rise Against (PS3/$1.99)

Single track:

• “Sweetness and Light” by Lush (PS3/$1.99)

Rock Band Unplugged bonus content:

• “The Boys are Back in Town” by Thin Lizzy (PSP/$1.99)
• “Casey Jones” by Grateful Dead (PSP/$1.99)

Free Game Videos:

• Alpha Protocol CG trailer (E3 Trailer) (PS3/Free)
• Alpha Protocol Developer Diary #4 (PS3/Free
• Battlefield 1943 Launch Trailer (PS3/Free)
• Digger Trailer (PS3/Free)
• Gran Turismo B/W Trailer (PS3/PSP/Free)
• Killzone 2 Boltgun 4400 (PS3/PSP/Free)
• Killzone 2 Napalm & Cordite Pack Video (PS3/PSP/Free)
• The King of Fighters XII Trailer 3 – Be the King (PS3/PSP/Free)

New Movies to Rent or Own:

• Confessions of a Shopaholic. Rated PG (Rent/SD Format/$3.99)
• Confessions of a Shopaholic. Rated PG (Own/SD Format/$14.99)
• Coraline. Rated PG (SD Format/$14.99)
• Fast & Furious. Rated PG-13 (SD Format/$14.99)
• Dragonball: Evolution. Rated PG (Rent/SD Format/$3.99)
• Dragonball: Evolution. Rated PG (Rent/HD Format/$5.99)
• Dragonball: Evolution. Rated PG (Own/SD Format/$14.99)

Wallpapers and Themes:

• Overlord II Minions Theme (PS3/Free)
• Overlord II Overlord Theme (PS3/Free)
• College Football Theme: Miami (PS3/$1.99)
• College Football Theme: North Carolina (PS3/$1.99)
• College Football Theme: Michigan (PS3/$1.99)
• College Football Theme: Tennessee (PS3/$1.99)
• College Football Theme: Utah (PS3/$1.99)

Read [PlayStation Store Blog] Site [PlayStation]

Full Story ? | Written by Lucy Newman for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article ?