Kotaku reports that the world record for playing Pac-Man has once again been broken. The last record was set by getting every pill, every possible ghost, every piece of fruit and playing until level 256, where the game crashes. The previous record for this was done in 3 hours, 42 minutes, and 4 seconds.

The new guy, David Race, has managed it in 3 hours, 41 minutes, and 22 seconds, 42 seconds faster. Although an impressive feat, it kind of makes me a little sad. These people have spent what is likely to be years practising a Pac-Man perfect run, simply to shave off 42 seconds. I’m not saying that they’ve wasted their time, but… well, actually, I am.

Thinking about it, if we were invaded by ghost-like aliens who turned blue when we ate big pills and chased us through mazes, I know who I’d go to for help. Maybe it wasn’t such a waste after all.

If I was at GDC, then I could say that I was at the Nintendo keynote, but instead, I’ll just report some news that I found as if I was. The Wii’s Virtual Console service will soon include arcade games as well as the myriad of other retro platforms it supports. The four available now are:

* Gaplus (Namco Bandai): 600 Wii Points
* Mappy (Namco Bandai): 500 Wii Points
* The Tower Of Druaga (Namco Bandai): 500 Wii Points
* Starforce (Tecmo): 500 Wii Points

Space Harrier and Solvalou are on the way as well. Although British arcades when I was wee didn’t have obscure games like this (at least not the ones near me), I have hope that the addition of arcade games will allow the Virtual Console to be even more comprehensive.

Street Fighter IV is getting closer and closer to release, and is becoming more desirable at a similar rate. It’s videos like this one that are doing a lot of the work. While perhaps some are a little underwhelming, many of the game’s ultra moves live up to their name in spectacle alone. The game’s visual style obviously enhances the whole affair considerably. Hit the jump for a bonus compilation of Super moves.

Oh, and by the way, the game releases February 12, 17, and 20 in Japan, the US, and Europe respectively.

Via Kotaku.

One of the greatest arcade games of all time (at least in my mind) is being ported to the PSP.  For some reason, I don’t think it’s going to be quite the same game.

That’s right, the arcade Gundam game that costs about five dollars a play but really gives a great immersion factor is being made portable for the PSP in Japan on March 26th.  With really no way to redo the cockpit design or control scheme for a portable device, the game takes a big hit. Halving team play from 8v8 to 4v4 probably won’t be a deal breaker for probably anyone, though.

Last time I checked, you can’t sit inside a PSP.

I used to play this game a bit too much.  Every Friday I would spend about 20 or 30 bucks just hopping in the cockpit for around 10 to 15 minutes a go and really just getting my tail handed to me by much, much better pilots.  The crazy part is that I wasn’t alone.  There was a line at my arcade to even play it — it was a real classy setup of put your card down behind everyone else and wait for their cards to disappear.  The reason I really got into this game probably has something to do with my love of MMORPG’s.  Your pilot grows the more you play the game and is allowed access to better gundam’s and parts, your stats are also stored so you can compare with people all over Japan.  That in itself kept me coming back.

The friend I played with on those Friday nights when I should have been out socializing loved the feeling of really flying a gundam.  There are two foot pedals and two joysticks that you have to use to pilot the gundam.  The seat isn’t made for an adult really but those are the only people I ever saw playing.  It didn’t matter how tight the fit is, having that giant screen display like I’m inside the Gundam is an experience in itself.  Sitting in a room with a PSP is nowhere near the same thing.

Who knows — the game may still sell like hot cakes because it’s Gundam, but it just won’t be the same in my eyes.

Source:  Famitsu

It’s not as obvious as you might think, you know. Matt Belinkie over at Overthinking It has the answer- Double Dragon. Maybe the game is a little outdated, but the arcade version’s ending has a long-reaching effect. After reading the (well written) column, I’m convinced. We may well never again see a game which forces you to betray your loyal team-mate and above all, brother at the final step, simply down to ease of programming. Maybe in Gears of War 3, when you’re forced to mow down your trusty team, or in the next Pokémon, where to progress to the end you must slaughter all of your party in a sacrifice to the gods, we will see a similar situation, but the sheer doom faced at the moment where the words “Let’s Fight: 1Player vs. 2Player” are displayed will never be matched. Go read the article, all will become clear.

Street Fighter 4, from what I understand, is not getting a legal arcade release in America (correct me if I’m wrong), but never fear!  The US is getting the console version on both PS3 and Xbox 360, and a character that you may or may not have known was coming was Ryu and Ken’s teacher, referred to as Gouken.

In the arcades here in Japan, he is not a playable character but does show up from time to time if you’re playing right.  I haven’t seen him or Akuma (Gouki) at all in the arcade game because I don’t play it all that much.  He will, however, be playable on the home consoles, and his moves seem to be somewhat of a mix between Ryu, Ken, Akuma (Gouki), and a dash of something all his own.

From what I was told by buddies in school during the heyday of Street Fighter, Gouken had been killed by Akuma over some dispute between them — apparently that was false and he was just in hiding.  Now he is back and ready to take out the other Street Fighters in the new incarnation.

I also remember back in high school, there was an April Fool’s joke where if you beat Street Fighter a certain way you got to fight this guy.  Yeah, my friends and I worked on that a whole weekend once only to later realize it was a hoax.  Those evil, evil men…  Anyhow, this time it’s real and here are some screen shots to prove it.

If he is worth playing or not is yet to be seen.  He is a very imposing man to say the least.  I wouldn’t wanna fight him.

The console version releases around February 12th in Japan, followed shortly thereafter by the U.S. and UK releases on the 17th and 20th, respectively.

Source:  Famitsu

Capcom has confirmed that Backone’s Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD will hit the PlayStation 3 next Tuesday, November 25, and Xbox 360 next Wednesday, November 26. The PlayStation Network usually updates on Thursdays, but the update will occur on Tuesday next week because of Thanksgiving.

Capcom hasn’t set a price for the downloadable fighter yet, but the announcement is sure to come within the next few days.  With Street Fighter IV just around the corner, Super Street Fighter 2 HD is the perfect appetizer for you Street Fighter fanatics.

Source: ShackNews

So I’ve discussed the game and the cards. Today I want to focus on PvP and my final thoughts on the game. I haven’t put near the amount of time some people have put into this game, so my theories may have some flaw to them, and I am far from a master at this game. This is really just a listing of what I’ve learned to do by being beat by the people I have played and using some of those tactics to beat other people.

Crystal Strategy

The first and simplest idea to winning is to just take out the other team’s arcane crystals. There are three of them on a PvP map and they are always in the same place. It seems simple enough but if their team enters the area of the crystal you are attacking, then you stop attacking it to focus on fighting them. This can, of course, slow you down, but if you have a stronger team it isn’t anything to worry about.

When I first started playing PvP, this is the only thought that came to my mind. My cards weren’t strong enough to be effective in battle, so I ran from crystal to crystal trying to lower their life bar before the enemy could take out my whole team. Now PvP match-ups are usually about four levels apart max, so at times I was playing people I had no chance of beating. This is how you can start to annoy the high level people.

As I stated last time, there are some monster cards that lower the power of arcane crystals much faster than any other cards. These are great to have on a team, and also terrible to have. They make your team slower than you could possibly imagine or want. Once you do get to a crystal, though, you’re set. There is a side strategy to using these cards and that is to take out the opponents search eye or shield generator which will give you some speed boosts, letting those slow but dangerous monsters get to the crystals much faster.

Opponent Destruction Strategy

This is the next simple-but-not-as-easy way to win the battle: if you fight and take out the other team completely, their life bar will go down a decent amount. You have to defeat the whole team, though, or this doesn’t do as much good. This really works well for people who have leveled up their cards a bit and have a team that is strong against that particular opponent. I have tried using this strat a few times but always seem to lose out in the end. There is something about this I’m doing wrong and I need to spend a bit more time figuring out how to perfect it.

What really gets me about this method of winning is the monster card’s strength and weakness to certain attacks. If, say, you do dark damage, you are usually weak to light damage. So obviously, if you’re team is solely dark damage monsters and the other is light, it could be a draw, but if they aren’t light then you’re damage won’t be as effective and theirs will work better. There are also cards that can either change your strength, damage, or your weakness thus causing you serious headaches.

“Lock Out” Strategy

This is something new I’m working on. It has not been used on me to its fullest yet in a match, but I used it on someone to achieve a sneaky victory. In the PvP field, there are three gates your team can come through if you lose all teammates or need a quick health recharge. If one is broken by the other team, it can’t be used until you spend time standing in front of it to fix it.

The idea is if you break all three gates down, and then proceed to either attack the other team or work on crystals, they will have no choice than to hurry and fix their gates, or try and take you out to get some time to repair their gates. The gates do repair themselves but very, very slowly. I have taken out all three gates on someone before and then went to the furthest crystal from them and cleaned house. This strat doesn’t work well if their team moves faster than yours, though, so it’s a bit tricky.

Conclusion

Well, that is about all there is to Lord of Vermilion so far. It’s a fun card game with some great card art. You don’t have to get every card in the whole game to have fun, and you don’t have to have many cards to start. If you are in Japan for a length of time and feel like trying it out, go for it — you really don’t need too high a Japanese language skill to play it, and even if you have trouble, the person sitting next to you may give you some simple tips for playing. I recently upgraded from the weak plastic card holders to stronger stuff because some of the more serious players rock their cards pretty hard while combating, and I think I’m almost at their level. We’ll see, though.

Welcome to the second part of my write up on the currently Japan only Lord of Vermilion. In the last piece I discussed the basic overview of how the game worked and what’s involved. Today I plan on going a bit more in depth with the cards that are the focus of the game. Just like any other card game there are factions, interesting artwork, rarity, and a few surprises. So sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.

Factions

There are currently seven factions found in Lord of Vermilion. These aren’t direct translations but basically they are: The Beasts, The Demons, The Angels, The Devils, The Undead, The Underwater, and Mechanical. Each of course have their own upsides and downsides, creating balance in the game. You are also allowed to use any combination of each faction you like, you don’t have to stick to a certain one unless you want to. Your character can also wear gear and choose an affiliation with a certain faction to boost it’s power but that is always up to you, and a choice you get to make for each match.

The Beasts

The cards in this category are pretty simple to understand they are animals, or people like animals, or animal like people. If they made joke cards I think this is where you would find Man-Bear-Pig. Japan likes to use the names of mystic characters from other lore and the first one I’ll mention is in this set. Grendel is a rather powerful monster card in here and more than likely one of the bosses in game (though I haven’t gotten that far). Though his art work doesn’t seem to make him to be anything near the same as in the story of Beowulf. He is listed as a super rare so I doubt I’ll be running across him anytime soon when I play.

The Demons

Dark magic includes well witches, orcs, trolls, and goblins. The name that really sticks out to me is Mephisto. Sometimes this guy is known as the lord of the underworld or what not. These cards are designed after monsters that cause problems for people, but so far it’s all really just in the name. Yes I know I’ve listed Demons and Devils as two seperate groups, which they are but you could probably merge these two groups of cards together and no one would really notice.

The Angels

The holy cards. All creatures in this set are based of mystic holy people or assumed “good guys.” I say assumed here because Zeus is listed in this set and while he was the god of the gods, he wasn’t really a good guy like most of the angels that are thrown in here. Odin also makes an appearance for good measure.

The Devils

We talked about demons, now time for devils. These guys are a step up from their demon couterparts causing a bit more damage as far as I can remember. Ifrit is in this group as well as Beelzebub. Now if you are some what up on your reading you know that Beelz is literately translated as lord of the things that fly, or lord of the flies. But if hes/she/it is in this group we’re calling it a devil.

The Undead

Zombies, skulls, dead monsters, Oh my! Anything thats dead or undead is in this group. Nothing of noteable popularity is named, there is a generic vampire lady as a rare card. One that seems awkward for me and perhaps I should research some more is a card called Rich or Ricchi in romaji. The art on the card is clearly the grim reaper and there is a very well known Japanese word for grim reaper, but I guess they just didn’t want to go in that direction. Other cards in this set are pretty generic with specters, ghosts, and sprits.

The Underwater

There really isn’t much to say about these cards. They are all creatures from the water, big fish, mermaids, mermen, and the Kraken! I haven’t seen many of these cards myself so maybe they aren’t making it to my arcade. I also haven’t seen many people use this area’s cards in PvP. This creates the assumption they aren’t popular, but I’ll ask around.

Using the Cards

So now that we know the factions what types of cards are there, we need to know how to use them on our team to achieve ultimate victory! The first thing to know is that each card has score. Your team can spend 90 points in cards for each match. For best results you want to of course get to the 90 point mark without going over, but you also can’t stockpile 10 point cards, well you can, but you can only have a team of four out at one time anyway so that is sort of a crazy idea. Cards range from 10 points up to 30 points in increments of five and ten. This allows you to balance your playstyle and card type you want. Cards also come with special abilities, some come with two other cheaper point cards come with one.

The ability that all cards come with is a battle ability, something they can use during the fight to help either boost your time, weaken the other team, or hurt the other team. This ability has a range and can only be used when they are “charged up”. For instance one of my favorite cards has a really nice damage ability attack. When she is charged up she shoots magic at any enemy in her range which is shaped like a T, now the damage will go through other monsters into any in range as opposed to one target, and if there is a target at the top of the T they get an extra hit on them. Pretty useful, but somewhat slow.

Higher point cards come with another ability listed as Gate, Search, or Arcana. These are all abilities that affect the strategy side of the game. The Gate ability allows them to destory enemy gates and repair your gates at accelerated speed. The Search ability (from what I understand) allows you to see stats of your enemy better, and allows you to take out their search eye and repair your own at a quicker pace. Finally and my favorite, the Arcana ability allows you to destory the enemy stone sheilds really fast. The downside to this ability usually is that the monsters are slow, which slows down the rest of your team so if you want to go this route be prepared to get attacked easily by the other team.

Lastly all monsters can fight, they have an attack power, a defense power, and hit points. As you use the cards over and over they level up and these stats get stronger you see before pvp matches what level the opponents cards are and this usually is a pretty good sign of how the battle is going to go. After every battle win or lose your cards gain XP which allows them to do a little bit better in the next match. In another part I will get more into fighting with your cards.

Attaining the Cards

So now you know about all these awesome cards and you wanna go buy some? Sorry. You can’t go out and buy booster packs of the cards like other trading card games, you have to earn them. Every time you play the game win or lose you get a card. I am both for and against this system. I like it in that it doesn’t allow people to spend a ton of money before they even learn the game and let them stockpile every card in the game. The con is that this makes the cards somewhat more expensive. The game costs around three dollars US to play that will net you your first card, then you can contiune for two dollars more. To be smart you always want to play to get two cards, if you don’t you’re spending three bucks for one card. After each game or set of games is over a single card is dispensed in its packaging and you get the thrill of seeing if you got a super rare or another Mandrake…..

Popularity

Some big name artists were brought in on this project to really make it shine. The one that stuck out to me at first was Todd McFarlane. The spawn creator himself drew one of the monster cards for the game. Another name you might know is 天野 喜孝 or Yoshitaka Amano. For those of you who don’t know he’s the guy that does all that interesting art for the final fantasy games. It makes sense for Squre Enix to get him to do artwork since he has done such great artwork before. The link to a listing of many of the cards is here there is English so it’s somewhat easy to follow, you might notice an artist I didn’t, let me know in your comments who is worth mentioning and why.

Check back soon for part 3!

I love the arcades in Japan.  They are always changing the games, and are always full of people, much different from my arcade back home that probably still has that Mortal Kombat II machine sitting in the corner.  After visiting the arcade on a regular basis I started to really get interested in the card battle style games that were popping up.

The first one I ever saw was based on the three kingdoms history of china and that was less than appealing.  Then Square Enix released Yu-sha or Eternal Wheel.  I picked this up and tried it out.  It was a fairly decent game, but a bit too simple and you didn’t feel like you had that much control over what happened in the game.  You directed units and they attacked the bad guys.  Simple, to the point, but not quite what I was looking for.

Then, a few months ago, Lord of Vermilion dropped from Square.  A game with dark overtones even the good guys look to be rather evil.  You have a character you control plus a team you run into the battle area.  In this multi-part article I’ll be discussing the ins and outs for you guys, in case you can’t take a jet plane over and try it out for yourself.

Starting Out.

I guess the best place to start is from the beginning.  LoV (it’s shorter) all starts with buying a starter deck, just like you would for any other card battle game.  They sell them right at the machine where you play and it comes with all you need, your first monster cards, your character card, and your NES System card that records all your data.  You can also buy card sleeves and more NES Sys cards (you get 100 plays per card).  The price of the starter deck is about five dollars American so it doesn’t break the bank, but it might make you decide if you really want to commit.

So you sit down at what looks like a giant table top, but its a touch screen/play screen/card reader type device.  It reads your cards, and tells you what’s going on on the ground.  You also have another HD tv in front of you to see another view of the action.  The first thing you have to do as a new player is of course create your character, you can choose male or female, name them whatever you want, and begin configuring your team.

There are three modes of play for LoV, one being the standard story mode with two difficulties accessible from the beginning easy and normal.  The story is basically a tutorial to play and slowly takes you through all the steps to getting in place, the different ways to win, and other things you need to worry about.  The actual story itself is a bit dry and really doesn’t need an explanation.

The second mode of play is all Japan PvP.  All the arcades that are worth going to in Japan have the Internet, and that means all the arcade machines are linked into their own networks.  LoV is no different, and their PvP lets you challenge any one else that maybe playing at the same time.  This is the main mode I play and I have never had to wait for a match so there are plenty of people playing this game.

The final mode is of course fighting the cabinet across from you.  This is a good mode for friends that also like to play the game and want a chance to take you on.  I’ve never seen anyone challenge someone they don’t know, but I’m sure it might happen.

Basic Play.

So you’re ready to play you have a team, a character, and a pocket full of dollar coins (the game is 3 dollars to play 2 to continue).  There are from what I understand three basic points to winning the game.

The first is to just destroy the other teams “Arcane Crystals” as they are described.  You do this by having your team stand in the circle near the crystal and watch a timer go off.  Not that exciting but depending on your cards (for another part), can take no time at all to win your match and get you some serious experience points.

Another way is to go into the fray with the other player using the attacks of your team to wipe his team out repeatedly thus draining his life bar and winning the match.

The last way is to destroy the gates from which the teams come from, there are three of them and if you do this then kill off his team it’s a very very easy win.  The most common strategy I have seen from other players is a combination of all three that way you don’t get your self in situations where you can do nothing against the other team.

In the next part of the article I will discuss the different types of cards.  Show a few off, and explain the deeper strategy of the game.  See you then!

Double D Dodgeball is a game that attempts to capture the fun of dodgeball with the style of neo-retro arcade gaming. But is getting hit in the face by aliens really more fun than getting hit in the face by jocks?

The moment at 0:18 of the above video captures everything great about the pseudo-sport of dodgeball: violence that makes you laugh. If you have positive memories of the sport, they probably revolve around either pelting some poor goth kid right in his dumb face or at least cracking up when someone else administered the ownage. Double D’s bewildering choice to completely throw out all of these associations and transport the sport to outer space feels like it’s working against what makes their sport significant and fun.

But if the game was solid enough, it wouldn’t matter if they decided to swim upstream. This is where Double D commits the unforgivable sin of Arcade gaming: It’s not easy to pick up and play. Arcade games are defined by their easy-to-understand, quarter-popping, quick-play nature (think about the simplicity and longevity that a game like Breakout has), and Double D’s learning curve is just too long and frustrating.

For the first 10 games, I found myself very confused and annoyed (in a real 80’s/early 90’s arcade that would be the equivalent of $2.50, almost the cost of an Extra Value Meal at McDonald’s!). All of the retro characters look so alike that it’s easy to lose which one you are, something which the very competent Artificial Intelligence never seems to forget.

Much of the game is based on your ability to turn around and catch balls that are thrown at you from different angles. The fact that I even had the ability to turn didn’t come to me till a few games in, and the catching mechanic takes a lot of timing, something that intrinsically takes practice. So for the first bunch of games 1) you will get owned by the computer, and 2) you won’t know what’s going on, which is by nature, frustrating.

Another thing that could have grabbed gamers right off the bat are the graphics (Geometry Wars) or music (Braid), but where Geometry Wars feels like a neon fireworks show, Double D’s seem to just add to the muddled, busy, confusing nature of the early game experience. Plus, the music is a looping cacophony of sporty-sounding techno beats that didn’t, in my opinion, seem to augment the game experience.

If you do persist through much of the early game difficulties, Double D Dodgeball does have some fun moments. Timing your shot to hit an opponent just as he looks the other way is a tremendously gratifying experience, and developing the timing needed to catch the ball and trigger your super throw makes you feel the equivalent of a videogame slam dunk.

Double D Dodgeball has a variety of creative units to choose from and special balls you can use.  The shock lines that incapacitate your character for a moment add some especially good variety to the game. As for multiplayer, playing locally is the best option because of the overzealous smack talking opportunities and the ability the game has to produce screams of “one more game!”

I didn’t play over Xbox LIVE because, after numerous tries at different times, I still couldn’t find a game. I even hosted one and waited for a good five before throwing in the towel.

At the end of the day, I would have to say that Double D Dodgeball gets more “rip’s” and less “ten’s.” After everything, an enjoyable game is buried under a confusing and muddled early game experience and, honestly, I still believe that I should never play a dodgeball game without getting to throw a ball and see it smack someone right in their dumb head.

Ready to see what your favourite beat ‘em up bad guys are going to look like in Street Fighter IV? Check out these brand new screens.

Capcom have released a whole host of new images for Street Fighter IV. The screens show the “bosses” and “sub-bosses” of the earlier incarnations of the Street Fighter series– Bison, Sagat, Balrog and Vega.

I’ll let you guys make your own minds up as to what you think of these designs but I personally like this Bison screen a lot.

That look on Ryu’s face with Bison floating behind him is priceless!

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The phallic puzzler Mr. Driller is coming to Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday, April 2nd with some nifty features. Hit the jump for details. Mr. Driller Online, as it will be called, will feature two single player modes and two multiplayer modes.

The singe player modes will include Standard Driller and something called Quest Driller, while the multiplayer modes will allow up to four people to go head-to-head for the higher score or two people to team up and complete the game cooperatively.

Mr. Driller Online will be available Wednesday for 800 MS Points.

After rumours that the Xbox 360 would be seeing a price cut in Europe, today is the day Amazon.co.uk let the numbers slip before the end of the announcement’s NDA. The NDA has now been lifted. Follow the jump for the new prices and PR.

Not only have Amazon.co.uk listed the new prices, they have cut them by a further £10. As far as price drop rumour rumblings, these came from the German Financial Times and two stores in the Netherlands. The price cut was rumoured to be as follows:

Xbox 360 Arcade – from €279.95 to €199.95
Xbox 360 Premium + 2 games – from €399 to €299.95
Xbox 360 Elite – from €449 to €399.95

Amazon.co.uk can now confirm the new UK prices. The Xbox 360 Arcade will drop from £199.99 to £159.99 (cheaper than the Nintendo Wii no less, a phenomenon we can recall from December 2007), the Xbox 360 Premium from £249.99 to £199.99, and the Xbox 360 Elite from £299.99 to £259.99.

The Xbox 360 Elite is still priced considerably higher than the Premium even though the value added does not appear to match £60. Still, at a further £10 off of each model at Amazon.co.uk, Microsoft have set themselves up for some jolly shopping by the time Grand Theft Auto IV comes out. This is especially clear when compared to the PS3’s current cost of £284.99 at the online retailer.

You’ll find that the price cut will be officially announced at approximately 2pm GMT today.

*Update 12.55pm GMT* Amazon.co.uk have returned their Xbox 360 prices to the original costing, presumably because they have jumped in front of the official press release. Thankfully we have a screenshot to prove the price drop.

*Update 2.20pm GMT* Just after 2pm, as I predicted, the Microsoft Press Release comes. The price cuts will be effective in Europe as of March 14th.

Microsoft today announced it is lowering the estimated retail price (ERP) for its Xbox 36 family of consoles in Europe. Now with an entry-level ERP of £159.99, Xbox 360 is a mass market entertainment proposition with something to offer for every interest and budget.

From Friday, 14th March, Xbox 360, which includes a 20GB hard drive and one wireless controller, will have an ERP of £199.99 – a saving of £50 on the current ERP. The Xbox 360 Elite, which comes with a massive 120GB hard drive enabling consumers to store huge quantities of content downloaded from Xbox LIVE Marketplace as well as their own music, will have an ERP of £259.99 – a saving of £40. The Xbox 360 Arcade console, perfect for those wishing to make their first foray into the gaming and entertainment world of Xbox, will have an ERP of £159.99 – a saving of £40.

Xbox 360 is the number one next-gen console in EMEA, owning 42% of the market in terms of life-to-date revenue. Xbox 360 continues to enjoy the highest software attach rate of any game console in Europe with more than 7.0 games sold per console (PS3: 3.8; Wii 3.5) after 26 months on the market.

The new ERPs are part of Microsoft’s ongoing strategy to open up the ultimate in high-definition gaming and entertainment to an even wider audience, with an offering for everyone.

“Xbox 360 is now mass market in Europe,” said Chris Lewis, Vice President, Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Business Europe. “We have reached and surpassed several key milestones that form part of our long term strategic plan to achieve critical mass in Europe; and our portfolio now offers the kind of mainstream entertainment experiences that secure wider appeal for Xbox 360. These factors allow us to execute on our strategy to widen the market for Xbox 360, as planned.

“We continue to offer intense, immersive gaming experiences for gamers – but now we’re priced in a way that will allow new consumers to find out for themselves why Xbox 360 is the ultimate in high-definition entertainment.” said Lewis. “History shows that £159.99 is the price point where a console’s audience begins to expand, and with these new ERPs in place we’re ready to bring more consumers into the Xbox 360 world.”

Credit: Gamer.nl for magazine scan
Full Press Release can be found at MCV.UK
Xbox 360 Price Cut Q&A with Chris Lewis, Regional Vice President Xbox Europe: Wonderwallweb.com

In an attempt to get you more excited about Fable 2’s release, Peter Molyneux and the studly geniuses at Lionhead are giving you an early taste in the form of an Xbox Live Arcade game.

Keystone is a downloadable XBLA game that will release prior to Fable 2. It’s just one of the many mini-games found in Fable 2, but Keystone will let you gamble and win gold that you can then transfer into your Fable 2 saved game. You can be a rich bitch before you even enter the world of Albion!

No release date has been given for either Fable 2 or Keystone, but the stars are aligning for a Summer delivery. Keystone already looks ready to go, so it can up and surprise us at any time. Be on the lookout for that crafty bastard on the marketplace, or just stay tuned to Ripten and we’ll let you know when it’s coming out.

A new game in the DonPachi series is headed for Japan.

The Amusement Machine Operators’ Union show in Japan is generally a fairly low-key event here in the West. This year was host to the first playable appearance of Street Fighter 4. You’ve heard about that, but what did you miss?

Numerous cool, quirky and downright weird things were on display at the show, but the vast majority of them have about a zero chance of making it anywhere near North America. There were some exceptions, however, and while it’s probably far from certain they’ll all arrive on our shores, one can and should hope that they do.

Announced recently in Famitsu and shown in trailer form at AOU was Virtua Fighter 5:R. While VF has never been as big as Tekken and Soul Calibur on this side of the Pacific, it has gained more attention since the VF4/Evo releases on PlayStation 2 and the release of VF5 on PlayStation 3.

How does an online, updated VF5 sound to you PS3 owners? I thought so– but don’t hold your breath just yet. All that seems to be clear so far is that a new character resembling a rather dark version of Akira will be present, as well as one other new character.

We all saw SF4 in action and the old-school, 2D-fighter fan in me could not have been more pleased to see SNK on the right track as well with a new King of Fighters release sporting a completely new look that, like SF4, seems to utilize 3D graphics in 2D style to meet the HD era head-on.

I’ll be the first to say, “It’s about damn time!”, and the part of me that remembers having a blast in the arcades of my youth trading rounds with my friends is wriggling inside. Set to appear this year in arcades and on PS3 (so far) in 2009, let’s hope it matches SF4’s online play as well.

Does the term “Bullet Hell” peak your interest? Cave, the resident king of manic shoot-‘em-ups in Japan, has announced a brand new entry into the DonPachi series—DoDonPachi Dai Fukkatsu. For you kids out there stifling yawns, don’t let your attention wander just yet.

While none of Cave’s shooters have made it outside Japan (save an Arcade release of Progear no Arashi) even when given domestic PS1/PS2 releases, let’s not forget that Treasure not only just released its excellent Ikaruga on Xbox Live Arcade, but also brought the importer’s favorite and previously Japan-only Sin and Punishment to Nintendo’s Virtual Console.

PSN and XBLA provide the perfect home for a title like this that could never have existed before this generation. It would be criminal with the resurgent popularity of twin-stick and vertical shooters in recent years for the potential of this or other Cave shooters for download to be overlooked.

In the meantime, hit up some other Cave shmups like Progear, ESP Ra.De and Guwange to get an idea of the variety of style and gameplay these guys put out in such a niche genre. Not too niche, I hope.

A revamped Metal Slug 3, based on the original arcade version, runs-and-guns its way onto Xbox LIVE Wednesday, January 2nd at 2:00 a.m. PST, complete with enhanced HD graphics and a new online co-op multiplayer mode.

Check out screenshots of the game after the jump.

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If you’re like me, you miss the old arcade days, back before consoles became the powerful monsters they are today. Hanging out with friends at the local arcade consisted of playing Street Fighter, NBA Jam, and Mortal Kombat. Wasting time after school at the local pizza joint meant playing Pac-Man and racking up points in pinball. It’s hard to imagine what our youth would have been like without such classic arcade games.

G4 TV’s “Attack of the Show” recently unveiled what they dubbed the worlds largest video game machine ever, and it was later confirmed as such by a member of the Guinness Book of World Records (who just so happened to be on hand for the event). Now lets see a console top this! Check out the video over at G4TV.com.

Source: G4TV