A week ago,we reported the rumor that Sony was going to make an announcement on March 31st/April 1st, and now we know what that announcement is. Fortunately, it wasn’t a crudely made April Fool’s joke, (we hope) it was a price drop for the PlayStation 2.

Although the chances are that anyone that was going to hop on the PlayStation 2 bandwagon has done so already, the fact that Sony isn’t discarding the PS2 yet is still comforting. If you have been waiting for the PS2 to drop in price before picking one up, starting tomorrow, April 1st, you can pick one up at your nearest retailer for $100, 30 dollars less than the previous price.

Source: Destructoid

It was released in Japan last November; now the fourth version of PS2 is coming to Europe and India. That’s according to SCE India country manager Atindriya Bose, who claims it will launch simultaneously in the two regions at some point before this year’s Diwali festival on 28 October.

This may be why Sony has appeared hitherto incapable of putting PS2 titles – hell even PSOne titles – on PSN, let alone provide backward compatibility. In an interview with India’s Economic Times, Bose described this fourth iteration as being sleeker and slimmer than ever, even though the previously external AC adapter is now going to be built into the main unit. But you have to wonder what the point is.

PS2 is already a cheap, reliable console with a large selection of good and readily available titles – perfect for anyone looking for something entry-level, on a budget, or wanting to indulge in a few of gaming’s past treasures. The gains from remodeling the PS2 for no new functionality at this stage will be few, especially if price remains the same as the third model as planned – something already confirmed in India.

Source: Economic Times

Harvey Birdman is the latest of the edgy Adult Swim videogames following the Aqua Teen Hunger Force game. A former superhero turned defense attorney, Harvey Birdman, and all of his super-villains, have decided to make an amusing career change. Now Birdman finds himself in several weird cases, putting on trial the people who were blackmailed into trying to murder him.

The game itself plays like a videogame version of Law & Order. Birdman has his trusty friends to help him not look like an idiot, like his pet eagle Avenger and sidekicks Peanut and Birdgirl.

The people you battle in court are weird and crazy, like a man with a shrink gun, a robot with freezing powers, and a man with a strange speech impediment. One of the judges is a caveman with a Texas accent. A tall green person who can read your mind gets annoying when he says what you’re going to say it before you can even say it.

The game itself has its frustrating moments where it’s hard to say the right thing or present the right piece of evidence. If you have this happen too many times, you have to start the level all over again, but this can also add a nice bit of difficulty at times.

I watch this show whenever I can on Adult Swim, which is why I bought the game. If you watch or like this show I would have to recommend you take a look at this game. However, if you know nothing of Harvey Birdman, I really can’t say you should buy this game, unless you want to waste an afternoon’s worth of time and have a few laughs in the process.

Apparently three long years of service were enough for the small community of gamers that still played Monster Hunter on their Western Playstation 2s.

Of course, it’s amazing that the love affair lasted as long as it did. Still serious business in Japan, sales of Monster Hunter games have been remained flat in the U.S. since their respective debuts. To date, the Playstation 2 version is the only one to feature actual online play, a major draw of the series in the first place (PSP releases only allowed ad hoc multiplayer in the same room).

For the seventy-or-so gamers logged on when the servers were shut off for good at approximately 12:25 PM EST, the departure must have been bittersweet. It wasn’t Capcom’s fault, though. According to a blog post on their community site a little over a month ago, the online capabilities of the game were outsourced to a company that no longer wants to remain in the business of networking Playstation 2 games (and really, what kind of business is that anyway?).

Ever the vanguard for its fans, Capcom even petitioned the nameless provider for a contract extension, but they weren’t having any of it.

It’s always kind of sad to see these small gaming communities disrupted — there’s something intriguing about having that sort of dedication to a game that most people have moved on from or completely ignored in the first place.

But progress must be made, and the pool of money to be made from providing support for a failed online platform must look more like a half-dried puddle these days, with everyone moving on to newer consoles.

Since they belonged to the same company, the servers for Resident Evil: Outbreak have been permanently removed, as well.

A Steampunk Version of Sam Fisher’s Goggles

Fans of the old Commodore 64 classic Impossible Mission might be interested in the new DS version, available now exclusively at Gamestop stores.

In Impossible Mission, you play as an unarmed spy trying to foil the plot of criminal genius Professor Elvin Atombender. The name Elvin Atombender should be enough to justify the $10 price tag on this baby.

The object of the game was to make your way through the Professor’s fortress, looking for puzzle pieces and trying to stay alive amidst various traps and evil robots. The premise sounds like standard platform puzzler fare, but the hook comes in the randomly generated content. Each time you play, the rooms are different and the robots all have different abilities.

As well as being available for Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, Playstation 2 and Nintendo Wii versions are also in the works, yet no specific release date has been announced sinced missing their August and September release dates in Europe.

Via Go Nintendo

So you’re having yourself a Playstation 3 Christmas, and it’s my job to make it the best it can be, extending your extending your fun all the way through to next year. Here is my list of recommendations to make you yo ho ho into 2008.

1. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune - This game is at the top of the list simply because this is THE game for your Playstation 3. Forget about your family and Christmas presents this year and put this baby in. I shall quote my review of the game:

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune succeeds in so many ways. It has the best console graphics to date, gob-smackingly good cutscenes, a modest yet twisting plot, an incredible soundtrack, perfect pacing, and combat that you’ll want to keep returning to.

It’s a blockbuster for Christmas Day, to play after you’ve gorged yourself on Turkey and Yorkshire puddings.

2. Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction - Yes it’s the time for games with subtitles. I blame Insomniac. They started it with their humorous Ratchet series, and have since damned the industry! Grrr. Anyway, they can be forgiven because they’re subtitles are always so humorous and riske.

Ratchet and Clank Future is a must buy this Christmas. Full of family fun and humor, but also with incredible depth for those of us who are gaming fanatics. We here at Ripten gave the game 9.8/10 and if that isn’t reason enough, then lets just say that Ratchet and Clank Future is the sh*t!

3. DualShock3 - Oh it’s about time. A rumbling Sixaxis to invigorate all of your games, from Ratchet to Warhawk. Oh so satisfying, and the little controller comes in bone-white.

There is a catch, it hasn’t yet released outside of Japan. Ruh Roh! You can, however, import the beauty at little cost. Sadly I doubt you’ll get it before Christmas.

4. Multiplayer Gaming - You’re going to need some multiplayer action to play with your family and friends over the holidays. I couldn’t bring myself to pick our of Warhawk and Call of Duty 4, so you’ll have to do the honor instead.

A new downloadable pack will be coming to Warhawk (link to review) next week, making its community even more invigorated and taking its action further up the ranks. It’s fun multiplayer goodness that you can play with up to 4 player split-screen while showing off your skills online or offline.

Call of Duty 4, the game of the moment. We gave it 9.8/10 at Ripten (link to review), and is a joy to play both alone or with company. It’s a good thing that the single player isn’t going to keep you too long, because I doubt people are going to want to sit around watching you play.

5. Party Gaming - Now there are other games for honorable mention of course: Heavenly Sword, Assassin’s Creed and lots of downloadable PSN games. But what you really need now is a party game.

If you’re in Europe you can do no better than Singstar on the PS3 and come up with some singing magic, buying all your favorite songs and making your own music videos with the PSEye Camera:
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The PSEye is also a very good purchase for Christmas and is currently half price on Amazon.co.uk. If you do give it a shot there are plenty of innovative Eye games to buy off the Playstation Store, and the included Software is a sinch to use, and allows for some nifty stop motion animation:
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If you’re not lucky enough to live in old blighty then you’ll have to settle for Guitar Hero 3 or Rock Band, both of which are going to see you competing like crazy with your family and having a ball while you’re at it. Rock Band just gets the nod with us, but the more simply Guitar Hero 3 is just as satisfying.

And there you have it, have yourself a very merry Playstation 3 Christmas.