Hmm this is an interesting one, a brand new R-type game, that’s a hex-based turn-based strategy game, and it’s on PSP (please make a DS version too IREM!).

Looks fab, and very DS friendly too (hint hint).

This is my first post in ages too. Free time has been sucked up by a small shootemup I have been making, due out in Aug on DS. But more info on that as we near completion.

[scan "acquired" from Kotaku]

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Welcome to our first ever QUIZ!!! 30 deathly thumbnail images - can you guess all the games?

Now the younger of you might be a tad horrified by the lack of 3D-normalmapped-HDR-rendered images in the piccie above, but fear not - these are snapshots from the great olden days of videogaming.

What is the quiz? - Good question, well it’s based on the knowledge of 2D arcade games. Look at the picture, and work out which games all the spooky thumbnails are from. All we want to know are the names of the games please.

What’s with all the death? - It’s GAMEOVER images, moments from when you have been klobbered by the enemy, moments so painful they should still be burnt into your retinas.

Mummy, it’s so hard! - Yes well it wouldn’t be a quiz otherwise. Watchout for a couple of possible red herrings in there too, if you aren’t 100% sure then I’d advise you go back a double check.

OK, but what do I win in exchange for my genius gaming knowledge?

• Brand new (unopened) copy of Black and White 2 (PC)
• LocoRoco Demo (PSP - UMD)
• Burnout 3 (PS2) PAL
• Manhunt (PS2) PAL - 18 rated
• DVD region X (PS2) PAL - lets you play DVDs in full RGB colour
• Resident Evil 3 - Nemesis (PSOne)
• UMD Holder

So how long is this competition going to run for? - 1 month. Starts 29th October, last entries must be recieved before the 29th November. Whoever gets the most answers correct is the winner!

How do I enter? - Please state your name and age. Then list each game name followed by the grid reference. E.g. - “RAMPAGE (4,A)” - so that would be the fourth game along the top row.
Finally, email your entry to: competition@theaveragegamer.com

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I know this isn’t exactly new news but…

Yep indeedy, R-type is a comin’ to the Wii (via virtual console) - nice.

R-TYPE - Woooo!!!

Shame this site won’t allow background images :( , could really do with a scrolling starfield right now.

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Hmm - I just got an email from Sony telling me:

“Sign up to Continuous Play™ for just £2.49 a month and we’ll replace your PSP® (PlayStation® Portable) or PlayStation®2 system within two working days if it develops a fault or becomes damaged by accident.”

Sounds good, and look there is a picture of a PSP in a dog bowl, it looks kind of broken. Dog slobber everywhere.

But hang on, lets read the terms and conditions.

Well this may be a good deal for some people, and £2.49 may not sound like much every month, but I`m always a little suspicious of these sorts of deals because you have know way of knowing how good they are until something goes wrong with your hardware. Although it tells you some things that are not covered, it doesn’t give examples of what sort of accidents are.
These deals are also designed to make money (not for you), so Sony are effectively gambling against their own build quality standards when you think about it.

I personally have never had a games console fail on me ever so its no good for me. I’m no betting man but the odds just don’t sound good enough.

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First we hear Wii will be REGION FREE, from the Americans - YAY.
Then we hear Wii will NOT be region free, from the Europeans - BOO.

It’s a shame that it will be region locked of course, but Gamecubes were region locked and folks managed to get around the issue, so hopefully the same will be possible with Wii for those gaming connosieurs who like to import (remember the European fiasco with Animal Crossing on the cube?)

Now then, do you remember them mentioning the Virtual Console? Its basically an emulator of sorts that lets you download and play Nes / Snes / Megadrive and PC Engine games. Quite cool.

Well maybe not so cool for everyone, as Nintendo later went on to say that the availability of these games would be region specific. At first I was thinking, ok well that probably means we`ll just get a filtered down pick of the games Japan gets to choose from, but it’s beginning to look a bit worse than that. Compare these two pages:

Japan:
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/features/virtual_console.html

Europe:
http://ms.nintendo-europe.com/wii/?site=w_virtual_console.html&l=enGB

Japan gets NES / PC Engine / SNES / Megadrive / N64 / MSX games, but Europe doesn’t get the PC Engine or MSX games.

The virtual console has such potential to be like a museum of classic games for fans, where you could also compare regional and platform differences. But if content is region locked (as the websites suggest) then it could turn into somewhat of a dissapointing novelty.
There is no definitive list of what will be available, so things may turn out ok in the end, but I’m not betting on it.

Come on Nintendo, don’t filter down the potential of your console - show the world how great you are and let everyone have access to all the games!
(need an email address to politely petition Ninty Europe)

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After the initial joyous statement from Nintendo USA that the Wii would be region free (up to publishers to choose region lockout), grumpy old Nintendo UK boss then says NON, it’s not region free :(

If that is the case, then maybe it’s time to consider importing?

BUYING A CONSOLE
Here’s a rundown of the console prices from various regions:

UK - £179.99 for the console etc PLUS game (Wii sports)
AUSTRALIA - $399.95 for same package as UK/USA
USA - $250.00 for console etc PLUS game (Wii sports again)
JAPAN - Y25,000 for console etc (no game)

Now for some currency conversions (I`ll round up to nearest £5 to be fair):

UK £179.99
AUS £165 - save £15, at least the same as postage from Oz so not too bad.
USA £135 - save £45, yikes thats a fair bit.
JAP £115 - save £65, Arrg thats not fair (even though you don’t get Wii sports).

BUYING GAMES
Hmmm, ok - next up lets look at game prices:

UK - £34 to £39
USA - $50 (1st party games)
JAP - Y4800 (1st party games)

And the conversions (rounding up to nearest pound):

UK £34 to £39
USA £27 - save at least £7, cheaper in USA once again
JAP £22 - save at least £12, soooper cheap!

So it looks like quite a saving could be made from importing, although I`d like to know more about how buying online games works (is it region locked or credit card based?) before trying it.
It’s a shame the UK seems to be getting overpriced once again, understandably there are shipping costs and VAT to consider, but if I remember correctly Nintendo did quite a decent job of Gamecube prices last time around - importing games tended to be more release date related than price (although maybe they reduced prices to combat FreeLoader users importing games?).

Hopefully more details on region-locking and so on will emerge over the next few weeks, to help potential importers make up their minds. I`d personally love the machine to be region free like a DS, so I could play my import Cube games on it.

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Some (though not much) new info on the impending Wii was announced at the Leipzig games convention today - best of all was news of a game with TANKS!!!! yay !!!

Battalion wars 2 to be precise (a cousin of the SNES / GBA / DS turn based game franchise, Advance wars). Groovey! I still play through Advance Wars (GBA version) on my DS, again and again and again….

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The cheeky so-and-so’s, they are selling Wipeout Pure (PSP) for £14.99, telling you that you make a saving of £20…

BUT…

It’s the PLATINUM version! The fibbing b*%$”rds. It’s the same game of course, (different packaging) but they are lying when they say you are saving 20 squids. V naughty :(

Related posts:
Play sale improves but only a tad
Cheap goodies

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Ah - now they seem to have added some more stuffe, so here’s my additional recommended picks:

PC - Rogue Trooper for £10
PSP - Wipeout Pure for £15

Wipeout is tempting as my blimmin USA version won’t play link up with a mates UK version - how rubbish is that?

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Quick shameless plug for www.PLAY.com (who don’t even sponsor us!).

They are having a summer sale and I just spotted these bargains:

RESIDENT EVIL 4 - PS2, only £15

and then theres…
erm,
actually,
no,
thats it. Ok well maybe Harvest Moon 2 on GBA.

Hmm, bit of a rubbish sale actually. :(

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