Japan Gets Crystal White PlayStation Vita on June 28

 White Vita

The Japanese division of Sony has announced that it will be launching a new variant of the PlayStation Vita handheld, called Crystal White, on June 28.

The price of the new color version will be the same as that of the black PlayStation Vita, and Sony will offer both Wi-Fi and 3G models.

Matching headphones will also be released on the same date.

Sony has not yet announced whether it plans to also deliver the Crystal White version of the PlayStation Vita outside of Japan.

The Vita has been less successful than Sony expected on both the home market and in the United States and in Europe, and launching new colors and versions of the device might be a good way of temporarily boosting sales.

Sony is also probably thinking about cutting the price of the PlayStation Vita in order to get more players to pick it up, like Nintendo has done for the 3DS handheld during August 2011.

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Street Fighter X Tekken on PS Vita Gets New Videos, More Details

Image comment: Blanka appears in Street Fighter X Tekken on PS Vita Image credits: Capcom

Capcom has just unveiled some more interesting things about its upcoming Street Fighter X Tekken on the PS Vita, showing off its story through an animated video, its gameplay through a short trailer, and confirming details about cross-play between the Vita and the PS3 editions of the game.

Street Fighter X Tekken has already appeared on the Xbox 360 and PS3, but Capcom is now getting ready to debut the fighting game on the PlayStation Vita handheld platform, which will include 12 new fighters.

In order to justify their introduction, a new animated video (which you can check out below) has been made available. Its story motivates the appearance of fighters like Blanka, Sakura, Lei, Christie and more in the game.

If you want to see the new fighters during actual gameplay, then you can admire another trailer below, which shows some of their matches.

Capcom also presented some great news for owners of the game on the PS3 - after buying the PS Vita edition, they’ll get the 12 Vita characters for free on the home console.

What’s more, online cross-play between the two versions of the game is possible, so PS3 and PS Vita owners will be able to battle each other during multiplayer matches.

Last but not least, a special patch has been released for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Street Fighter X Tekken, which fixes quite a few issues relating to sound and adds tournament support that provides a faster gem selection mechanic.

“An improvement patch for the online sound issues should be live now, along with the addition of the tournament support patch for faster gem selection. The team is also still working on solutions to the various infinite combos that have been discovered, and plans to keep the game alive throughout the year with further downloadable updates, like gems, features and the 12 Vita characters.”

Check out the two videos below from the Vita version of Street Fighter X Tekken.

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Grand Theft Auto V Out in October, According to Developer’s Resume

Rockstar Games may finally release its long awaited Grand Theft Auto V game in October, at least according to the resume (CV) of one of its employees.

GTA V is definitely one of the biggest titles that will appear in the near future, although it’s unclear when that might actually happen, given Rockstar’s reluctance to pin a release date on the open world third person shooter.

While some say we’ll get to see the game next year, a new piece of evidence has appeared, claiming that GTA V is coming this October.

According to the resume of Rockstar North Character Animator Alex O’Dwyer, via Joystiq, Grand Theft Auto V is set to appear in October, 2012.

His CV, which has since been taken offline, mentions the variety of games he’s worked on, their platforms, and their actual release dates. GTA V, as you can see in the image above, is listed for an October launch.

Rockstar has yet to comment on this leak, but don’t expect a confirmation or denial anytime soon, given the company’s tendency to ignore rumors and speculation.

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Mortal Kombat Live Action Trailer Features Kitana, Promotes PS Vita Version

Mortal Kombat is coming soon to the PlayStation Vita platform and, in order to raise up the hype ahead of its release in May, publisher Warner Bros. has posted a special live action teaser trailer with a girl dressed up as the lovely Kitana from the franchise.

Mortal Kombat delighted lots of fighting game fans last year on platforms like the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, and is now getting ready to appear on the PlayStation Vita.

We already know quite a few things about the game, which includes extra content and which, judging by recent videos, looks very good.

In order to get people interested in the game before its release next month, a special teaser video has appeared, starring a live action version of Kitana, one of the most attractive female fighters from the franchise.

Only a short trailer is available right now, but expect the full version to appear later this month.

Mortal Kombat for the Vita is out on May 4.

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Sony Says Vita Has Long Term Anti-Piracy Plan

Image comment: Pirate ready Image credits: Sony

One of the biggest problems for the PlayStation Portable handheld from Sony has been piracy, which has driven quite a few developers and publishers away from the platform, and the company says it has learned from its mistakes and has made the new Vita platform better protected against pirates in the long term.

Sony says that since the design stages anti-piracy measures have been one of the core features of the Vita and that they will serve it well in the long term.

Speaking to Gamasutra as part of a bigger interview, Scott Rohde, who is a senior vice president at the Sony Worldwide Studios, has said, “That was front and center in the early specs of this machine. We needed to have something that would combat piracy from day one, and that's why the cards that you can purchase for the games are in their own proprietary format.”

He added, “It's something that we felt was completely necessary to make sure that people could not pirate these games. I mean, it's a custom security solution on each one of these cartridges. That is something that we are confident will protect us from piracy for the long term.”

The older PSP used standard memory slots, which made it very easy for pirates to plug in counterfeit games and also made it easier for them to access the memory of the device in order to hack the official firmware.

The PlayStation Vita is better protected because of proprietary formats and the protections that Sony has been adding to its firmware, both on home consoles and handhelds, after the PS3 has been hacked in 2011.

Pirates will probably be able to break the protections of the Vita at some point and Sony will then rely on constant firmware updates in order to keep the device one step ahead of counterfeit content.

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Uncharted: Golden Abyss Review (PS Vita)

Uncharted: Golden Abyss by Sony Bend

See editor's ratings

The good: +Great graphics +Nice story The bad: -Annoying touchscreen quick time events -Troublesome Sixaxis controls -Formulaic gameplay Final score: 8.5 / 10

System requirements: A working PlayStation Vita console

Sony may boast about the power of its PlayStation Vita handheld console, but if its games don’t really reflect this through great graphics, then it’s all for nothing. The Japanese company realized this so, in order to truly show off the Vita’s strength, its Bend studio was tasked with making an Uncharted game for the mobile console.

As such, Uncharted: Golden Abyss was born, a prequel of sorts to the games on the PlayStation 3, although its time frame isn’t exactly set in stone. It still features Nathan Drake, alongside his old time partner Victor “Sully” Sullivan, while introducing quite a few new characters from Drake’s past and once again taking him on all sorts of adventures.

So, does Uncharted: Golden Abyss have all the attributes that made previous titles so popular or is it just a pretty game? Let’s find out.

Nathan Drake is back ...	... for some new adventures

Story

As I’ve said above, Golden Abyss aims at exploring Nate’s past before he started the adventures from the first PS3 game, Drake’s Fortune. It reminds people that he was still a treasure hunter, as one of his older associates, Jason Dante, employs his talents to help him uncover a long lost Spanish expedition.

Drake quickly finds out that the actual benefactor of his work is a South American drug lord but Dante doesn’t let him walk away. The game even starts with an action-filled prolog that highlights his “sudden but inevitable” betrayal.

After that, you start from the beginning and slowly progress through the story. During these adventures, you meet new characters, like Marisa Chase, who’s also a descendant of a former adventurer, just like Nate.

While it may lack established characters like Elena or Chloe, Golden Abyss’ story manages to stay interesting and will no doubt entertain most Uncharted fans. It’s filled with lots of adventures, although some of the bigger set piece moments are missing, probably because the Vita can’t render scenes of that magnitude.

Meet some old friends ...	... and make some new ones

Gameplay

Uncharted: Golden Abyss feels pretty much just like a regular Uncharted game from the PS3. This is testimony to the Vita’s power and its control scheme that’s almost the same as on the home console.

The dual analog sticks make aiming and shooting a breeze while the rest of the buttons control all sorts of functions. Golden Abyss also uses the Vita’s special features, like its touchscreen, both when you climb, as you can highlight ledges for Drake, and also when you’re engaged in hand to hand brawls, as you need to make certain gestures to successfully defeat enemies with your bare hands.

Aiming can be done with the Sixaxis motion controls, but it’s probably for the best if you just use the twin analog sticks. There’s also a slight auto-aim assist function, if you find aiming difficult, so Golden Abyss is very accessible to all Vita owners.

Opponents are quite smart although you won’t get to see that many of them, probably because the Vita can’t render that many characters at the same time. As such, you’ll often enter pretty large areas, eliminate some enemies, and then see that more of them quickly arrive to avenge their fallen comrades.

Thankfully, you have quite a lot of weapons at your disposal to defeat them, from trusty pistols to the AK-47 or even more powerful firearms like sniper rifles or rocket launchers. There are even some on-rails segments where you get to use a devastating grenade launcher against some unlucky foes.

Collectibles are also scattered throughout the game, ranging from treasures that glow and are usually hidden in nooks or crannies, to special bounties that randomly drop from opponents. The latter can also be earned via the Black Market feature, which taps into the Vita’s Near application. If Vita owners in your vicinity play Golden Abyss and have uncovered bounties you don’t have, a copy will automatically be transferred to you.

While you’ll mostly be happy when playing Golden Abyss, there are quite a few aspects that keep it from truly becoming a great game. Chief among which are the touchscreen-based quick time events. These are quite surprising and often require you to touch the very center of the screen. When you factor in its 5-inch size, this is a bit hard, even if you have long fingers. What’s worse, some boss battles rely only on such quicktime events, so get ready to die a lot.

There are also some all-new photo challenges that take place when you’re presented with some stunning vistas of the environment and asked to take a photo via the in-game camera. Depending on your ability to recreate a template photo, you’re rewarded with different things. Sadly, this is a bit awkward and often requires minute movements to get the perfect shot.

You’ll also get annoyed when Drake crosses over ravines on logs as he’ll often lose his balance so you need to tilt the Vita in order for him to continue on his way.



Visuals and Sound

Uncharted: Golden Abyss definitely lives up to the Uncharted name, offering some truly stunning environments and top notch graphics. There are moments when you can spot pre-rendered backgrounds but, most of the times, you’ll be busy marveling at the gorgeous game you’ve got running on the Vita’s already impressive 5-inch screen.

In terms of sound, you’ll once again be treated to some booming orchestral scores that will make your adventures feel even more epic. Voice acting is still top notch, with Nolan North reprising his role as Drake, while the new characters sound quite good. Dante’s Brooklyn wise guy accent can get a bit grating at times but, thankfully, you won’t hear him all that much.

Shoot your enemies ...	... or take them by surprise

Conclusion

Uncharted: Golden Abyss is a good game but it does have quite a few drawbacks that keep it from becoming great. If you look at it after playing previous Uncharted games, it’s not that impressive but, if you consider it’s the franchise’s first foray on the Vita, it’s a more than decent effort.

Gameplay feels great, although some activities get annoying very fast, like the touch-based quick time events. Fortunately, the stunning visuals, at least for a handheld game, and the story make you feel like you’re guiding Nate through another set of impressive adventures on the PS3.

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Virtual Farm 2 Final (Portable)

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Quick Look: Asura’s Wrath (Gameplay Video Included)

As most Western gamers, we here at Softpedia weren’t that interested in Asura’s Wrath, a third person hack and slash game made by two companies from Japan, Capcom and CyberConnect2.

Fortunately for us, after trying out the demo that was just released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, we realized the error of our ways, as we were treated with one of the most outlandish and over the top games we ever experienced.

As with most Japanese games, we expected quite a lot of quirky things to be found in Asura’s Wrath, just like we experienced in titles like Vanquish, Bayonetta or Yakuza 4. Our expectations, however, were blown out of the water right from the beginning, as the demo kicks off with Asura, the wrathful protagonist, fighting a giant statue-like god.

You’re immediately thrown into a cinematic encounter, which forces you to loosely aim and fire some sort of projectiles into the enemy and must then react to a quick time event in order to actually inflict some damage.

One thing leads to another and players find Asura being squished by the god’s butt. Tables and body parts quickly turn, however, as a memory of his daughter sends Asura into a vengeful state that sees him grow extra arms. These prove to help considerably, as he must then resist the attacks of the enemy and his Star Wars-like spaceship, which is summoned almost out of thin air.

The battle becomes even more over the top, with Asura using other types of attacks against the giant statue, culminating with a massive move that sends the huge god into space. That’s not all, however, as the god, now in Earth’s orbit, calls forth another, even bigger god, who proceeds to crush Asura with his finger.

I could go on and on about what actually happened, but you really need to see it in order to believe just what goes on in the demo of Asura’s Wrath , so check out the gameplay video below.

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Soulcalibur V Is Gold, Has Collector’s Edition

Video game publisher Namco Bandai has announced that its upcoming fighting game Soulcalibur V is now gold and have launched a number of trailers and screenshots in order to celebrate the announcement.

The publisher has also talked about the Collector’s Edition of the game, which will be available in limited numbers on launch, coming in a special book like box, with a high quality book of the game’s art, a CD which has a selection of the music from the entire history of the game, a making of video feature, a code which allows the player to get the Black and White armor sets via DLC, a letter from the development team on parchment and some original artwork.

Soulcalibur V will be launched on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 in late January and early February.

Here is yet another trailer that Namco Bandai has released for Soulcalibur V:

SOULCALIBUR V GOLD - PHOTO GALLERY:

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