ESRB Rates Vagrant Story, Xenogears and More for PSN

A slew of new PS1 Classics have been outed by the ESRB, and should hit the PlayStation Network sometime in 2011. The RPG-heavylistfrom NeoGAF and verified from theESRBincludesArc the Lad III,Legend of Mana,R4 Ridge Racer Type 4,Threads of Fate,Vagrant Story, andXenogears.

It's not clear when these games will release, of course. The ESRB has leaked word ofPS1 releasesbefore, and some took months before actually releasing on PSN. Take this little holiday treat as a preview of things to look forward to in 2011, even if it might take a while before you actually get to play any of them.

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3rd Birthday Debuts in Sixth Place During Busy Christmas Week

Two high-profile PSP games made their debut during Christmas week in Japan but only one of them could come out on top. Of course, in the land whereMonster Hunter Portable 3rdstill rules,"on top"is second place in this week's Media Create sales figures (viaInside Games).

The victor was AKB 1/48, a dating game that features members of the J-pop supergroup AKB 48 (so named because there are 48 young women in the group). The game launched with four different retail SKUs, some including a special pink PSP, others just pink battery cases featuring kiss marks. All combined, these different versions sold 236,000 copies whileThe 3rd Birthday, the anticipated sequel to the Parasite Eve games, sold 140,000 copies and ended up in sixth place.

Two other debuts of note were Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Force, an Xbox 360 port of a popular mech arcade game from 2001, andEchochrome ii, the Move-based puzzle game for PS3. Virtual-On ended up in 29th place and Echochrome fell somewhere out of the top 30.

This week's Media Create hardware data comes fromNeoGAFand it shows another increase across the board for all consoles. Individually the PSP remained at the top, but when all models are combined the DS actually sold a few more units. The Wii remained the number one home console by a wide margin.

The full Top 10 software chart (new releases inbold):

1. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd (PSP) - 404,000
2. AKB 1/48 Idol to itoshitara... (PSP)- 236,000
3. Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii) - 214,000
4. Pokemon Black/Pokemon White (DS) - 165,000
5. Wii Party (Wii) - 162,000
6. The 3rd Birthday (PSP)- 140,000
7. Mario Sports Mix (Wii) - 136,000
8. Inazuma Eleven 3: The Ogre (DS) - 117,000
9. Ni no Kuni (DS) - 84,000
10. Tongari boushi to maho no omise (DS) - 74,000

And the hardware sales:

Home Consoles:

• Wii: 131,761
• PS3: 64,228
• 360: 5,298
• PS2: 2,604

Handhelds:

• PSP: 177,691
• DSi: 93,464
• DSi LL: 92,329
• DS Lite: 5,790
• PSP Go: 5,380

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Two New DLC Chapters Coming to Castlevania HD in January

Konami has announced two new DLC chapters for the Xbox Live Arcade titleCastlevania Harmony of Despairto be released in Januaryaccording to the official Japanese site. Both stages are priced at 320 Microsoft points ($4 USD).

One of the stages (seen above, left) will be called"Do as many, become one"and will be based on the Catacombs area ofCastlevania Symphony of the Night. As the name suggests, the boss will be the popular recurring foe Legion (a.k.a. Granfaloon, seen above, right), a massive sphere of corpses.

The other DLC stage has no image available, but the title is"King of the Flies."This could refer to Beelzebub, another boss character from Symphony of the Night who was surrounded by giant, poisonous flies. More information on that stage is, according to Konami,"comming soon"{sic}.

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Nintendo Reveals List of 3DS Titles for Nintendo World 2011

Nintendo has updated the officialNintendo World 2011website with a list of 3DS titles that will be available for the public toexperience live in Tokyonext month.

The list includes 32 titles, nearly half of which are playable, although it must be noted that some of the items on the list like the 3DS Camera are more"applications"than"games."

Nintendo also revealed today that the 3DS will be on display at next month'sWorld Hobby Fairas well as two outlet shopping centers in Japan.

The full list of titles (playable demos inbold):

* indicates working titles

• Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3D"The Naked Sample"
• Pro Evolution 3DSoccer
• Street Fighter IV 3D Edition
• Resident Evil Revelations
• Dynasty Warriors Chronicle
• Dead or Alive Dimensions
• Ridge Racer 3D
• Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle
• Nintendogs + cats
• Kid Icarus: Uprising
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
• Steel Diver
• Pilotwings Resort
• AR Games
• Nintendo 3DS Camera
• Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D
• Super Monkey Ball 3D
• Kingdom Hearts 3D*
• Gundam The 3D Battle
• Tales of the Abyss
• One Piece Unlimited Cruise SP
• Cubic Ninja*
• Puzzle Bobble 3D
• Pro Baseball Family Stadium 2011
• Animal Resort*
• Xevious
• 3D Bijin Tokei*
• Starfox 64 3D
• Paper Mario*
• Animal Crossing*
• Mario Kart*
• Surechigai ("passerby") Mii Hiroba

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Rock Band Developer Secures Its Independence

Harmonix Music Systems is, once again, an independent game developer. MTV Games parent company Viacom announced this morning that a buyer had been found for the studio behindRock Band,Dance Central, and the first twoGuitar Herogames.

Viacom confirmed via today's press release that it has sold the company to Harmonix-SBE Holdings, LLC, a division of the New York-headquartered investment firm Columbus Nova. The financial terms of the deal were not specified by either party.

Harmonix communications manager John Drakecommentedon the sale in a thread on the official Rock Band forums. A selection from his post follows:

"Viacom and MTV Networks have been an amazing home for us over the past 4 years. It's where we launched both Rock Band and Dance Central, worked with The Beatles, Green Day, AC/DC, The Who and thousands of other artists. We want to take a moment to thank everyone in that organization who helped make these awesome games possible.

"We're excited to be returning to our roots as an independent and privately owned studio. As for what it means for you, the DLC schedule marches on for Rock Band, we will continue our support of previously released titles and we're hard at work on some unannounced projects that we think you're going to be pumped about."

And for anyone concerned about the future of the company's existing franchises, MTV Multiplayerreportsthat Harmonix will retain all rights to its current intellectual properties. Essentially, that means the developer is free to continue on with any Rock Band or Dance Central sequels it might have planned.

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Neo Geo Station Coming to PS3 and PSP on December 22

Neo Geo Station, an emulator"service"for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable, will be launching in Japan on December 22nd with 10 titles, SNK Playmore announced today. All games are priced at 900 yen (approx. $10.91 USD) for PS3 and 700 yen ($8.48) for PSP.

As evidenced by the above screenshot ofThe King of Fighters '94(courtesy of4Gamer.net), these will be straight"as-is"ports of Neo Geo titles rather than HD re-releases. SNK Playmore further insisted that games would retain all original bugs to maintain the experience.

The Neo Geo Station will offer some augmentations to these older games, however. Online play and ad-hoc wireless play will be added to the PS3 and PSP ports (respectively) and players will be able to save their game at any point. Sound Player Mode will allow for users to listen to each game's music at their leisure, and Replay Mode enables recording and playback of game footage.

Unfortunately, today's announcement did not address any details about the Neo Geo Station being available in markets other than Japan. The official website includes buttons for"US"and"Europe"at the top, but as of this writing they do not work.

The full list of launch titles is as follows:

• Fatal Fury
• Metal Slug
• The King of Fighters '94
• Samurai Shodown
• Super Sidekicks
• Art of Fighting
• ASO II: Last Guardian
• League Bowling
• Baseball Stars Professional
• Magician Lord

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EA's Plan to Beat CoD: Make a Better Game, Twice

Despite the colossal success of theCall of Dutyfranchise the last few years, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello believes Activision's premier franchise is beatable, and he has a plan to do it that's as simple as it is ambitious: First, make a better game. Then make another better game the following year.

Okay, so maybe it's a plan that brings to mind the age-old wisdom ofhow to draw an owl, but Riccitiello is convinced this is a tactic that'll work."If I had to pick the story I'd like to play out next year, {it's that} we ship a 90 {Metacritic score game} and {Activision} ships an 85,"Riccitiello said toKotaku."What I've witnessed a couple of times in the games industry is the way you unseat a market leader is you make a better game a couple of times in a row."

Curiously, Riccitiello doesn't single outMedal of Honor, EA's Call of Duty rival this year, but rather seems to point toBattlefield 3as being their hopeful CoD killer (note: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 pictured above)."I have great expectations to do a lot better in 2011 than in 2010 on the strength of a couple of products like Bulletstorm and Crysis {2}, but most importantly for us, Battlefield 3, which I feel incredibly good about,"he said."{Battlefield 3} is being built on the second generation of {the Frostbite engine}, which I think is, at least in my opinion, a class act for FPS. I think we're going to lift the game pretty dramatically in the first-person shooter category."

And of course, EA will eventually publish the first game from Respawn Entertainment, the studio founded by former Call of Duty creators Jason West and Vince Zampella, although all Riccitiello would say about it is that"they're working on a really cool product."

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"Murder Your Maker"Tease is, Indeed, Likely for Prototype 2

For about a week now, Activision has been teasing a game reveal at the Spike TV VGAs later this month with a mysterious website called"Murder Your Maker"-- a tease that many already theorized was for a forthcoming announcement of Prototype 2. And yes, with the website now updated with a very brief trailer showing flashes of the firstPrototype, we can now pretty safely assume it's for Prototype 2.

The website originally only featured an imaged of a bald man staring at a wall full of pictures. As it happens, Prototypestarreda bald man named Alex Mercer who was forcibly"made"into a genetically engineered shape-shifting super-mutant. But the new teaser trailer on the"Murder Your Maker"site has much stronger proof, considering -- again -- that it actually shows brief glimpses of images of the first Prototype in it. Either Activision forgot people would have the ability to pause the five-second-long video, or they quickly gave up trying to be subtle.

Still, it must be noted that nothing on the website actually says anything about"Prototype 2,"so it is possible there might yet be a curveball coming. Doesn't seem likely at this point, but it is possible. We'll find out for sure when the Spike TV VGAs air on December 11.

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Final Fantasy XIII Nabs Top Honors at 2010 PlayStation Awards

The long-awaitedFinal Fantasy XIIItook the top"Platinum Prize"at this year's PlayStation Awards, a ceremony that celebrates the best-selling games in Japan on all PlayStation platforms (according toDengeki Online). The RPG was released last December in Japan, after the cut-off date for the 2009 awards had passed.

Only two PS3 titles qualified as second-tier"Gold Prize"winners:Yakuza 4andFist of the North Star: Ken's Rage. The rest were PSP titles likeMetal Gear Solid Peace WalkerandGod Eater.

New to the proceedings in 2010 was theUser's Choice Awards. This was the only category where any Western games made an appearance, in particularCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2(released last December in Japan) andGod of War III. Many of the Gold Prize winners also received User's Choice awards, as did Final Fantasy XIII.

To commemorate the proceedings, Sony launched a PlayStation Awards Collection campaign today that will run through January 16th. Anyone who buys a copy ofone of these recent award winnerscan register the serial number for a chance to win a Torne DVR unit for PS3.

A full list of the 2010 winners:

(Note: these are not ranked lists)

*indicates a re-release

Platinum Prize(Over 1 million copies sold):

• Final Fantasy XIII - PS3

Gold Prize(Over 500,000 copies sold):

• Yakuza 4 - PS3
• Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage - PS3
• Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker - PSP
• Monster Hunter Freedom Unite* - PSP
• Monster Hunter Diary Poka Poka Airu Village - PSP
• Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
• God Eater - PSP
• Phantasy Star Portable 2 - PSP

User's Choice Awards:

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - PS3
• Final Fantasy XIII - PS3
• Monster Hunter Freedom Unite - PSP
• Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition* - PS3
• Demon's Souls* - PS3
• Yakuza 4 - PS3
• God of War III - PS3
• Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker - PSP
• Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA 2nd - PSP
• The Legend of Heroes Zero no Kiseki - PSP

PlayStation Store Special Prize:

(Top sellers, no sales figures given)

• Wizardry Torawareshi tamashii no meikyu
• Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Deluxe Pack 1
• After Burner Climax
• Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Dreamy Theater
• Weekly Toro Station

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Inception Videogame Moving Forward, Confirms Nolan

WithInceptioncoming out on DVD and Blu-ray next Tuesday, the question again arises of if or when we might see anInception-inspired videogame. Back in September, the film's writer, director, and producer, Christopher Nolan,mentionedthat a videogame based on the film's world is something that was being looked at, and he's now reiterated that a videogame is in the works.

Speaking withEntertainment Weeklyabout the possibility of a sequel to the film, he said,"I always imaginedInceptionto be a world where a lot of other stories could take place. At the moment, the only direction we're channeling that is by developing a videogame set in the world."

Nolan said videogames are"something I've wanted to explore,"and said that he's current working with an unspecified group of collaborators on theInceptiongame. He wouldn't budge on giving any sort of details about it or its release date, simply saying that it is"a longer-term proposition,"a comment that mirrors what he said back in September.

Without even knowing what developer would work on the game, it's hard to really speculate on much of anything at this point. But we do know that Nolan is moving forward with the project (make sure and check out 1UP's feature on the game's potentialhere). And as for the possibility of a film sequel? Nolan said"it's not something I want to say no to, but it's not something I've given a lot of thought about."

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Alleged PlayStation Phone Spotted in the Wild

The PlayStation Phone may have been spotted in Greece,reportsEngadget. A video taken on the sly (above) shows a man using a touchscreen device with distinctly PSP-like curves. It's reportedly been named the Sony Ericsson Z1 and comes equipped with a 4-inch touch panel and Android 3.0 (i.e."Gingerbread").

After its initialphotographic leak, the PlayStation Phone has seen its share of denials and (almost) confirmations. Engadget defended its source as"most definitely real"after one Sony representative called it afake. Later, Sony Ericsson CEO Bert Nordberg remarked,"There's a lot of smoke, and I tell you there must be a fire somewhere."While not a confirmation, he seemed to be coyly indicating that reports were on the right track. All of this is unconfirmed by Sony, of course, so consider it a rumor until we hear official word.

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Tiger Woods Needs to Start Winning for Partnership to"Make Sense"in the Long Run, EA Says

EA has stuck with Tiger Woods despite revelations of his extramarital affairs; but the publisher recently hinted that their patience isn't infinite.

Speaking with Reuters (viaNBC Sports), EA CEO John Ricitiello reiterated that there's"no threat against Tiger."But he also noted what he referred to as their business relationship.

"We have no plans to move away from him, but it's a business relationship on the basis of we make the best golf game and he's the best golfer,"he added."Both of those things need to be true in the long run for the partnership to make sense."

The most recent edition of the franchise put an emphasis on the Ryder Cup, allowing EA to add Rory McIIroy to the cover. One market analysis firm hasvoiced concernthat the scandal has had a major impact on sales; Tiger Woods 11 sales have dropped 68 percent compared to last year's version.

Riccitiello did say that EA feels a certain amount of loyalty to the golfer though.

"He sort of stuck with us for a very long time and we made great business together,"he said,"and we're willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for a period of time."

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Final Fantasy Trading Card Game Launching in February

Square Enix announced today (via4Gamer.net) that aFinal Fantasy trading card gamewill be released in Japan starting on February 25, 2011. The game will be published by Hobby Japan.

Exactly what sort of collectible card game this new Final Fantasy product will be was not revealed in today's announcement. All that was promised was that the cards will feature"characters and summons creatures from the Final Fantasy series."Among the few sample cards released, some feature a more cartoony art style (like Cloud's card above) while others more closely resemble the games' 3D models (such as Lightning fromFinal Fantasy XIII).

The cards won't be available for purchase until February, but Square Enix will be including a"promotion card"with the upcoming PSP title,The 3rd Birthday.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops Tops in Japan

It may not havebroken any recordshere butCall of Duty: Black Opsis the number one selling game in Japan according to the weekly Media Create sales figures (via4Gamer.net). Nearly 170,000 copies of the multi-platform shooter were purchased, with the bulk of those being the PlayStation 3 version. Ranked separately, the PS3 version was first overall while the 360 version was in seventh place. In second place was a sequel to Nintendo'sFossil Fighters, a game where players dig up ancient remains and revive the creatures to do battle, Pokemon-style. It outsold its predecessor, released in 2008 in Japan, by 7,000 copies.

Call of Duty would prove to be the only Xbox 360 game in the top 20 despite November 20th being the Japanese launch day for Kinect. No specific sales data for the accessory has been made public, but it would appear that none of the new Kinect games managed to sell more than 8,000 copies. According toGpara, Konami'sDanceMastersis the highest one on the chart in 24th place.

Japanese hardware sales were up overall by a third. While the Xbox 360 got a bump from the Kinect launch, as did the DSi thanks to anew Pokemon bundle, the biggest winner was the PSP. The already popular console more than doubled its sales fromthe week before, moving nearly 100,000 units. 4Gamer speculates this sudden demand could be inspired by the new color schemes that debuted on the 18th or it could be anticipation for the new Monster Hunter game. However, that sure-fire hit doesn't go on sale until December 1st and it will launch alonside a redesigned PSP-3000 for Monster Hunter fans.

The full Top 10 software chart (new releases inbold):

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops (PS3)- 128,922
2. Super Fossil Fighters (DS)- 42,829
3. Pokemon Black/Pokemon White (DS) - 39,883
4. Super Mario All-Stars (Wii) - 38,219
5. Tactics Ogre (PSP) - 37,350
6. Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 (PSP)- 35,500
7. Call of Duty: Black Ops (360)- 30,279
8. Tongari boushi to maho no omise (DS) - 24,918
9. Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 (PS3) - 22,383
10. Record of Agarest War 2 (PS3)- 20,889

And the hardware sales:

Home Consoles:

• Wii: 39,308
• PS3: 29,058
• 360: 7,083
• PS2: 1,255

Handhelds:

• PSP: 96,601
• DSi LL: 21,836
• DSi: 20,550
• DS Lite: 1,904
• PSP Go: 1,816

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Castlevania Harmony of Despair Adds Two DLC Characters

Afterleaked images hit the weband anXbox Live malfunction delayed their arrival, two DLC characters were finally released yesterday forCastlevania Harmony of Despair. The new hunters joining the battle are Yoko Belnades and Julius Belmont fromCastlevania Dawn of Sorrow. Each one costs 240 Microsoft points ($3 USD).

Yoko is a descendant of Sypha fromCastlevania IIIwho wields a wimpy weapon but casts powerful fire, ice and lightning spells. Julius, as a member of the Belmont clan who appear in nearly every Castlevania game, uses a whip along with traditional weapons from the series (throwing knifes, crosses, and so on). He can whip in eight directions and swing from hooks like Simon did inSuper Castlevania IV.

There is still no confirmation regarding the appearance of Maria fromRondo of Bloodwho appeared in leaked footage over the summer but is nowhere to be seen on thegame's official site. Then again, there's plenty of room for more portraits to be added to that page in the future.

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Kinect Sells 26,000 Units in Japan

Media Create, the company that tracks sales data for Japanese video game software and hardware,amended its weekly report todaywith an assessment of Microsoft's Kinect. Describing it as having"a quiet start,"the company reported that 26,000 units were sold during its launch weekend of November 20th&21st. That figure includes stand-alone units as well as those bundled with a console.

Media Create made the inevitable comparison to PlayStation Move, stating that Kinect sold"about half"of what Sony's motion controller sold during its October debut. Considering a major retailer estimated this week thatKinect was selling one-quarter of Move's numbers, that's an improvement. Also worth noting is the significant cost difference between the two: Japanese Move bundles start at only 5100 yen (approximately $60.89 USD, cheaper than a typical new game) while Kinect units cost 14,800 yen ($176.70).

Software-wise, no Kinect games crackedthe top 20 games sold in Japanthat week. Media Create revealed today thatDanceMasters, the highest-ranking title on the list, sold 6,000 copies.Looking back at the Move's launch week, four Move-compatible games made the top 20 and combined to sell over 50,000 copies.

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New PSP Firmware Adds Qriocity Music Sharing Support

Just in time for Thanksgiving, Sony hasreleased a new PSP firmware update, version 6.35 for those of you scoring at home. If that home happens to be in North America or Europe, this update will add a Qriocity logo to your XMB.

Sony hasn't yet revealed whenthe company's new"Music Unlimited"service will go live, but now that the software is already in place on the PSP, that launch looks like it's coming sooner rather than later.

For Japanese PSP owners, Qriocity is not an option so they get an XMB shortcut for a map/guidebook service calledx-Radar Portable. A radar-like display points out nearby businesses, train stations, and the like. Digital guidebooks covering specific information (restaurants, zoos, even maid cafes) are available for purchase via the PlayStation Store. There's also a free scavenger hunt game called Monster Radar.

The x-Radar Portable service was originally released months ago as a separate application on the web, but now PSP users can download the free software directly from the XMB.

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BioWare Making Multiplayer-Focused Mass Effect Spin-Off?

Yesterday, BioWarerevealeda single teaser image for a new game they plan to announce during the Spike TV VGAs next month. And in what will sure come as no surprise to you, it took only 24 hours for an anonymous source to spread a rumored synopsis of what we can expect: a multiplayer-focused Mass Effect spin-off.

AsKotakureports, a"development source"tells them the game is being made by BioWare Montreal, which contributed toMass Effect 2during that game's development. And by"multiplayer-focused,"that doesn't mean to expect a massively multiplayer game likeStar Wars: The Old Republic; rather, the source says it's more along the lines of the multiplayer offered in the Call of Duty series. Which makes enough sense, since the core action in Mass Effect is essentially an over-the-shoulder shooter.

This source also says the game will have a single-player component, but it'll put players in control of a character other than Commander Shepard. And while obviously none of this is confirmed yet, there is some corroborating evidence: Kotaku points out that BioWare Montreal was specifically looking for multiplayer programmers back in June (viaCinemaBlend), and BioWare CEO Greg Zeschuk has also previously stated that they intend to make more games in the Mass Effect universe outside of the main trilogy.

Still, we'll have to wait until the VGAs on December 11 to find out for sure what BioWare has in store for us next.

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FarmVille Maker's New Game, CityVille, Takes Inspiration From SimCity

FarmVille maker Zynga has announced its next major title, CityVille.

Described by the publisher as"Monopoly meets Main Street,"CityVille is a social game that builds on the success of FarmVille and FrontierVille by taking it to the streets and allowing players to"build their dream cities from the ground up."

CityVille's official site isnow live, and Zynga promises that a beta program will begin"in the coming weeks."

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OnLive Console Shipping in December for $99

Cloud streaming game service OnLive will begin shipping its MicroConsole TV Adapter unit on December 2, and has announced a new monthly flat-rate subscription plan.

The MicroConsole (pictured above) allows users to access and play with the OnLive service without a computer, and attaches directly to a modern television using either HDMI or component inputs (component adapter sold seperately). The package comes complete with a wireless controller, two AA batteries, and Ethernet and HDMI cables. It is available for preorder now for $99, an includes a voucher for one free game (valued at $49.99 or less). Buyer beware: the free game voucher is only part of a special holiday promotion, and may not be included come next year.

In addition to the standard game rental and purchase options, OnLive will also offer a flat-rate subscription service later this year for what it is describing as back-catalog, indie and classic games. The company is promising"approximately 50"titles will be available in 2010, with 100 games"in the pipeline."Further details (including available games and subscription pricing) are not available at this time.

1UP has had a review unit in the office for a couple of weeks now, check out our hands-on impressionshere.

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