When designing games that involve atom bombs dropping into Sweet Tooth-shaping remains, it probably takes time.

Many PlayStation gamers have been betting on, hoping, praying, and essentially expecting that at E3 this year the long-rumored next addition in the Twisted Metal franchise would become real. If you have been counting your blessings up until today, then you should proceed to do so.

David Jaffe today has spoken on his Twitter feed that he will not be attending the E3 2010 convention. What this essentially boils down to is that if you were looking forward to a Twisted Metal announcement in relation to David Jaffe, then that will just have to wait until another time, if ever.

Via Twitter, Jaffe also addressed that Twisted Metal: Harbor City, a rumored PlayStation 2 follow-up to Twisted Metal: Black, is not in production either. Although David Jaffe won’t be in attendance at E3, could this possibly mean that Sony will announce the next Twisted Metal without his presence? Would it be saved for another date, for such an occasion as the Leipzig Games Convention? Time, as always, is the only telling factor here.

Source: IGN

Heavy Rain is a unique next generation game, in every sense. With a compelling storyline, high-end graphics, and a fresh control system, it’ll be your pleasure to play through this game, or at least a few scenes, twice.

Heavy Rain takes place in 2011, in which the majority of time takes place within the fall season, consisting four distinctive characters: Ethan Mars, Scott Shelby, Norman Jayden, and Madison Paige. Ethan Mars is a loving father who lost his first son, Jason, in a tragic accident. Scott Shelby is a warm-hearted private investigator, hired by the families of children murdered by the “Origami Killer” to investigate these strange homicides. Norman Jayden is an FBI agent, teaming up with a local police force to track down the “Origami Killer.” Madison Paige is a lovely woman, cursed with a terrible case of insomnia, who happens to cross paths with Ethan Mars. The choices you make with these four interestingly diverse characters will decide how major plot points in the story will unfold. This makes the game very interesting, considering the rumored variety of twenty-two different endings.

Ethan, you dog.

The game presents itself beautifully, from the main and pause menu, down to the loading screens, and across the opening and closing credits. In some ways the story can be found to be similar to Quantic Dream’s Indigo Prophecy (Otherwise, known as Fahrenheit), but Heavy Rain breaks away from any cliche storyline and retains it’s originality with ease. David Cage is a brilliant story-teller, who keeps a great pace once he gets going. The story can start off a little slow, but by the second scene, it becomes a thrilling experience that will keep your fingers glued to the controller.

Scott! Your face... it's beautiful.

The graphical detail found in Heavy Rain is stunning. The lively faces found on every loading screen will give quite a few gamers an unprecedented feeling of astonishment. There were only two snags I came across in the beauty of this game. The first, being a small texture issue found on a few objects in the game, especially concerning food. “Son, would you care to have orange-isosceles-triangles with your chicken and shamrocks?” The second, being a frame-rate issue that lasted for about a minute when I was fairly close to completing the game. However, the issue did not reoccur during my second play-through. Other than the two small issues found in the game, Heavy Rain sets a very high standard for artistic graphical achievement.

The sound in this game is a case of “bad-cop, good-cop.” While the game has an amazingly profound original composition of music, the voice-acting suffers in some areas. Every voice actor in the game is great, except when they’re either yelling, or it’s just Jason being Jason. Madison, Scott, and Blake (a Lieutenant on the local police force) are the only characters that don’t sound like they’re pretending to yell into a cave to hear just to hear the echo, they might as well be sitting in the corner with a shell, listening to the sound of the “ocean.” While the voice acting does throw the game off at some points (mainly in the beginning), the intensity of facial expressions and background music will pull you right back in.

"Madison Paige, 27, Single, Graphically H.O.T."

The gameplay is probably the most subject to prejudice, considering the majority of the time will be spent pressing buttons during cutscenes. Without a doubt, the game will feel like a movie, but the gameplay does just enough to make the players feel that they are making a major impact on the storyline… and they are. A majority of games will make you feel fully immersed into a game with controls. This is not entirely the case with Heavy Rain. You will feel as much as a part of the game as any decent home-console game on the market today, but very few games will make you feel as a part of the story as much as Heavy Rain makes you feel. The controls do feel awkward when you’re found in a corner, or small space, but most of the game is in a fairly open area. The gameplay in Heavy Rain is unique and interesting, certainly not repetitive, but it’s not for every gamer out there.

Why so down, Jayden? At least I still like Quick Time Events.

With every play-through being quite unique, the replay value moderately high. Most gamers will easily find themselves playing the last few scenes over, and over again through the chapter select. It doesn’t stop there, surprisingly, a good amount of the decisions you make early on can greatly effect the ending, giving quite a few gamers incentive to play the entire game over again. As a helpful suggestion, if you’re one who likes to experiment, get with one or three of your friends and take up a portion of characters, for example, in one play-through, I played as Norman Jayden and Scott Shelby, and my friend took Ethan Mars and Madison Paige. Psychologically, the storyline can be quite interesting when you limit your control over characters and put them in the hands of someone else. For a single player game, the replay value is impressive.

"Just give me the verdict already."

Overall, Heavy Rain is a unique, thrilling experience that most gamers can enjoy. I would advise buying this game, but if you want to have one hell of a fun weekend, or take it slow through a week off of a work, rent the game and make sure you finish it. Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain is a must-play for any gamer, or even any frequent movie-goer, that is remotely interested in a good storyline.

The two disputed for a smidge after the father, who bought his son a copy of FIFA Soccer 09 for his birthday, gave him some pointers. Once the debate grew and the father shut off the television due to his kid’s behavior, the teen, Mario, drew a 15-inch knife from the kitchen and stabbed his father in the neck.

Reported as calm in his demeanor shortly after, Mario’s mother, 46-year-old Monica B., watched over as her son cleansed the utensil in the sink. Not knowing what had happened, the husband stumbled into the kitchen soon after clutching his hand around a bleeding throat.

Mario gave no resistance to the police while awaiting his arrest in his room after the incident had occurred. The good news is that Mario’s father is in stable condition. The ironic part, however, is that this violent act stems from the following comment:

“Mario is obsessed. He’s forever playing on his PlayStation, and we bought him FIFA 2009 because we didn’t want him playing violent games,” his mother told Il Corriere, an Italian newspaper.”

Source: CANOE Technology/Reuters

By pre-ordering the game from select retailers, in return you’ll receive a voucher for a stadium “-6-Pack” at no extra cost to you. This six-pack includes recreations of classic stadiums built to relive the experience of a time past, and a time in which you can be a part of in your very own history of making the sport happen throughout these varied playing fields.

We want a picture, not a belly-itcher!

Check the list below to see which retailers are participating in this event. Also be aware that this offer is exclusive to the PlayStation 3.

• Wal-Mart
• GameStop
• Best Buy
• Amazon.com
• Buy.com
• JandR

Source: Official PlayStation Blog

Turkey Day is almost here which means Black Friday is on it’s way. So, before you hit the stores, we’ve compiled a list of the upcoming PlayStation deals that will happen on that day. Also with this you can get a jump start on what out there before other do.  Without further ado, here is your 2009 Black Friday Deals by store name.

*Note this deal list will update when we receive further information on more deals.

GREEN titles are recommended games.

RED titles are Doorbuster deals.

Best Buy Black Friday Deals Below

PS3 Deals

Brutal Legend — $34.99

Call of Juarez — $19.99

Dragon Age — $34.99

Fallout 3 — $19.99

FIFA Soccer ’10 — $34.99

Tom Clancy’s HAWX — $19.99

Madden ’10 — $34.99

NBA Live ’10 — $34.99

Need For Speed: Shift —$34.99

NHL ’10 — $34.99

Resident Evil 5 — $19.99

The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena —$19.99

The Bigs 2 — $19.99

Sony PlayStation 3 Package w/120GB Console, Little Big Planet, and Ratchet And Clank — $299.99

*No PSP or PS2 Deals

GameStop Black Friday Deals Below

PS3 Deals

Batman Arkham Asylum — $39.99

Borderlands — $49.99

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 — $59.99

Call of Duty: World at War — $39.99

Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition — $49.99

God of War: Collection — $39.99

Grand Theft Auto IV — $19.99

Grand Turismo 5 Prologue — $29.99

Guitar Hero 5 ( Game Only) — $39.99

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (Used) — $7.49

Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock (Used) — $4.99

Guitar Hero: World Tour (Used) — $14.99

Madden NFL ’08 (Used) — $2.99

Prototype — $29.99

PS3 Holiday Bundle w/ Three Games — $299.99

PSP Deals

Crisis Core – Final Fantasy VII — $9.99

Monster Hunter Freedom 2 — $19.99

Rock Band: Unplugged — $19.99

PS2 Deals

Grand Tursimo 3 — $1.99

Kmart Black Friday Deals Below

PS3 Deals

Brutal Legend — $39.99

Dirt 2 — $39.99

Dragon Age: Origins— $39.99

Need For Speed: Shift — $39.99

Target's Black Friday Deals Below

PS3 Deals

Assassin’s Creed II  w/ $10 Gift Card — $59.99

Batman Arkham Asylum — $37.00

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 w/ $10 Gift Card — $59.99

Need For Speed: Shift — $37.00

DualShock 3 Controller – $39.00

Rock Band (Game Only)— $7.00

Shaun White’s Snowboarding — $7.00

Star Wars: The Clone Wars — $37.00

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 — $37.00

Toys R' Us Black Friday Deals Below

PS3 Deals

Need For Speed Shift — $34.99

PSP Deals

PSP Accessories — 50% off

Radioshack Black Friday Deals Below

PS3 Deals

DualShock 3 Wireless Controller — $29.99

Wal-Mart Black Friday Deals Below

PS3 Deals

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare — $25.00

Need For Speed: Undercover — $10.00

PS3 Console w/ Batman Arkham Asylum, inFamous, & The Dark Night Blu-Ray — $299.99

Rock Band Special Edition (Game & Instruments) — $50.00

The Godfather II — $10.00

WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2009 — $25.00

Don’t forget this game is on ONE blu-ray disc and is updates with 720p and 60fps not to mention TROPHY SUPPORT. the God of War Collection comes with a vocher for the God of War E3 2009 Demo for PSN.

PS.BLOG

The Good: Lots of area to take over, so plenty of gameplay. Story to go along with all the areas. Great tutorial system to learn how to play the game.

The Bad: The graphics were just not near what I was hoping for, and the controls are kind of hard to learn. Game play feels kind of slow.

So as always when I start a game I’ve never played I check out the Tutorials, the Introduction felt way to long and trying to base it on the story. Also after the introduction it does a good job of teaching you the game play and not trying to have a story along with it.

Graphics:
I am playing the game on my PS3 and I tried upscaling and even disabling the upscaling and compared to the screen shots I’ve seen I feel the games graphics could be a lot better. The camera is very easy to move around, although is a little to straight down look then it should be.

Controls:
As I said in the Bad I felt the controls were quite hard to learn, and really annoying to adjust to. I would much rather the left joystick be used more like a mouse and use x as left click.

Story:
I have not really had time to follow the story all the way through although from what I have seen they have done a great job connecting it to historical events.

Gameplay: 7.0
Graphics: 5.0
Controls: 6.0
Story: 9.0

Final Score: 6.7

Game Play: Red Octane obviously felt like there was nothing wrong with Guitar Hero 2, and didn’t mess with the core mechanics of the game. Everything you learned to love, or hate in Guitar Hero 2 are back. It’s still a simple click the fret and strum the bar. Nothing crazy has come into play this time around. Even though the game is basically the same as the second installment, there are some nice perks to the game and well, perks that should have been there.

The career mode this time around has actually a little bit of a story behind it. Even though there is no dialogue there is clearly a story unfolding as you play. You start off in your friends garage and land a gig at a local backyard party. You get signed by a recording company and make it big. There are nice animations between each tier so you don’t get lost and for some type of amusement.

The character selection is back, but minus Pandora, Clive Owen, and a couple of others. You would expect this time around to have more customization options for your characters, but it’s simply not there. This game obviously lacks in customization options and giving the player the feel of it being their band.

As the title suggests, Legends of Rock, you do encounter Guitar “Gods”. You will battle against Tom Morello( Lead Guitarist for Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave), Slash(Guns and Roses), and the last one I will leave as a surprise. Each battle has a unique guitar battle that each boss came in and recorded exclusively for Guitar Hero 3. There are only three boss battles which is kind of a buzz kill, because you really don’t have fun with it until the final boss.

The battle system is the new feature for multi-player this time. Battling is about knocking your opponent around, and doing what you can to distract him or her from winning. Speaking of Multi-player, each platform except the Playstation 2 has online play to it now. You can now challenge anyone around the world, to fight for the top spot. Best part of all, is the ability to link your account to www.guitarhero.com and keep track of your scores online. You and your buddies can make your own rock band, gain groupies, and compete for title of Rock God.

Score: 8.5

Graphics: For the PS2, Guitar Hero 3 looks like Guitar Hero 2. The character models do look a little better but nothing to earth shattering.

When it comes to the next gen-systems, I’m not impressed. The notes and boards look a little sharper, but how much better can you make those look in the first place? As for the character models, they are an improvement from PS2 but nothing to brag about either. I understand the game is meant all about the notes, and playing the guitar, but it would be nice to have something to look at while listening to the drum solos.
The venues this time around are really cool and innovative. Some of them seem familiar as previous venues, but you will catch yourself looking at everything happening around the band and how gorgeous the venues look.

Score: 8.0

Control: Not much to say in this department. Controls are the same as the other Guitar Heros. As for the PS3 version, there are some problems . The instructions seem easy enough, but don’t exactly play out the way it should. It will take a couple of minutes to get set up, and reading the receiver. As for the control and response in the game, if you are running an HDTV, you will have to fix the lag calibration. There will be problems, but once you deal with the Calibration, it will work like a charm.
Score: 8.5

Replay Value: Guitar Hero has always had a replay value even playing the same song over and over. If you are into the series, you always had this itch to out do your last score, and hit more notes in a row. With Guitar Hero 3 having over 70 songs off the bat, this installment is no exception. The songs this time around are much harder than what you have experienced before, so it will take more time to master each. Now with the addition of having more songs to download, and the leader boards you will find yourself picking this up more often than you think.
Score: 9.0

Game Play: 8.5
Graphics: 8.0
Control: 8.5
Replay Value: 9.0
final score: 8.5

WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008, what is there to say about this game? The graphics are as fake as this sport is. It does what all is possible in wrestling with the extreme gayness of the extremely muscular guys in tights. I will admit I hate wrestling but I wanted to get my hands on it to see if it could change my mind. I will tell you now, NOPE. I felt the graphics of this game could had been at least 4x better for the PS3 version and 2x better for the PS2 version which is what I played. This game is one of the most disappointing games I’ve played yet this year.

So I loaded in the PS2 version in and started it up, once I got through all the memory card junk that is extremely annoying I got into the game, I do an instant round where me vs comp. I must say the games controls SUCK. I have no suggestions on controls for a wrestling game but I’m sure they could be much better.

Now I know I played a PS2 game yes, yes I should not expect amazing graphics. Although when I go and look at the PS3 screen shots, personally it doesn’t look a whole lot better. Yes the PS3 version the actual wrestlers look a lot sharper but they also have jagged edges, but my god the PS2 version all the rope is, is a blue line. You can barely make out the crowds faces and overall I felt it was the worst crowd I’ve seen in a game in a long time. So now that you know how badly I disliked the game I’m going to go ahead and rate it.

Game Play: 6
Graphics: 4
Control: 2
Replay Value: 5

Final Score: 4.2

If you like wrestling then this will probably be a good title to rent, buy if you are a huge freak. Although unless you love WWE I’d suggest a different fighting game.

A Modern Classic
When it was announced that the twelfth installment in the Final Fantasy franchise was going to implement large changes to the series’ gameplay mechanics, many die-hard Final Fantasy fans were upset. However, after playing the game for a bit one can see that much of the changes are exceptional and are a great move forward for the series.
The new battle system in FFXII does away with the stale random encounters of yore. This time around the player can approach and engage enemies without transitioning into a separate battle screen. This also allows the player to move freely around enemies in real-time, but for the most part the way commands are issued is still similar to past Final Fantasy installments. You choose your command then a bar will fill and when it does your command will be executed (In past FFs, a bar filled and then you issued commands.). Naturally, doing this with a party of characters could quickly become tedious and somewhat aggravating, which is where the Gambit system comes in. The Gambit system can be compared to an extremely simple programming language. It allows the player to choose pre-set actions that the characters will perform if certain battle conditions are met. For instance, the player can issue one their characters to cast cure on a party member if their HP falls below 50%. Setting up the gambits is a lot easier than it sounds. Simply pull up the menu, choose a condition and then a result. Unfortunately, there is a bad side to gambits. Aside from boss battles, 90% of the games encounters can be dealt with using the two simplest gambits: auto-attack and auto-heal. This oftentimes will make the game seem too easy, but luckily the game consists of some challenging bosses. In order to teach your characters new skills (and new equipment proficiencies) in FFXII, you must defeat enemies to earn ability points. These ability points can be used on what’s called the license board (extremely similar to the sphere grid of FFX, but more open). Using the points, you move across the board, learning new skills as you go. In addition to learning the skill on the board, you must also purchase the skill from one of the game’s various merchants. You need to be very lenient with spending your Gil in FFXII though. If you overhaul your gear/skills in every town you come across, you will find your pockets empty in no time. The combat and character development of FFXII feels fresh, innovative, and is a blast to play.

The world of XII takes place in Ivalice (Yes, the very same from FF Tactics). The world of Ivalice is lush and diverse and makes for a great fantasy setting that can live up to the world’s of any previous games of the series. Some of the locales include arid deserts, snowy mountains, lush jungles, and ancient temples. This time around though, similar to Final Fantasy X, there is no world map to traverse, however it is a lot less linear than FFX. Needless to say there will be a lot of walking and exploring in FFXII, but that’s actually not a bad thing cause the world is great to look at and is filled with a variety of unique monsters. Another new addition to the franchise is a controllable camera. This leads to one of the few flaws in the game, not because a camera is a bad idea but because the controls of it are inverted. After a few hours of play it becomes second nature though.

Surprisingly, the story of XII is actually one of its low points when compared to other high profile JRPGS. Not to spoil the story, much of it focuses on the politics of Ivalice, rather than the romance and “world saving” of previous FF installments. The story is still intriguing and is well worth paying attention to. Final Fantasy XII also introduces quite a few memorable characters (both heroes and villains). From the sly sky pirate Balthier to the mad scientist Cid, Final Fantasy XII’s characters will be long remembered. It should take anywhere between 40-60 hours to complete the game the first time through. Of course the journey doesn’t have to stop there. The game consists of a multitude of side quests. The game also has many optional areas to explore, secret items to collect, and a plethora of bounty-hunting missions. Final Fantasy XII should keep even the most dedicated gamers busy for weeks on end.
Needless to say, Final Fantasy XII has a breathtaking presentation. Certainly, it lacks the “WOW” factor that FFX had when it released; however the graphics are still some of the best to ever grace the Playstation 2. The game’s art style clearly takes after Final Fantasy Tactics rather than the previous core games in the franchise. In addition, the sound effects are top-notch. Everything sounds as it should, such as swords shredding enemy flesh. The voice-over work is also some of the best ever implemented into a video game. There is never a time when the dialogue seems too awkward or cheesy. The games VO work also seems very unique due to it’s utilization of accents. Citizens from a certain territory have heavy English accents, while others have heavy Russian accents. It should come at no surprise that FFXII’s music sounds wonderful as well. A good amount of the soundtrack was recorded using a live orchestra, while other pieces were synthesized on a computer. Both types sound well. Overall, the music is very epic and fits the game accurately. The melodies that accompany each situation fit in perfectly.
After many delays (the game was set for 2004 originally) the final product has finally been released. Final Fantasy XII does away with many of the old conventions of the Final Fantasy series and introduces new ones that actually better the game experience. Combine that with a sharp and beautiful presentation, and Final Fantasy XII may just be the best JRPG to come along in years.

Summary
Pros:
-Fluid combat system
-Gorgeous graphics
-Breathtaking score
-Great lasting appeal
-Memorable characters
Cons:
-Weak story
-Bad camera controls
-Gambits can make the game to easy

Final Score: 9.0/10.0