The PS3 is by far the most expensive console out there and sales have been suffering as a result. Much of its initial success was driven by its built-in Blu-ray player. Despite the fact that the component was expensive it was offset by the fact that the PS3 was for some time the best value for a Blu-ray player on the market. Now there are more affordable Blu-ray players on the market and the PS3 has been dropping off in sales as a result.

Rumors have been circulating for some time now that the PS3 will be getting a price cut, likely around $100, but the big question would be how Sony is going to cut production costs. Some analysts have predicted that Sony will soon be offering up a PS3 that lacks a Blu-ray drive. Unfortunately this doesn’t seem to make much sense, due to the fact that many PS3 games are too large to fit onto a standard DVD disc.

First person shooters are popular on pretty much every platform, but PC gamers have always claimed that the mouse and keyboard combination are ideal for the FPS gaming control scheme. Having played the games on both the PC and consoles I would tend to agree.

A new peripheral for the PS3 is being released in ninety days that’ll allow console gamers to achieve a slice of that pinpoint accuracy. It’s actually two controllers, and unfortunately for any lefties it’s obviously designed only for right handed gamers as the buttons on the mouse are located on the left side for easy thumb access. The other controller is a bit like a Wiimote, with its own analog stick and d-pad.

One of the most successful early titles for the Xbox 360 was sci-fi shooter Lost Planet. Capcom has announced that its sequel is being developed for the Xbox 360, dispelling rumors that the game would launch simultaneously as a multiplatform release. You won’t be stepping back into the thermal suit of Wayne Holden this time though, as you’ll customize your own band of Snow Pirates and attempt to take control of the planet of E.D.N. III.

It takes place ten years after the original and the planet will look very different than it used to. The terraforming efforts have begun to take hold and other environments than arctic wasteland will be seen for once. Players will move their characters through different stories, unravelling the story from different perspectives. The game promises to keep the main gameplay features that made the original such a classic, but with the addition of online four player co-op and new Akrids to fight. The multiplayer mode will be much more in-depth than the standard multiplayer options, with a full campaign for you and up to three friends to embark on.

One of the biggest advantages of video games is how unusual and broad a range of stories can be told in greater detail and for a fraction of the cost. Many games are epic romps into fantastic worlds filled with strange creatures and unusual people. Some of these have been turned into films with mixed results. Occasionally we get a film like Max Payne, which despite its gaming nature is essentially just a normal film.

Notorious rapper 50 Cent is in talks with THQ, trying to get the rights for the Saints Row franchise in order to make a film version of the game. While it’s easy to see why the former drug dealer has a connection to the game which has players struggling with rival gangs for control of crime-riddled Stillwater, the potential for a Saints Row game to be anything other than an action/gang film seems rather limited.

Electric Box Game Review–Drunken Engineers’ Dares
Dead Space Review–No One Can Hear Your Screams of Joy
Xbox 360 Left 4 Dead patched
PopCap aquires Gastronaut studios
Metal Gear Solid Touch debut trailer
Video game consoles flood pawn shops
Sony’s Go!Messenger service no more
The Last Remnant for PC to be Shipped this March
More than 50% of Xbox Live Accounts are Gold
Team Fortress 2 Scout Gets Force-a-Nature
Assassin’s Creed, Rock Band, MotorStorm, LittleBigPlanet Coming to PSP
Red Xbox 360 Elite Model Announced
Funcom Loses Lots of Money; Age of Conan has 100K Subscribers Only?
Developers Not Making Games For Reviewers
Revolting Japanese Game Pulled From Amazon, eBay
Resident Evil 6 To Reboot Series
Mass Effect 2 Protagonist In Question

A devious little puzzler comes to us by way of Kongregate Games today, and you can take a run at it yourself right here–it’s called Electric Box,and if you ever wanted a good electrical engineering sim, well, you’ve got it right here, man.  Boy, do you ever.

You’re given a variety of parts–water wheels, light bulbs, solar panels, batteries, laser generators, and so on–to move power from one device to another.  Now, you might think–all I really need is some wires and that’ll let me run power no problem.  Oh no…it’s never that simple.  For some reason, everyone’s detached wires, leaving piles of them everywhere that you can’t move.  I’m guessing this is like some drunken engineer challenge or something, leaving you to try and route power around corners and past blockages and everywhere in between.

Two things become clear right away. This game is hard, and this game is pretty fun.  If you do any tinkering with machines in your spare time, or you’ve always wanted to but seem to have thumbs implanted where your fingers should be, then you might well get a kick out of transferring power from one point to another.  But if you’re not into engineering, then this isn’t one for you.

Well, I finally got around to trying Dead Space for the Xbox 360, and I’ll say this much–that sucker was a surprise out of nowhere.  Best part was, the further in I got, the more I liked it.

I confess to personal bias; check out the plot on this beauty.  Basically, you’re part of a team of agents sent to recover a derelict ship in the middle of deep space.  No sooner do you get there and find the ship abandoned then your OWN ship suffers a catastrophic failure.  Now, your only hope for survival is to get the derelict working again so that you can call for backup and get out of there.  Of course, it’s never that easy–it’s what’s causing all the problems on the derelict that’s the REAL problem.  Specifically, a whole slew of giant monsters.  Now you’ve got to fight your way to getting the derelict back on her feet and getting you and the team out of there.

If the plot doesn’t sound at least slightly familiar to you, you haven’t been watching enough science fiction because you’re not recognizing the plot of one of my personal favorite titles, Event Horizon.  Sure, maybe you just needed it pointed out, but looking at the two, man, there are a LOT of similarities between the two.  The concepts are essentially the same.

The similarities alone are enough to give it at least a provisional win in my book, but this isn’t where the fun stops–oh no, not by a long shot.  Another sweet shot of joy in this package is the targeting system.  Now, most games, your initial instinct is to shoot for the head, or failing that, go for center of mass for the best chance to hit, right?  Yeah, of course that’s right.  But in Dead Space, your target of choice on the various monsters you’ll run into?  The limbs.  Talk about counterintuitive–I don’t think I’ve purposely taken a leg shot since, well, Fallout 3.  Meanwhile, walking around this ship of the damned has left me taking more leg shots than a Maxim photographer.  Who saw that coming?

Plus, there’s a good variety of guns in here to provide a great plenty of bang-bang, and some varied gameplay modes where you negotiate around barricades, handle a gun turret, and solve various puzzles to help get the derelict back on a paying basis.

It’s that variety, coupled with the well-realized plotline and abundance of action, that gives Dead Space an incredible fun factor.  Of course, it’s not without its problems–some of the puzzles aren’t exactly intuitive, and it would’ve been welcome to know about the importance of having air refills beforehand.  Nothing sucks worse in Dead Space than solving a puzzle and having all your hard work negated because you suffocated on the way back to a pressurized atmosphere.

But these aren’t exactly big flaws—a little advance preparation and a walkthrough on hand will take care of them, and you’ll be free to enjoy the sweet plotline joy.  There’s plenty to like about Dead Space, and the sci-fi bliss therein will only make things better.

While PC gamers got this patch a while ago, Valve left console gamers pretty much in the dark. Well no more as the Xbox 360 version of Left 4 Dead has recently been patched.

Just boot up Left 4 Dead and you’ll be given the option to download the patch. Happy zombie slaying!

Get the full list of updates, thanks to Kotaku, after the break. READ ON »

It seems PopCap Games is taking a lesson from EA; world domination.

It was recently announced that the once small time game developer, PopCap, has recently bought out Gastronaut Studios who developed XBLA titles such as Small Arms and Gel: Set & Match.

Maybe 20 years in the future PopCap will buyout EA? Ok, maybe not, but you get the point.

Read (Joystiq)

Konami clearly hasn’t turned it’s back on the developing platform that is the iPhone, especially with their recent announcement of Metal Gear Solid Touch.

What you see above is the game’s debut trailer and I have to say, the graphics are absolutely gorgeous for such a device. 

Can anyone say best selling iPhone app of all time?