Welcome to another instalment in our weekly news digest where the team at PSU Towers picks our favourite slices of gaming gossip from the past seven days, before proceeding to offer our two cents on each story for good measure.
Naturally, with the Christmas Holidays in full swing this past week, news has been a little on the quiet side. Furthermore, we imagine many of you – like us – have been too busy indulging in copious amounts of gaming time and shovelling heaps of food down your gobs to notice. Nonetheless, a couple of juicy morsels did pop up, and we’ve singled them out for your consumption below.
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Uncharted 3 is not an open-world game, says dev
When we first clapped eyes on Drake’s desert dilemma in Uncharted 3’s gripping teaser, we’ll admit the notion of Naughty Dog dipping its sandals in the open-world genre did spring to mind. However, it was pretty obvious this wouldn’t be the case, and we’re pretty relieved they’re sticking to their guns. After all, Uncharted is much better suited to the linear, adrenaline-filled antics that have become synonymous with the franchise since day one. Still, the very fact Drake will be traversing a sprawling desert affords the Dogs ample opportunity to stretch its legs, and indeed this seems to be the case, with the studio confirming Drake’s Deception will feel more open than previous entries. Obviously the cheeky treasure hunter will still be kept on a leash as to how far he’ll get to explore, but at least in regards to being stranded in the desert goes, players will have more exploration available to them. We’re totally up for this, as we enjoyed Uncharted 2’s slightly more expansive locales in comparison to the original’s tighter, claustrophobic corridor crawls. Needless to say, we can’t wait to see how Drake manages to extricate himself from this latest predicament.
Japan: The 3rd Birthday debuts at six, Monster Hunter still on top
Love it or loathe it, the overwhelming success of Capcom’s Monster Hunter franchise has been nothing short of astonishing. Released on December 1, the third entry in the handheld series has already raked in over three million unit sales, trampling over all competition in the process. Going by the latest Enterbrain data, things look set to continue, with the game still not budging at number one. Unfortunately, Square’s hotly anticipated The 3rd Birthday picked a decidedly competitive week to arrive on shelves, failing to crack the top five and landing in at number six. We didn’t expect it to trump Monster Hunter, but the fact it was beaten by a love simulator baffles the mind. Despite this, the game still sold 140,000 copies in its debut week — not too shabby at all.
Uncharted 3 heats up with extended Chateau gameplay
We have to admit, we didn’t expect to see hide nor hair of Nathan Drake’s latest outing again for a good few months following the game’s extensive media blitz in December. Fortunately, the chaps at Naughty Dog haven’t quite done serenading us with snippets of Drake’s sandy sequel just yet. Nope, as a little Christmas treat, the celebrated studio released an additional four minutes worth of Burning Chateau footage for our consumption, displaying yet more heroic antics from everyone’s favourite globetrotting treasure hunter and his moustached mentor, Sully. In particular, be on the lookout for more clips of Drake’s heavy-handed brawling as he engages in a brutal game of fisticuffs with his opponents – needless to say, melee combat is looking more compelling by the second. We’re stoked. Have a gander at the videos here.
ESRB rates four more Square PSOne classics
Videogame developers have been doing a stellar job at pumping out an array of classic PlayStation titles on PSN over the past year or so, and from the look of things, this trend is set to continue in to the New Year. Or at least, in North America anyhow. Once again, U.S. ratings body the ESRB has outed yet more PSOne Classics in the pipeline, this time in the form of some RPG goodies from Japanese behemoth, Square Enix. Specifically, it looks like our friends across the pond will be treated to the likes of Xenogears, Legend of Mana, Vagrant Story and Threads of Fate. Super. Elsewhere, it seems Namco is also prepping another for release on Sony’s online service, with R4 Ridge Racer Type 4 also receiving the ESRB treatment. No word on whether any of these titles will be making the transition to PAL territories yet, though we certainly have our fingers crossed.