SEGA of Japan have announced they’ll be releasing a patch to add an “Install” feature to the PS3 version of the game. However, this has yet to be confirmed for the rest of the world. I’m sure it’ll come though. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if it showed up everywhere tomorrow.

[UPDATE] – As expected, the new patch is now live in Japan and Europe. I think it’s safe to assume the North American one will go live shortly.

We can only assume that this will end up in North America and Europe soon enough. However, I may be tempted to pick this up on import. Told you I was a fanboy.

The pack will be available on February 18th ¥7,980 (about $87). Ok…I guess I won’t be picking this up as soon as I thought.

The bundle will contain: A 120GB black PS3 Slim, a DualShock 3 controller and a copy of the Michael Jackson behind the scenes documentary on blu-ray. It’s a Japan exclusive and will be available for ¥33,500 ($365) when it releases on January 27th. As of yet, there’s no word on the bundle being available with a white console.

After a lot of speculation it seems that my hopes, like those of many others, of Yakuza 3 coming to the west have been dashed by SEGA once again.  The Japanese gaming giants have said that it’s unlikely that western gamers will see Yakuza 3.

Representatives of both Sony Europe and America have commented on the situation. According to the European side, who spoke to VG247, there are “no current plans” to localise the game. Something that gives me a glimer of hope. The SEGA America rep told The Examiner that the sales of Yakuza 2 were insufficient and don’t justify the need to release the third game.

A SEGA rep told Siliconera that there is “no confirmation” on weather the game will come to Western shores. God I hope it does, it looks too awesome not to. Yakuza 4 is on the horizon too, come on SEGA don’t let us down. Go on people, flock to your local game stores and buy you some Yakuza!

Source: Joystiq

Nippon Ichi’s new game is the first game to be released under the, what seems to be new, “UMD Download” banner.

The game, Hyarigami 2, has been released on the PlayStation Store under this banner, could this be the trend from now? Or is this just some crazy Japanese name adoption. I’m sure there’ll be a different name when/if this hits Western shores.

This is a little weird considering the PSPGo doesn’t come out in Japan until November 1st.

[TheSixthAxis via AndriaSang]

Earlier this year an interesting game came out of Japan and seemed to be going down a storm. That game was Gomibako. I knew it wouldn’t ring any bells. However, you might well have (and should have) heard about a little PSN game called Trash Panic. This game is the aforementioned game with a (sorry for the pun) really rubbish title. The title aside, the game is really good. Why don’t you click that jump over there and see what I thought about it.As many have pointed out to me, Puzzle games seem to be relegated to the “casual” gamer nowadays and that the days when a “hardcore” gamer would play a puzzle game seriously have long gone. This game is out to change that. Like all games of this nature I think they appeal to both demographics. The simple mechanics and colourful art style definiely attract a more casual audience, but there’s more than enough for the hardcore here. The phrase “easy to learn, difficult to master” was something that certainly sprang to mind when I started playing this.

The concept of Gomibako Trash Panic is to try and get as much stuff inside a rubbish bin as you can without it overflowing. This can be achieved in a number of ways. For example, you could burn the stuff, crush it under the weight of stuff or just add water (and a little something else) and watch your well piled rubbish biodegrade. Sounds simple, right? Wrong.

This has to be one of the hardest games I have encountered on PSN. Sure, it looks simple and it sounds simple, but simple is one thing Trash Panic isn’t. Believe me, you’re going to get a lot of “bang for your buck” if you buy this, because it’ll take you ages to complete. I realise i’m going to get emails now with “oh I beat it in under an hour” e.t.c. in them, but i’d call B.S. on anyone who said that. It seems impossible.

Saying that a game is super hard is something that would put many a gamer off, but don’t dismiss this game before you’ve tried it. It might be on the more difficult side, but you’re going to have a ton of fun along the way. With six stages (and the credits) to play through, there’s a ton of trash compacting fun to be had here. The gameplay is quite simple really, move items around and drop them on others to break them or do some kind of damage. Try to imagine Tetris crossed with a scrap heap and you’ve got Trash Panic. Another great, old school style, game with an interesting twist. If you like classic puzzle games, then you’re sure to love this. That said, I think you’d find it hard to find someone who didn’t like this game. As your progress through the game, as you’d expect, the levels get harder and harder and your ECO or EGO rating certainly comes into play a lot more. The ECO and EGO ratings are based around what you do in the game. If you destroy enough stuff, you’ll be awarded with more ECO points. Destroying certain things or dropping items out of the bin will get you more EGO points (as well as a smattering of sponge balls). If you do buy this game and want to play it properly, I suggest reading the online manual. With no hint of a playable tutorial anywhere in this game, there’s going to have to be some required reading before you’ll be able to beat the later levels, and by later I mean level 2.

One of the best things about this game is it’s visuals. They’re super Japanese. Everything about them is great. They’re bright, quirky and just fun to look at. Something which certainly helps, especially if you get hooked. You would’nt want to be looking at crappy visuals all day would you? (once again excuse the pun). Populating these super-Japanese environments are characters who look not to disimilar to Patapon’s. These little guys will help sift through your garbage to find special items, such as cake or jewellery, which presumably must have been thrown out by mistake. Watch these, destroying them will add to the EGO rating. i just think that it’s a shame the game doesn’t push the PS3 in the visuals department. At over one gigabyte I sort of expected more from this. The game is a bigger download than WarHawk for Christ’s sake!

Unlike many of this type of game, I was surprised to find more than just one mode. In total there are four modes and the game includes online options as well as an “unliminted” mode, something which comes as standard in a game like this and something you’d need a death wish to play. One of the other cool features in this game is it’s YouTube support. Players can record up to 10 minute sessions and post them for the world to see, something I think more games should be implementing.

This game is certainly one of the most interesting downloadable games of the year and could be in the running for our “PSN GOTY”. However, it does have some problems. The load times here can be horrendous and the, seemingly thrown together, main menu doesn’t really tell you what you’re actually doing in any great detail. Something that classes as one of this game’s biggest failures. There’s a great game hidden here, it’s just shrouded by a number of faults that could’ve been easily remedied. All that’s needed is a makeover on the menu, a tutorial and better load times and this game is pretty close to perfect. It’s just a shame that a few problems are holding it back from reaching it’s true potential. It’s got everything there it just seems very Overwhelming, some would say that’s an understatement.

7.5/10

Secondary Comments – By Chris Malley

When I first booted this game up I was imediately besotted. It just had this thing about it that was so unique and I couldn’t wait to get stuck in. At first, I took it for the simplistic puzzler I thought it was, but when the going got tough I found it hard to keep playing. The game was killing me and I couldn’t bear reading that manual-tutorial hybrid. Like Anthony said, this game is too “busy”. A few changes and the game would’ve been one of my favorite PSN games, sadly there’s just a few things holding it back.

Atlus have announced they’ll be bringing Demon’s Souls to North America.

The company, famous for bringing Japanese games out West made the announcement yesterday which should make some people happy somewhere. With the game being a Japanese exclusive for so long, I really have no opinion on it. Hopefully we’ll be able to see the game around E3 as Atlus have said they’ll be providing us with some “updates”.

I’m intrigued to say the least.

Now I’m not an Anime fan, but when I heard about Afro Samurai becoming a game I was immediately intrigued. I had been shown the program a number of times and had liked what I saw. It seemed to me that it would make a really good hack n’ slash game, so when Namco Bandai announced that a game of the miniseries was in development I was excited and pleasantly surprised. With more and more information coming in about the game, the hype level of myself and other fans alike was on the rise. Would they pull it off? Could they pull it off? A few months passed and we heard nothing. I began to think that the game had been canceled, once again, bit by bit, we started to hear new info and the fear that, one of the most interesting licensed games in a long time, was no more had gone. Afro Samurai looked awesome, sounded awesome and it looked like the devs were dedicated to bringing a great game to fruition, despite it’s roots. They delivered, thank god.

The cell shaded, Anime-style visuals are the first thing that hit you. The game looks amazing. Of course, this game looks nice when everything is still, but what happens when the action kicks in? It looks even better, the visual style combined with the fluid animation really work well together and many cannot tell the difference between the game and the Anime (believe me I checked). Throughout my numerous play sessions of this game I never once noticed a single, major, visual glitch. This took me by surprise, I had assumed that the game’s visual integrity wouldn’t hold up for long and, like I said, I was pleasantly surprised. Had Namco Bandai actually made a ‘good’ licensed game? Yes and no.

Although the visual quality is really good and the animation fluid this is often spoiled by the game’s camera. This game is a Ninja Gaiden clone in every sense, now that isn’t nessacerily a bad thing. It is when it comes to the camera though. The camera feels like it has been lifted straight out of Team Ninja’s game and this definitely is a hinderance and stops the game being all that it could be. Intense, action packed fight scenes are ruined by having to constantly “nanny” the camera in order to see where you’re going and crucial jumps, like many of the game’s more platformy (is that even a word) sequences are also affected by this terrible camera. Of course I wouln’t want the camera fixed to one spot, it’d just be nice if I didn’t have to control that and my character simultaneously. It really does ruin the players experience, which is a real shame.

The plot is a little confusing too. In a straight narrative form it isn’t too hard to follow, but in a game like this, especially when playing in chunks, it’s definitely quite hard to tell what’s going on around you and why your doing what your doing. The mission structure doesn’t help either, the game transitions from one mission to another almost seamlessly and if you’re not constantly paying attention you can often find yourself wondering what you’re meant to be doing. Fans will also be annoyed to know that some of the plot points from the miniseries have been changed or removed in the game. Of course, a number of factors go into these kind of things and, personally, they didn’t hinder my understanding of the story, but they didn’t exactly help either.

Going back to the animation, one of the game’s many successes. I feel it has worked as well as it did because of the simplicity of the combat. This simple nature of one of the game’s key mechanics is, most definitely, a double edged sword (no pun intended).

The combat consists of a simple heavy and light attack as well as kicking and, of course, jumping actions. My point is that, due to the simple nature of many of Afro’s attack’s, the devs have been able to perfect the animation to such a degree that it looks really good. The simplicity is also a hinderance as many of the fights get repetetive quite quickly and, although they do throw in a few new attacks here and there, it’s generally just a matter of spamming heavy attack until the enemy falls down dead. This is often the case in this sub-genre of games and I almost thought that Namco Bandai had changed that, at least a little bit.

The best part of this game, for me, was the audio. Having a music director like, rapper, The RZA will definitely cause a stir and his inclusion definitely seems to have made a great soundtrack. Although they’re not all RZA tracks, the Wu-Tang members influence can be heard throughout the game and it definitely fits the game. Combined with the fast paced, flowing, combat it is the icing on the cake. It’s just a shame that the cake was a little burnt at the core. It’s not just the soundtrack and that is the audio standout. The voice acting is great too. Samuel L Jackson and Ron Pearlman really bring the character to life and I feel that without them people who aren’t fans of the series wouldn’t have cared for the story at all.

This game has got some great qualities, an all star cast and one of the best soundtracks in modern gaming, but it seems that a lot of the game’s elements are rushed and I feel that if a little more time had been spent making this a great game and then adding in all these amazing aesthetics it would’ve been a must buy for every gamer. Despite this it is a fun game that’s definitely worth a few hours of your time if you get the chance to rent it or buy it on the cheap. Personally, I don’t think I’d consider dropping top dollar on this. It is a fun experience and one I recommend, but only if the price is right. For fans of the series, if you feel you can get over the problems, I’d consider this a must buy. You’re going to love it.

It had some great ideas, but like many games this generation, they aren’t fully fleshed out and end up pulling the quality of the game down and holding it back from the visceral, visual and audio masterpiece it could’ve been.

7/10

[By Anthony]

With the announcement that SEGA are giving the PS3 the Yakuza touch for an upcoming bundle, it seems that themed bundles (and consequently PS3′s) will be flooding the Japanese market in 2009. Today Sony have announced that they will are putting together a ‘special’ bundle (Japan only) for Biohazard 5 (Resident Evil 5). The package includes the game, a DualShock controller and an 80GB PS3 console. The console itself has the Biohazard 5 logo on it and the word ‘Biohazard’ on the disc slot.

Personally, if I had to choose one of the two recent ‘special’ PS3′s I think I’d go with the Yakuza one, but that’s just me. I’m sure RE (or Biohazard) fans will love this.

[By Ryan]

Japan is getting Resident Evil 5 on March 5. Nice news to hear for the Japanese, but thats the tip of the iceberg for what else is coming their way. Japan will also get its own Limited Edition of the game, and this thing is serious. It will include (along with the game):

And as you expected, it isn’t cheap. The Japanese will be paying ¥12,800 (about $134 or 103.967 EUR). But if your a hardcore Resident Evil fan and…speak Japanese, you could pick it up. It looks like a quality collection of memorabilia.