Now, however, the studio is dipping its collective toes into the chilled waters of original i.p. There’s certainly no chance of them getting frostbite here though, as Explodemon looks like an extremely hot prospect.

The press release for the game says that Explodemon is a “2.5D-styled platform game with a physics-puzzle twist”, influenced by the classic Japanese games of old, and has a killer sense of humour. It also looks absolutely fantastic (that bit isn’t from the press release, that’s just me). It’ll be out Q4 2010 on the PlayStation Network. In the mean time, look at the (extremely pretty) screen shots we have of the game. Just don’t drool on the keyboard.

Throughout the adventure, the player will customize his avatar thanks to a unique system changing not only the whole look of the character in every detail, but also its spells and special abilities! The player will recruit various companions during his journey to assist him in his mission, and he will be given the chance to explore mythical places full of magic such as the World Tree, the famous ‘Flying Dutchman’ ghost ship, and many others…

Some screenshots:

The graphics are actually pretty impressive for a PSN game. I’m going to keep an eye on this fantastical faery-fest of an RPG.

Sony just announced that PS3 Firmware 3.41 would be arriving before the end of this month, adding a “You May Like” section to the PSN Store. Though it seems like a small thing, I can assure you that the feature is sure to entice people who are new to the store into buying other items, because they were suggested to them. In a way, the PSN Store is getting it’s own personal shopper, and that has to at least sound cool.

No other features have been announced for the firmware, but it’s likely to come with at least one hidden tweak, or something along those lines. Expect 3.41 at the end of this month, according to the PlayStation Blog.

The game comes with over 50 holes, with even more available for download. It also contains online multiplayer for up to 4 people. Apart from that, it sounds like your standard MiniGolf game, due for release in 2010.

A mock-up

The game is scheduled for release in Asia and Europe for September 15 (no date for North America is set as of yet) and will feature the option to play the game with either a DualShock 3 or the PlayStation Move Controller. Doesn’t look like much has changed based on that mock-up, but we can expect all the PlayStation Network usuals (i.e. trophies). I just hope my friends are ready to deal with my highscores.

If you are a real bad dude you will go after the carnivores, but if you are still learning the ropes there are herbivores to take down as well. You will have to be a crafty hunter though, making sure to be up wind of these creatures or they may just strike back. There are all sorts of tools to use during the hunt, like a dino call and 6 different weapon types.

I can now live out my Jurassic Park 2 fantasies and bag me a trophy buck T-Rex. I can only hope the trophy room is in fact just the heads of these creatures mounted above a fire place. If it is I am sold.

Announced today on Shinji Hashimoto’s twitter, Legend of Mana will see release on Japanese PSN next week. It will go for the normal price of ¥600 at a file size of 365MB. Of course we have no word on an eventual US release, but seeing how we still don’t have Xenogears or Vagrant Story my guess would be a long while.

[Source: Twitter, thanks Kagari]

Screens from the Mini title “FC: King’s Gambit”

I wonder how these games will play, and how the PSN title will look.

ZEN studios announced today that a new table will be released for the PSN exclusive ZEN Pinball. MARS will “take you into space to experience and explore life on the red planet, and it is your job as mission commander to lead the effort in unlocking the planet’s secrets (Press Release).” A rather lofty description for a new pinball table.
There are six features listed, which all sound like trophies:

* Dock the space ship and activate the magnetic crane to collect space samples
* Land with the space spider to analyze the ancient Martian symbols
* Call in the satellite to scan distant galaxies, calibrate its solar collector and activate its electromagnetic fields to lock three balls
* Restore the Mysterious Pyramid, then deactivate its defense system
* Spell out MARS to activate the secret portal of lights
* Repair the artificial gravity reactor to stabilize gravity on MARS

The MARS table will be the fifth expansion table for ZEN Pinball, with several more slated for release in the coming months. It’s nice to see continued support for a PSN game, especially one as fun as ZEN Pinball. It’s “coming soon” and there’s no price yet announced, but I’m sure it will cost as much as the previous tables.

Out today for us in the USA and tomorrow for our friends in Europe.

The reason for doing this was that they specically designed the games camera, levels, and bosses to handle one player. Being a smaller studio they didn’t want to have to go back and fix all of this just for co-op. They did have a rather rich backstory for the characters, so they just decided to make the co-op levels tell that story.

Shank will be out August 24th for $14.99.

[Source: Official Shank Blog]

Announced just now during the EA Studio Showcase, Shank will be available for purchase on Aug 24th. When the game launches, with local co-op, it will cost $14.99.

Images from the event:

Details on the game:

Top Gun features three single player and five multiplayer modes.
o Flight School: Players enroll as Maverick at Top Gun Academy and train to handle the breakneck speeds of hitting the “after burner” and the “tunnel vision” that poses a threat during high G-force maneuvers.
o Campaign Mode: After training to be the best of the best, players join the fight above the Indian Ocean for 11 total missions at various times of day.
o Horde Mode: Bogeys like fireflies all over the sky! Solo players get to test their flight combat abilities as they take down endless waves of enemies of increasing difficulty. Top scores will appear on leader boards. Remember, no points for second place.
o Online Multiplayer: Players can enlist in the US Navy or join the Soviet air forces and go head-to-head with opponents in five different modes: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Top Gun (choose your wingman and compete against enemy pairs), Bombing Run (defend and attack mobile bases) and Capture the Flag. Players can choose to battle at three times of day across multiple environments.

Screenshots:

Wallpaper:

The game will be releasing this summer, so look forward to more info in the coming weeks.

The 4 games are;

- Dueling Gentlemen (created by the Odd Gentlemen, creators of the Misadventures of PB Winterbottom), which is a game in which you “outsmart opponents and win this old-time battle for honour and prestige.

- Minor Battle (by Peanut Gallery, winner of the IndieCade 2010 Audience Award), which is “a team-based game where two teams run around a cube of four screens to beat each other in a capture-the-flag style platformer.”

- Super Awesome Mountain RPG (created by Codename), which is a “blend of tabletop board games and fantasy RPGs, where players ascend a fantastical mountain in Home’s Central Plaza using a custom animated figurine.”

- Cogs in 3D Multiplayer, which is a multiplayer version of the Steampunk puzzle game created by Lazy8 and this gear-based puzzler will also be a dynamic public spectacle in Home’s Central Plaza.

All these games being in the plaza itself implies to me that there’s going to be a big revamp of home in the coming months, with Gamescom being (in my eyes at least) the perfect place to launch the darn thing finally coming out of Beta. These games may actually get me to use the service more often, as at the moment I tend to jump in every few weeks to catch up on what I’ve missed out on. Still, these things sound pretty cool, so I’m looking forward to trying them out.

If you need to know how to make a Japanese Account, check out our guide.

[Source: Official Game Site]

No price or release date has been announced for Mega Man Universe, but we’ll keep you posted.