Gamertell

It’s another surprisingly decent week for Wii downloadable games. We’ve got Boingz, a very fun looking puzzle-platformer, Boogerman, a classic Genesis platformer for gamers of discerning taste, and the budget priced Sudoku Challenge! for your other puzzle addiction (the first being Tetris - no one ever gets over that one. No one.). As usual, the titles are available on the Wii Shop channel, with a fresh batch arriving every Monday at 9 AM Pacific time. Wii points can be purchased at a rate of $1 for 100 points.

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What was Sony doing will America was out voting? Pumping out a new firmware that’s what. That’s right, firmware 2.52 is out now but don’t get too excited, kids. According to the Playstation.Blog, the firmware is only minor and only does two things:

• The playback quality of some PS3 format software has been improved.
• A text entry issue that occurs when using the on-screen keyboard, USB keyboard or Bluetooth keyboard with some PS3 format software has been addressed.

And here you were thinking there was some massive update that was…

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Microsoft is set to unveil its “New Xbox Experience” to eager 360 owners on November 19, 2008. This update is set to revamp the 360’s entire dashboard and introduce “avatars,“ which are characters that players can customize to suit their own whims.

This “new experience” will come at a cost of 128 MB of hard drive space; while this may not be a problem for 360 owners who have purchased sufficient memory sources, there remains a large amount of individuals who have not. For these people, Microsoft has promised to come to their aid…

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Do my eyes deceive me? Do we actually have a third week of strong content on the Wii’s downloadable services? Yes, in fact we do, with the second episode of the hilarious Strong Bad adventure game and Bubble-Bobble-esque puzzler Potpourrii on WiiWare, with phenomenal classic Mega Man 2 on the Virtual Console. Time to clean out that fridge (and get on the storage solution, Nintendo!). As usual, all titles are available on the Wii Shop channel, with a fresh batch arriving every Monday at 9 AM Pacific time. Wii points can be purchased at a rate of $1=100 points.

Nintendo’s descriptions:

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The PSP refuses to back down despite some claims of impending doom. Today (September 2, 2008), Sony Japan let loose a few details regarding future firmware updates to the handheld. These updates will focus mainly on the networking capabilities of the PSP instead of adding more trinkets to the XMB. Luckily the update will work on all new and old PSP models.

PSP owners will finally be able to access the PlayStation Store without using the PS3’s remote play feature or a PC. Full games, demos, wallpapers and themes can be downloaded straight on the PSP through a wireless internet connection. While this feature eliminates the need for the PS3, another upgrade to the software further expands…

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If you’ve been afraid to update your PS3 ever since the hard drive destructor known as v2.40, fear no longer. Sony has made good and released v2.41.

Here’s Sony’s official apology posted on its site by Eric Lempel, PlayStation Network Operations Director, after it was forced to pull the previous firmware update:

“Hi, everyone. As many of you know, we released PS3 firmware update v2.40 last week, but had to take it offline temporarily because, for a limited number of users, the XMB wouldn’t display after the update was installed. We’ve been able to fix the problem, and I’m happy to report that firmware update v2.41 will be released shortly.

We want to extend our apologies to the PlayStation community for any inconvenience. Now we’ll be looking forward to seeing everyone online and racking up those trophies!“

The not-so-buggy update features include all those from the buggy version: an in-game XMB (Cross Media Bar, not yet compatible with all games), a Trophy System, some sound and imaging features, web search from the XMB and turn off the system from the menu.

Read [GameDaily] Also Read [Sony] Also Read [MadShrimps] Download [Sony PS3 Firmware Update]

EDITOR’S NOTE: At the time of this post, the Sony download page was still showing v2.36. Even so, this will be the link to the site where the latest firmware update will be available.

• Rumor: Street Fighter costumes might be available in LittleBigPlanet
• Reuters no longer desires a Second Life, abandoning its virtual branch
• Walmart’s Cyber Monday 2008 video game deals

Sorry this column is later than usual, comrades.  I was playing Metal Gear Solid 4.  And by saying that, I mean I was dreaming of playing MGS4.  And after that, I was in some kind of flying ruin floating in the middle of a psychedelic sky with some hot brunette girl.  It was awesome!  Then, before I could figure out what was going to happen next, I woke up. 

In the wake of such a major bummer, I give you this fine list of this week’s Playstation Store stuff…

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Never before have I been so glad that I missed out on the original release of an Atlus game than I am now. Atlus has just announced that it will be releasing Persona 3 FES, the updated version of the fantastic 2007 RPG Persona 3, on April 22, 2008. This double pack contains both an additional story from the game, where players go through an over 30 hour adventure as Aigis, and a completely revamped version of the original game with new quests, weapons, cutscenes, Personas, clothes, events and a hard difficulty level.

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Electronics Art has released a free Energizer Extender Pack for the PS3 version of the Need for Speed: ProStreet, the current iteration of its popular franchise. The pack is currently available as a free download on the Playstation Store and, once installed, will give gamers two new cars to drive and two new tracks to drive them on.

The two free cars featured in the no charge, Energizer Extender Pack are Plymouth Road Runner and SEAT Leon Cupra. The two free tracks included with the pack are Leipzig Test Track and Tokyo Expressway. It should make PS3 gamers happy but if you…

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Sony gave the PSP a new lease on life with the launch of the slimmer PSP Slim and Lite, and now it has aided the handheld’s sales prospects by making Skype available on it. Skype will add an entirely new dimension to the PSP by allowing gamers to make free calls over the internet to other Skype users across the globe. PSP owners will also have the option of calling any landline or mobile phone anywhere in the world at a small cost. The long rumored PSP Phone might not become a reality, but the addition of Skype should satiate communication-thirsty PSP owners.

PSP-2000 owners will have to download the 3.90 firmware upgrade to use Skype. All you need to do is connect to the internet using the PSP’s Wi-FI, attach a PSP headset ($19.99) and the PSP-2000 headphone’s remote control, and save the Skype application on a Memory Stick Duo. Then you are all set to use the app, which can be accessed through the XMB menu’s Network option. Just to remind any ecstatic PSP-2000 owners, if you don’t have an existing Skype account, make sure to register on another Skype device beforehand.

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