According to figures from Microsoft, the Xbox 360 is ahead of the Playstation 3 by one million units in Europe and by 7 million in the US.

However, both consoles are being outsold by the Nintendo Wii, which sold 3 million units in the UK and 10.17 million in the US last year.

Microsoft is keen to point out that it’s leading in the total lifetime spending figures for each console. A total of US$13.2 billion has been spent on the Xbox 360 since it was launched, compared to US$10.8 billion on the Wii and US$6.1 billion on the PS3.

“Our goal for 2008 was to reach new audiences by bringing ground-breaking games and entertainment to Xbox 360,” said senior vice president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business Don Mattrick.

“Looking forward, new waves of innovation will extend our position as the global leader in interactive entertainment”.

Xbox 360 Outsells Playstation 3 – PC World

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the third installment in the Super Smash Bros. series of crossover fighting games, developed by Sora and published by Nintendo for the Wii video game console. Brawl was announced at a pre-E3 2005 press conference by Nintendo president and Chief Executive Officer Satoru Iwata. Masahiro Sakurai, director of the previous two games in the series, assumed the role of director for the third installment at the request of Iwata. Game development began in October 2005 with a creative team that included collaborations with various second- and third-party Nintendo developers. The game was released on January 31, 2008 in Japan, March 9, 2008 in the United States, June 26, 2008 in Australia, and June 27, 2008 in Europe.

The number of playable characters that players can control in Brawl has grown from that of Super Smash Bros. Melee; Brawl is the first game in the series to expand past Nintendo characters and allow players control of third-party characters. Like its predecessors, the object of Brawl is to knock an opponent off the screen. It is a departure from traditional fighting games, notably in its simplified move commands and emphasis on ring outs over knockouts. It includes a more extensive single-player mode than its predecessors, known as The Subspace Emissary (SSE). This mode is a plot-driven, side-scrolling beat ‘em up featuring computer-generated cut scenes and playable characters from the game. Brawl also supports multiplayer battles with up to four combatants, and is the first game of its franchise to feature online battles via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

The game was met with positive reviews, with critics praising the game’s entertainment value, despite issues relating to Brawl’s loading times. The game’s musical score, which was composed through a collaboration among 38 renowned video game composers, was lauded for its representation of different generations in gaming history. Brawl received an aggregate review score of 94% on Metacritic and 93.3% on Game Rankings. It has sold a total of 7.47 million copies worldwide as of September 30, 2008.

Gameplay

Following its predecessors, Brawl uses a battle system unlike that of typical fighting games. Players can choose from a large selection of characters, each attempting to knock their opponents off the screen as they fight on various stages. Instead of using traditional health bars that start at 100% and lose value, Brawl characters start the game with 0% and the value rises as they take damage. As a character’s percentage increases, the character flies farther back when hit. When a character is knocked beyond a stage’s boundary and disappears from the screen, the character loses either a life or a point depending on the mode of play. Brawl includes a function which allows players to create profiles with personalized button configurations for each control method along with their chosen username.

The characters fight each other using a variety of attacks. Players execute each move by pressing a button in conjunction with a tilt of the control stick or a press of the D-pad, depending on the mode of control. In addition to basic attacks, characters have access to more powerful moves, known as smash attacks. Each character has four unique moves, which often cause effects besides damage to an opponent. Brawl introduces the ability to perform character-specific super attacks, referred to as “Final Smash” moves. Significantly more powerful than regular attacks, these moves have a wide variety of effects that range from nearly unavoidable blasts to temporary transformations. Final Smash moves may be performed upon destroying a Smash Ball, an item bearing the Smash Bros. logo.

Characters can use items ranging from projectiles to melee weapons; each has a different effect on the characters around it. Although many items have returned from previous Super Smash Bros. games, new ones have been introduced as well. Some returning items have changed appearance and function. Two varieties of items, Assist Trophies and Poké Balls, temporarily summon guest characters and Pokémon, respectively, that generally aid the summoner. They cannot be controlled by players and are usually invincible.

More Information

• Developer(s)  Sora
• Publisher(s)  Nintendo
• Designer(s)  Masahiro Sakurai
• Writer(s)  Kazushige Nojima
• Composer(s)  Takahiro Nishi, Shogo Sakai, Masaaki Iwasaki, Yutaka Iraha, Keigo Ozaki, Kentaro Ishizaka
• Series  Super Smash Bros.
• Platform(s)  Wii
• Release date(s)  JP January 31, 2008, NA March 9, 2008, AUS June 26, 2008, EU June 27, 2008,
• Genre(s)  Fighting/Action
• Mode(s)  Single-player, multiplayer, online multiplayer[6]

Links

• Official Super Smash Bros. website
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl guide at StrategyWiki

Chrono Trigger is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. The game’s story follows a group of young adventurers who travel through time to prevent a global catastrophe. Square re-released a ported version by TOSE in Japan for Sony’s PlayStation in 1999, later repackaged with a Final Fantasy IV port as Final Fantasy Chronicles in 2001. A slightly enhanced Chrono Trigger was released for the Nintendo DS on November 25, 2008 in North America and Japan, and will go on sale in Europe in early 2009. It has never been released in PAL territories on the SNES or the PlayStation.

The development team of Chrono Trigger was headed by three designers that Square dubbed the “Dream Team”, consisting of Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the Final Fantasy series, and Yuuji Horii and Akira Toriyama—two freelance designers known for their work on Enix’s Dragon Quest series. The game was produced by Kazuhiko Aoki. Masato Kato wrote most of the plot, while composer Yasunori Mitsuda scored most of the game before falling ill and deferring remaining tracks to Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu.

Chrono Trigger was well-received by reviewers and commercially successful. Nintendo Power magazine described certain aspects of Chrono Trigger as revolutionary, including its multiple endings, plot-related sidequests focusing on character development, unique battle system, and detailed graphics. The game has shipped more than 2.36 million copies in Japan and 290,000 worldwide as of March 31, 2003.

Gameplay

Chrono Trigger features standard console role-playing game (RPG) gameplay with several innovations. The player controls the protagonist and his companions in the game’s two-dimensional fictional world, consisting of various forests, cities, and dungeons. Navigation occurs via an overworld map, depicting the landscape from a scaled down overhead view. Areas such as forests, cities, and similar places are depicted as more realistic scaled down maps, in which players can converse with locals to procure items and services, solve puzzles and challenges, or encounter enemies. Chrono Trigger’s gameplay deviates from that of traditional RPGs in that, rather than appearing in random encounters, many enemies are openly visible on field maps or lie in wait to ambush the party. Contact with enemies on a field map initiates a battle that occurs directly on the map rather than on a separate battle screen. This concept had previously been featured in such titles as Secret of Mana and Final Fantasy Adventure, but was uncommon at the time for RPGs outside the action RPG genre.

Players and enemies may use physical or magical attacks to wound targets during battle, and players may use items to heal or protect themselves. Each character and enemy has a certain number of hit points, and successful attacks reduce that character’s hit points, while hit points can be restored with potions and spells. When a playable character loses all hit points, he or she faints; if all the player’s characters fall in battle, the game ends and must be restored from a previously saved chapter, except in specific storyline-related battles that allow or force the player to lose. Between battles, the player can equip his/her characters with weapons, armor, helmets, and accessories that provide special effects (such as increased attack power or defense against magic), and various consumable items can be used both in and out of battles. Items and equipment can be purchased in shops or found on field maps, often in treasure chests. By exploring new areas and fighting enemies, players progress through Chrono Trigger’s story.

Chrono Trigger uses an Active Time Battle system—a staple of Square’s Final Fantasy game series designed by Hiroyuki Itō for Final Fantasy IV—named “Active Time Battle 2.0″. Each character can take action in battle once a personal timer dependent on the character’s speed statistic counts to zero. Magic and special physical techniques are handled through a system called “Techs”. Techs deplete a character’s magic points (a numerical meter like hit points), and often have special areas of effect; some spells damage huddled monsters, while others can harm enemies spread in a line. Enemies often change positions during battle, creating opportunities for tactical Tech use. A unique feature of Chrono Trigger’s Tech system is that numerous cooperative techniques exist. Each character receives eight personal Techs which can be used in conjunction with others’ to create Double and Triple Techs for greater effect. For instance, Crono’s sword-spinning Cyclone Tech can be combined with Lucca’s Flame Toss to create Fire Whirl. When characters with compatible Techs have enough magic points available to perform their techniques, the game automatically displays the combo as an option.

Chrono Trigger features several other unique gameplay traits, including time travel. Players have access to seven eras of the game world’s history, and past actions affect future events. Throughout history, players find new allies, complete side quests, and search for keynote villains. Time travel is accomplished via portals and pillars of light called “time gates”, as well as a time machine named Epoch. The game contains thirteen unique endings; the ending the player receives depends on when and how he or she reaches and completes the game’s final battle.[10] The re-release of Chrono Trigger for the DS features a new ending that can be accessed from the End of Time upon completion of the final extra dungeon. The ending is reported to contain a new optional final boss. Chrono Trigger also introduces a New Game+ option—after completing the game, the player may begin a new game with the same character levels, techniques, and equipment (but not money) that he or she ended the previous game with. Certain items central to the storyline are removed and must be found again, such as the sword Masamune. Square has since employed the New Game+ concept in later titles, including Vagrant Story, Chrono Cross, Parasite Eve and Final Fantasy X-2.

More Information

• Developer(s)  Square, TOSE (PS and DS)
• Publisher(s)  Super Nintendo Entertainment System, JP Square, NA Square Soft, Inc., PlayStation, JP Square, NA Square Electronic Arts, Nintendo DS, Square Enix
• Designer(s)  Takashi Tokita, Yoshinori Kitase, Akihiko Matsui, Yuuji Horii, Hironobu Sakaguchi
• Writer(s)  Masato Kato
• Artist(s)  Akira Toriyama
• Composer(s)  Yasunori Mitsuda, Nobuo Uematsu, Noriko Matsueda
• Series  Chrono
• Platform(s)  Super Nintendo Entertainment System, PlayStation, Nintendo DS
• Genre(s)  Console role-playing game
• Mode(s)  Single-player

Links

• Official Japanese Chrono Trigger for Nintendo DS website
• Official North American Chrono Trigger for Nintendo DS website
• Chrono Trigger guide at StrategyWiki

Gamers’ Choice Wii

Super Smash Bros. Brawl – Super Smash Bros. Brawl is a brawling, battling, action-packed video game that features a varied roster of characters for four-player simultaneous melees! Use your Wii Remote and Nunchuck controls to deal serious damage to your opponents and win the game! This Wii entry in the popular series features a number of new additions, including an Adventure Mode (with co-op play), a wealth of new characters and stages, and online combat for multiple players to face off against each other from anywhere!

Gamers’ Choice PS3

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots – Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is a story-driven adventure game, with seasoned hero Solid Snake drafted for one final mission. Set across stages including the Middle East and South America, the now aged Snake has been asked to assassinate his old adversary, Liquid Ocelot. To do this, however, he must make his way through a series of battlefields, using his legendary stealth abilities and all-new OctoCamo suit to avoid detection and to reach his target. With series favorites such as Meryl Silverburgh, Raiden, Hal ‘Otacon’ Emmerich, Eva and Roy Campbell returning, and with all new gameplay features including a remote-controlled Metal Gear Mk. II and enhanced CQC (Close Quarters Combat) system, Metal Gear Solid 4 rounds out the Metal Gear saga with a fittingly cinematic and gripping final outing.

Gamers’ Choice Xbox 360

Fallout 3 – Vault 101 – Jewel of the Wastes. For 200 years, Vault 101 has faithfully served the surviving residents of Washington DC and its environs, now known as the Capital Wasteland. Though the global atomic war of 2077 left the US all but destroyed, the residents of Vault 101 enjoy a life free from the constant stress of the outside world. Giant Insects, Raiders, Slavers, and yes, even Super Mutants are all no match for superior Vault-Tec engineering. Yet one fateful morning, you awake to find that your father has defied the Overseer and left the comfort and security afforded by Vault 101 for reasons unknown. Leaving the only home you’ve ever known, you emerge from the Vault into the harsh Wasteland sun to search for your father, and the truth.

Gamers’ Choice DS

Chrono Trigger – When a newly developed teleportation device malfunctions at the Millennial Fair, young Crono must travel through time to rescue his misfortunate companion from an intricate web of past and present perils. The swashbuckling adventure that ensues soon unveils an evil force set to destroy the world, triggering Crono’s race against time to change the course of history and bring about a brighter future.

Remastered exclusively for Nintendo DS, the beloved RPG features a brand new dungeon, all-new dual screen presentation, wireless play mode, and touch-screen functionality.

Gamers’ Choice PSP

God of War: Chains of Olympus – As many who know the tales of the God of War know, Kratos, after being deceived into killing his wife and daughter, denounced his service to Ares. In order to seek absolution from his past sins, the Ghost of Sparta pledged himself as a champion to the Gods for the years to follow – these brutal crusades, in the name of Olympus, became legendary throughout the ancient world.

Experience Kratos’ journey during the 10 years of servitude to the Gods of Olympus. In God of War: Chains of Olympus, Kratos will venture to lands that no mortal has ever walked upon. With the world plunged in eternal darkness and the Gods rendered powerless, Kratos will ultimately be forced to choose between his own personal redemption and saving the ancient world from certain destruction. Developed from the outset as an original story, God of War: Chains of Olympus delivers highly detailed graphics, incredible animation detail and yet another adventure in the dark and brutal world of Greek mythology.

Gamers’ Choice PC

Fallout 3 – Vault 101 – Jewel of the Wastes. For 200 years, Vault 101 has faithfully served the surviving residents of Washington DC and its environs, now known as the Capital Wasteland. Though the global atomic war of 2077 left the US all but destroyed, the residents of Vault 101 enjoy a life free from the constant stress of the outside world. Giant Insects, Raiders, Slavers, and yes, even Super Mutants are all no match for superior Vault-Tec engineering. Yet one fateful morning, you awake to find that your father has defied the Overseer and left the comfort and security afforded by Vault 101 for reasons unknown. Leaving the only home you’ve ever known, you emerge from the Vault into the harsh Wasteland sun to search for your father, and the truth.

Gamers’ Choice Multiplayer

Left 4 Dead  – Setting out to do for co-op gaming what Counter-Strike did for team combat, Left 4 Dead is an ambitious survival horror game. Running on the Source engine, Left 4 Dead leaves four armed survivors of a world overrun with zombies, and they must fight their way out to escape the outbreak.

Designed for co-op play, the four players must work together to finish each stage of the game, lending each other artillery support, sharing ammo and rescuing each other when zombies are on top of them. In addition to the standard four players as humans, another four players can be amongst the masses of assaulting zombies, seeking to take down the other players. Zombie players might even find themselves become one of the four mutant “boss” zombies, who have unique powers that can be used to devastate, injure, tie up, mark and track, confuse, or even humiliate the gun-toting human survivors

Source: Gamespy

As introduced in Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, new moves include clinging onto branches during a jump using Indy’s whip. As a promotion, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga features Indy as an unlockable playable character.

The game often follows the events in the films, however like the Lego Star Wars series, some scenes from the film have been altered to become more family friendly or just provide comic relief to the player.

Development

In an effort to make the game more family friendly, all references to Nazis have been removed, and the game refers to Nazi characters simply as ‘enemies’. Also, at the climax of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the death of Belloq and the Nazis is not nearly as graphic. Also, in the Temple of Doom, Mola Ram does not rip out a victim’s heart.

It was initially reported that the game would allow up to four players in co-operative mode,[9] but this later turned out to be a miscommunication. While four characters may be visible on the screen, only two can be controlled by players. On the Nintendo DS, up to eight characters may be in the party, but only two may be visible on the screen. Neither the Xbox 360 version nor the PlayStation 3 version support online play through Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network.

Gameplay

The game follows the storylines from the original Indiana Jones films: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, and Last Crusade. However, the developers modified the storylines to fit the events into 6 game chapters per movie. Barnett College, Dr. Indiana Jones’ teaching location from the movies, serves as the main hub of the game, and different rooms allow access to each of the missions as well as the extra unlockable content and options. Once a player chooses a mission, a cutscene begins that introduces the section of the movie being played. Notable scenes have been recreated from the movies, such as the memorable boulder escape and the battle on the rope bridge, as well as Walter Donovan choosing the incorrect Holy Grail.

Instead of canisters like in Lego Star Wars, the characters collect treasure.

There are 83 regular characters in total plus the two custom figures which can be made by the players and a few extras only playable on certain levels. Each character featured in the game has his/her own unique ability, which are required to access new areas when replaying a level in Free Play mode. Lego Indiana Jones allows players to mix and match parts to customize characters and make their own creation like “Belloq Jones” or “Colonel Toht”. Unlike the Lego Star Wars custom characters, they can be taken control of in the Art room at Barnett College where they are created.[10]

New features were added to the gameplay from the Lego Star Wars series, such as the ability for the player to interact with objects in their environment, e.g. bottles, swords and guns. Players can also build and ride vehicles. The game also incorporates character phobias from the films; for example, if Indiana Jones sees a snake, Willie sees a spider (excluding giant tarantulas), or Henry Jones Senior or Elsa see a rat, they will be frozen with fear and have limited movement capacity until the animals are either gone or out of range. Also, new melee attacks, such as the Whip snag (trips enemies), have been added.

Once the game reaches 100%, studs begin and continue to fall from the sky of Barnett College.

Nintendo DS Gameplay

The handheld version has some significant changes to accommodate both the memory and size limitations of the DS as well as its unique touch screen controls. Characters’ special abilities, such as Indy’s whip or Satipo’s shovel, and elements such as switches can be controlled by using the touch screen. In addition, the built-in microphone comes into play, allowing the player to physically blow out torches in some levels and inflate rubber rafts to cross water hazards.

There are four classes of characters that can use special access panels to enter hidden areas; these all require the player to match a four block sequence by solving a mini-puzzle on the touch screen. Scholars can access scroll panels, and must flip pages in a book to find the correct blocks. Thuggee use red skull panels and move a torch to illuminate the blocks on a darkened screen. Military characters can use the green radio panels and scroll through a set of slot-machine wheels to match the pattern. Brotherhood characters enter the red sword panels and solve a block switching game. In addition, Marion (and Monkey Man) can transform into a monkey on special red pads to climb to otherwise inaccessible areas, and throw bottles of alcohol into flaming trash cans to blow up certain obstacles.

The DS version features cameos by Star Wars characters, including Wicket the Ewok and Luke frozen in an ice cave resembling the Wampa’s, but unlike the console versions none of the characters are playable. Santa Claus, Strong Man, Castle Knight, and the Clown are the only non-movie characters who are unlockable. There are also no hidden levels and no bonus reward for completing the game at 100%.

Red power bricks remain in the DS version, despite being replaced with red parcels in the console/PSP versions. Also, the characters do not suffer from fear of creatures as they do in the console versions.

More Information

• Developer(s)  Traveller’s Tales
• Publisher(s)  LucasArts
• Engine  Modified Lego Star Wars II engine
• Platform(s)  Nintendo DS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox 360
• Release date(s)  NA June 3, 2008, EU June 6, 2008, AUS June 4, 2008
• Genre(s)  Action-adventure

Links

• Official site
• Games for Windows listing
• The Lego Indiana Jones Wiki

Gameplay

The Curious Village is a puzzle game, with the player controlling the movements of Professor Layton and his young assistant Luke around the village of St. Mystere to locate the “Golden Apple” and solving other mysteries that arise during their searching. St. Mystere is divided into several sections, which the player can move between, though some sections are inaccessible until certain parts of the story have been advanced or they have met a minimum requirement of number of puzzles solved. The player can talk to characters or investigate objects on screen by tapping them. In many cases, the characters will ask Layton and Luke to try to solve a puzzle; there are also hidden puzzles that can be found by investigating certain objects. As the story progresses, if the player has not solved some of the puzzles made available by talking to characters, these will be collected at a special location so the player may still attempt them.

Puzzles include brain teasers, sliding puzzles, logic puzzles and others. The player is presented with the puzzle and the value of the puzzle in “picarats”, and is given unlimited time to solve it. Each puzzle has three hints available for it, but the player must spend one “hint coin” to see each hint. Hint coins are limited; the player starts with ten, and more are available by searching around the village. Once the player feels he has the answer, he enters it, either by selecting an answer, drawing a circle around a specific part, or entering the answer through character recognition on the DS’s touchscreen. If the player is correct, the picarats are added to his total score, and he is sometimes rewarded with an item. If the player is incorrect, they can retry the puzzle indefinitely, though the first two times they are wrong, the value of the puzzle will decrease by approximately ten percent each time. Optionally, a player can quit a puzzle at no cost and try another, though certain puzzles are mandatory to progress. Once a puzzle is completed, the player may retry it at any time via the game’s menus.

As a reward for completing a puzzle, the player may earn one of three rewards. Gizmos are collected in order to create a robot dog that can help sniff out hint coins for the player. Pieces of a portrait can be assembled as in a jigsaw puzzle. Pieces of furniture can be distributed between Layton’s and Luke’s rooms at the inn to try to satisfy the overall happiness of both. By completing all 120 puzzles in the main game and each of these additional puzzles, the player can access 15 additional puzzles accessible as a bonus item in the game. The game is compatible with Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, allowing players to connect to the internet and unlock new puzzles. The first unlockable puzzle was made available on the day of the game’s Japanese release, and one new key has been released every week thereafter. A new key is released every Sunday. There is also a “The Hidden Door” that is only available after the player finds a unique code in the sequel Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box that contains development art of the characters in the game.

A playable demo of The Curious Village is available on its official website.

Plot

Specific order of events in the game will vary depending on choices that the player has made during the game, but the overall plot remains unchanged.

The game opens with Professor Layton and Luke driving to the town of St. Mystere by request of Lady Dahlia, widow of the late Baron Reinhold. The Baron has left in his last will and testament that whoever solves the mystery of the Golden Apple would inherit the Baron’s fortunes, and several people have attempted and failed. The two enter the town, and find that most of the population is fond of puzzles and brain teasers, both which Layton and Luke are adept at solving. They also see a large, haphazard tower that occupies one side of town that no one can get to, but that people keep hearing strange noises emanating from at night. Layton and Luke meet Lady Dahlia, other family members including Simon, and their servants, but before they can discuss the matter further, a loud exploding sound is heard and Dahlia’s cat Claudia flees out of the door. Layton and Luke chase Claudia through town, solving puzzles along the way. Meanwhile, a strange soot covered man plots a deadly plan against the heroes. Eventually they discover the cats fondness for fish and tempt her back with one. upon returning to the mansion, Layton and Luke to find that Simon has been murdered and the case is already under investigation by Inspector Chelmey. Chelmey initially suspects the two, but as their alibi holds up, lets them go, but tells them to stay of out of the murder investigation. However, Layton cannot help to notice a small gearwheel near Simon’s body.

As Layton and Luke continue their search for the Golden Apple, they witness the kidnapping of one of Dahlia’s servants, Ramon.a strange man stuffs Ramon into a bag; they give chase but are unable to catch him, though they do find another gearwheel similar to the one before. However, they are befuddled as the next day, Ramon is back as if nothing had happened. They continue to explore the town, eventually led to the town’s abandoned amusement park by a young girl met at the dead end. As they explore the Ferris wheel, the sinister figure from earlier uses a remote to tear the wheel from its moorings, sending it chasing after Layton and Luke, who barely escape as the wheel smashed through a locked building. Exploring the wreckage, they find a key shaped similar to the tower, and Layton gets an idea of what’s going on in the village. The two return to face Chelmey, who Layton realizes is an impostor. The man reveals himself as Layton’s arch-enemy, Don Paolo, seeking the Golden Apple for himself and who tried to use the Ferris wheel to knock Layton out of the picture; Paolo escapes before Layton can capture him.

With Luke in tow, Layton heads for the tower, using the key to unlock a secret wall in the dead end. Inside, they discover the man that previously had kidnapped Ramon, named Bruno. Layton exposes the truth with Bruno’s help; all the residents of St. Mystere are robots, created by the Baron and Bruno to challenge the wits of anyone seeking the Golden Apple, explaining why all the townsfolks were obsessed with puzzles. Simon wasn’t murdered, only that he malfunctioned; similarly, Bruno kidnapped Ramon in order to perform repairs. Having solved the puzzle of St. Mystere, Layton and Luke climb the tower, solving puzzles and meeting minor characters along the way. Eventually, the pair reaches the top of the tower, and much to their surprise, find a small house there. Inside, the young girl from before awaits. She reveals herself as Flora, the only daughter of the Baron, and was the Golden Apple that the robots were protecting. However, this realisation is short-lived as Paolo returns in a flying machine, and starts demolishing the tower. Luke escapes down the stairs, but Layton is forced to improvise a glider to take Flora and himself to safety as the tower collapses. the villain swears revenge and leaves. the three are safe in town and as Flora laughs in happiness an apple like birthmark can be seen on her shoulder. As they regroup at the Reinhold manor, Layton realizes that there’s more than just Flora as the treasure, as the birthmark points to the Baron’s riches. Luke finds a switch on the portrait of Flora which leads to a secret room filled with gold. A note from the Baron congratulates those that had followed the clues, and tells Flora to take the treasure, warning that if it is taken, all the robots will stop functioning. Flora opts to leave it as a way to repay the robots for their years of service to protect her and as her friends. As the game ends, Layton, Luke and Flora leave St. Mystere, having not taken the treasure, allowing the residents to continue on with their lives. Flora leaves the village with Layton and Luke. the three (and other characters)are shown laughing and living together during the game credits.

As the first part of a trilogy, the main story ends with a “to be continued” message with a picture of Luke and Layton at a train station.

More Information

• Developer(s)  Level-5
• Publisher(s)  JP Level-5, Other regions Nintendo
• Series  Professor Layton
• Platform(s)  Nintendo DS
• Release date(s)  JP 15 February, 2007, NA 10 February, 2008, AUS 10 April, 2008, KR 11 September, 2008, EU 7 November, 2008
• Genre(s)  puzzle

Links

• Official website
• Italian official website

The electronics giant is locked in a battle with Nintendo Co.’s Wii and Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360 for control of the videogame-console market. The cost cuts could help stanch the hardware red ink at Sony, which sold the previous-generation PS3 at a significant loss, making up for it with game-title sales and royalties.

Integration and key changes in components has brought the latest PS3’s cost down to $448.73 from $690.23 for the first-generation model, said iSuppli.

The PS3 sells for about $399 in the U.S., at least $150 more than Wii and Xbox 360. However, the PS3 accounted for 16% of global videogame-unit shipments in the second quarter of 2008, second only to Nintendo’s Wii, which accounted for 54% of the market.

Andrew Rassweiler of iSuppli predicted the PS3 may be able to break even in 2009 with further hardware revisions.

Part of the decline in cost is the result of “the normal learning curve and supply/demand factors that bring component prices down over time,” iSuppli said.

Also, integration of components into the core silicon of the PS3 cut the number of individual parts to an estimated 2,820 from 4,048 in the previous-generation model with a 60-gigabyte hard drive.

The cost estimate of $448.73 doesn’t include software, box contents and royalty expenses.

WSJ.com

For the Wii, Nintendo has only two releases planned, both remakes of GameCube games designed to support the Wii Remote’s motion-sensing capabilities. The self-explanatory New Play Control Mario Power Tennis and New Play Control Pikmin will both launch in March.

Nintendo’s DS lineup is a little more robust, spearheaded by the March 22 launch of Pokemon Platinum. Platinum reuses characters and settings from Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl in a franchise tradition dating back to Pokemon Yellow for the original Game Boy, a pseudosequel that incorporated elements of the previously released Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue.

Beyond Diamond, Nintendo has two more DS games planned through March. Up first will be Personal Trainer: Math on January 12, an arithmetic addition to the practical game series that started with Personal Trainer: Cooking. Those looking for something a little more gamey can try Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon on February 16. The latest release in the turn-based strategy series will be a remake of the original NES Fire Emblem (which never made it to North America), with new touch-screen controls.

Wii

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• Tenchu: Shadow Assassins (Ubisoft)–February
• Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball (Southpeak)–March 17
• Monsters vs. Aliens (Activision)–March 24
• Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars Director’s Cut (Ubisoft)–March
• Burger Island (Destineer)–March
• Cate West: The Vanishing Files (Destineer)–March
• Crayola Colorful World (Crave)–March
• DanceDanceRevolution Disney Grooves (Konami)–March
• Madworld (Sega)–March
• Major Minor’s Majestic March (Majesco)–March
• Monster Pals (Crave)–March
• New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis (Nintendo)–March
• New Play Control! Pikmin (Nintendo)–March
• Play the World (Dreamcatcher)–March
• Rune Factory Frontier (Marvelous)–March
• Sonic and the Black Knight (Sega)–March
• We Ski & Snowboard (Namco Bandai)–March
• Super Pick Ups (XS Games)–Q1
• Trivial Pursuit (Electronic Arts)–Early spring
• Marble Saga Kororinpa (Hudson)–Spring

Nintendo DS

• Phineas and Ferb (Disney Interactive Studios)–Winter
• Paws & Claws Pampered Pets (THQ)–January 5
• Big Bang Mini (Southpeak)–January 6
• Retro Game Challenge (XSEED)–January 6
• Personal Trainer: Math (Nintendo)–January 12
• Moon (Mastiff)–January 13
• World Championship Games (The Game Factory)–January 19
• SimAnimals (Electronic Arts)–January 27
• Coraline (D3Publisher)–January
• Drivers’ Ed Portable (Dreamcatcher)–January
• Inkheart (Dreamcatcher)–January
• Jake Power Fireman (Ubisoft)–January
• Jake Power Policeman (Ubisoft)–January
• Learn Math (Dreamcatcher)–January
• Monster Band (Dreamcatcher)–January
• Powerbike (Majesco)–January
• USA Today Puzzle Craze (Destineer)–January
• Wonder World Amusement Park (Majesco)–January
• My World, My Way (Atlus)–February 3
• Legacy of Ys: Books I & II (Atlus)–February 10
• Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (Nintendo)–February 16
• Brave: Shaman’s Challenge (Southpeak)–February 17
• Jagged Alliance (Empire Interactive)–February 17
• My Fashion Studio Paris Collection (Ubisoft)–February 17
• Roogoo Attack (Southpeak)–February 17
• Avalon Code (Marvelous)–February
• Imagine Cheerleader (Ubisoft)–February
• Imagine Family Doctor (Ubisoft)–February
• JoJo’s Fashion Show (Ubisoft)–February
• Music Star: Pop Star (Dreamcatcher)–February
• My DoItAll (Tomy)–February
• My Personal Diary (Dreamcatcher)–February
• Petz Horseshoe Ranch (Ubisoft)–February
• Zoo Quest (Dreamcatcher)–February
• American Popstar – Road to Celebrity (Gameloft)–March 9
• Animal Planet (Activision)–March 10
• Chicken Hunter Star Karts (MumboJumbo)–March 10
• Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (Rockstar Games)–March 17
• Trackmania DS (Atlus)–March 17
• Pokemon Platinum (Nintendo)–March 22
• American Popstar – Road to Celebrity (Ubisoft)–March 24
• Monsters vs. Aliens (Activision)–March 24
• Pimp My Ride 2 (Activision)–March 24
• Broken Sword: Shadows of the Templars Director’s Cut (Ubisoft)–March
• DinoPets (Destineer)–March
• Dreamer: Top Model (Dreamcatcher)–March
• Flower, Sun, and Rain (Marvelous)–March
• Hot n’ Cold (Majesco)–March
• Imagine Ice Champions (Ubisoft)–March
• Jake Power Handyman (Ubisoft)–March
• Learn Chess (Dreamcatcher)–March
• Matchstick (Dreamcatcher)–March
• Monster Pals (Crave)–March
• Paint by DS (Dreamcatcher)–March
• Sarah: Keeper of the Unicorn (Dreamcatcher)–March
• Zubo (Electronic Arts)–March
• Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zero (Konami)–Q1
• Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure (Electronic Arts)–Q1
• Litlle Magician’s Magic Adventure (Konami)–Q1
• Our House (Majesco)–Q1
• Puzzle Quest: Galactrix (D3Publisher)–Q1
• Suikoden Tierkreis (Konami)–Q1
• Dragon Master (Dreamcatcher)–April
• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (Square Enix)–Spring

Wii Release Dates

DS Release Dates

“I never do anything half way. My AXE controller is the closest thing you can have to being onstage in KISS. I created and designed the Gene Simmons AXE bass guitar and I can’t wait for the fans to experience it for themselves. The Gene Simmons AXE guitar is such a recognizable symbol – people have been asking for a gaming replica ever since Guitar Hero was first introduced.”

This fully equipped, axe-shaped guitar controller is a replica of the KISS bassist and vocalist’s signature bass guitar. The AXE controller is personally certified by the Rock God himself, Gene Simmons, to give players that Rock Star experience. The wireless AXE guitar controller is a three-quarter-sized replica of the original Gene Simmons AXE guitar and larger than the standard video game guitar controllers. Customized with a replicated paint finish of the original guitar, the Axe guitar controller features Gene Simmons autograph and his photo in make-up painted onto the body of the controller. Interactive Game Group Founder, Fred Chesnais commented:

“Gene Simmons is the Rock Lord and the Gene Simmons AXE bass guitar is an integral part of his signature look. Bringing this Axe controller to life was an incredible journey, and I am sure every player will enjoy it.”

The Axe Guitar is available for PS2, PS3 and Nintendo Wii, but no love for Xbox 360 players and will retail at $79.99.