Genji: Days of the Blade

Ever wondered why PS3 bruiser Genji: Days Of The Blade features that infamous giant marauding crab? Well after some digging the mystery has finally been solved, thanks to a confession by Genji creator Yoshiki Okamoto. "Obviously no one among us believes there were giant crabs in feudal Japan," Okamoto told the UKs PSM3 via his translator. "But Okamoto is allergic to crabs and that's the reason why, if you find its weak point, you can kill it with one blow. It's Okamoto's way of defeating the

Ever wondered why Genji: Days Of The Blade features a giant crab marauding around its otherwise (reasonably) faithful to history feudal Japanese landscapes? It's because Days Of The Blade's creator, Yoshiki Okamoto, is allergic to crabs. Quite. Obviously no-one among us believes there were giant crabs in feudal Japan, said Okamoto via his translator. But Okamoto-san is allergic to crabs and that's the reason why, if you find its weak point, you can kill it with one blow. It's Okamoto's way of defeating the crab he hates. For more crab-based news bombshells, see the next issue of PSM3, out on February 15 - including why Okamoto admits the Genji team might have given up a little bit of the gameplay...

Sony Computer Entertainment has confirmed with IGN today that it will unveil three more downloadable options for the PlayStation Store starting tomorrow. Lemmings 2, Go! Sodoku 2 and a playable demo of Genji: Days of the Blade will be available at an undisclosed time starting Thursday, December 7. Featuring 40 brand new levels, added visual effects, and 1080p HD support, Lemmings 2 will retail for $5.99 and take up 270 megabytes of hard drive space. Go! Sodoku 2 will work with a more open price structure, as the initial level will be absolutely free with every level afterwards costing $2.99. There are four levels in all -- Easy, Mild, Difficult, and Fiendish. Combined, these four breakouts will make for 1000 different stages and the game will support up to four players as well. Its size is 86MB for the base file and 100k for each additional level.

PS3Sony may have been marred by bad publicity, but come to think of it, bad publicity is still publicity and free face time is always good, we suppose. So let's stop the sulking and focus on that bright side of the bargain. The Japanese PS3 that will be released tomorrow has surprisingly low software prices. Launch titles such as Resistance: Fall of Man and Genji: Days of the Blade will be carrying a price tag of 5,980 Japanese Yen (roughly US$51).

After seeing the PlayStation 3 in action at Digital Life, we were finally able to get some hands-on time with the soon-to-be released next gen console. We got to play a bunch of launch titles at a Sony sneak peak event in Manhattan. On display, amongst others, were Resistance: Fall of Man, Call of Duty 3, Lair and Genji: Days of the Blade. Here is our tag teamed opinions on the games we had the most time with: Resistance: Fall of Man Paul: Clearly the main reason to check out the PlayStation 3 this November and it did not disappoint. It played much like Call of Duty set in the distant future. It has the humans versus aliens element and the human and futuristic weaponry to make it reminiscent of another certain humans vs. aliens launch title but not nearly as compelling. The game again was stunning to look at, I'll repeat my sentiment that it is the best looking console title to date, but a little bit less stunning to play. It was odd to not have rumble, I took a ton of damage at first because I did not know when I was being shot, but, once I remembered to keep an eye on my energy bar, it became easier to keep track of health and progress safely through the game. It was the best game available to play and will certainly be the title that everyone buys and is talking about come November 17th. Vinny: Paul hit the nail right on the head about Resistance playing like a futuristic Call of Duty, for the most part. The damage system is not like COD, but the style of gameplay is otherwise similar to the WWII classic. The graphics, while outstanding and easily the best I've ever seen, aren't a big enough jump to wow anyone at this point. The game was fast and fun, though rumble is sorely missing. Resistance is a great game, but not a system-selling killer app like its been hyped to be. More after the jump¿

When Sony came by our offices with a real, live PS3 last week, they brought along a copy of Genji: Days of the Blade as well. Of course, we just had to get some footage of the samurai epic in action, which we now present to you, giant enemy crab and all. Click the Movies tab above, and you'll get an eyeful of actual gameplay footage running on the PS3 hardware (including a generous look at the new character, Lady Shizuka), as well as the game's intro movie. Unfortunately, we took the video by

The PS3 could launch with 24 titles and Wii with 30 titles according to new documents detailing the two companies' plans. PlayStation 3 Resistance: Fall of Man - Sony Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom - Sony Genji: Days of the Blade - Sony Gran Turismo HD - Sony NBA 07 - Sony Call of Duty 3 - Activision (600,000) Marvel Ultimate Alliance - Activision (300,000) Tony Hawk's Project 8 - Activision (300,000) Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Bethesda Softworks Fight Night 3 - Electronic Arts (400,000) Madden NFL 07 - Electronic Arts (700,000) NBA Live 07 - Electronic Arts (500,000) Need for Speed Carbon - Electronic Arts (800,000) Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 - Electronic Arts (400,000) Mobile Suit Gundam: Target In Sight - Namco Bandai Ninja Gaiden Sigma - Namco Bandai Ridge Racer 7 - Namco Bandai Full Auto 2: Battlelines - Sega Sonic the Hedgehog - Sega NBA 2K7 - Take-Two Interactive (400,000) NHL 2K7 - Take-Two Interactive (200,000) Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII - Ubisoft Rainbow Six: Vegas - Ubisoft F.E.A.R. - Vivendi NINTENDO Wii Wii Sports (bundled with hardware) - Nintendo The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Nintendo Excite Truck - Nintendo Call of Duty 3 - Activision (200,000) Marvel: Ultimate Alliance - Activision (200,000) Rapala Tournament Fishing ¿ Activision (50,000) Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam - Activision (300,000) World Series of Poker - Activision (50,000) Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 - Atari (200,000) Trauma Center: Second Opinion - Atlus Madden NFL 07 - Electronic Arts (500,000) Need for Speed: Carbon - Electronic Arts (500,000) Elebits - Konami The Ant Bully - Midway m (100,000) The Grim Adventure...

A list printed today from Gamestop that lists all the games they have in their database and their release dates.

Sony has announced the retail price of two of its Japanese PS3 launch titles, Insomniac's Resistance: Fall of Man and Sony's own Genji: Days of the Blade. Both titles will retail for 5980 yen in Japan (about 27 GBP or 50 USD) and Sony also confirmed that its upcoming dirt-racer, Motorstorm (releasing December 7 in Japan) will be sold at the same price.

Let's get the obvious out of the way first - while playing Genji: Days of the Blade we fought a giant enemy crab and flipped it on its back to attack its weak spot for massive damage. But it's obvious that the game's developer hasn't spent the time since E3 in a sulk - "Guys, we gotta work on presentation!" was apparently company head Yoshiki Okamoto's post-E3 pep talk, and it shows. Like the original game on PS2, Genji 's sequel is absolutely beautiful, with lush colors and lashings of