PSP Features

 After a long two-week absence, Shane Patterson rejoins the crew just in time to celebrate TalkRadar’s 18th birthday. With our podcast finally old enough to vote, buy cigarettes and go to the mall by itself, we briefly put aside our usual yammering for a weirdly serious talk about the ethics of software piracy.

With the possible exception of unexplainable, extraordinary inspiration, the factors which define a game’s quality are roughly quantifiable. The success of a game, however, involves slightly more chance, as the variables are less precise. When is the best time to launch a new PS3 exclusive FPS? Is there a market for fighting games on the Wii? The Western audience likes Final Fantasy – shouldn’t it like other Japanese RPGs?

North American gamers have it pretty good. We pay less for our games and often see them on store shelves earlier than our European and Oceanic counterparts. We’re spoiled, really. But despite our privileged geographic position, we always want more. We envy Japanese gamers, the ones who play the real thing on day one and don’t have to wait for the localization of highly anticipated titles like Final Fantasy XIII.

The Tokyo Game Show used to be filled with eccentric Japanese titles, destined to be locked away from all but the most hardcore collectors. Those days are over. Almost every major upcoming title on show this year was confirmed for release outside of Japan.

The buddy format: maybe it’s two mismatched cops, butting heads as they crack a tough case. Maybe it’s a feisty animal and his wiseass, backpack-dwelling chum, venturing out of a grass-green hub-world. Wherever it crops up, the formula of “two stalwart friends off on a whirlwind adventure” is the basis for good times. But for every half-dozen Samwises and Chewbaccas, you’re bound to get a Dan Quayle or two.

Numbers. Man, there must be millions of ‘em. Seems like every other game on the shelf has a number in it. Boy, I bet you could count to a hundred using just videogame titles and related items. Let’s see if I’m right.

Islands are the biggest 'get-out-of-jail-free' cards in videogame design. Firstly, they allow developers to create a defined perimeter without having to explain away invisible walls with forcefields or malaria. It also gives them license to plausibly fill said island with anything from dinosaurs to trifle. It's an island – it can be anything it needs to be.

It was playing Treasure Island Dizzy recently that became the basis for this list. The excitement of an uncharted island to explore may not have changed over the years, but its execution certainly has. Where we used to play on islands of treasure or rainbows, we now face convicts, pimps and ninjas. Both kinds have their merits, but which is best? Let's find out...

Another year, another grueling E3 experience for all involved. As press, we have to be in constant motion, reading, writing and presenting all the information that's blasted at our eyes and ears. As readers, you're tasked with digesting an ocean of content in 72 constantly updated hours. It's a hell of a ride and we're glad to be at the end, especially given the rather dismal nature of this year's show.

Instead of wasting your weekend

The whole point of E3 is for publishers and developers to show off their new games under controlled conditions. You know, to let them show them in the way they want them to be seen without journos choosing to show the flaws.

AND YET. We still get sent screenshots that look like someone deliberately picked them to make the game look bad. Look at these amazing examples of fail from this year's show

In this episode of Trailer Trash Theatre, we take a look at trailers from the new Green Lantern game, The Kings' Crusade, Ys Chronicles I & II, and... Kinectimals?! Wait, wasn't that game out a while ago already? Well, this trailer is new, but the contents inside aren't new to us - it's just more crap! Click ahead to watch the video.