PSP Previews

As we've seen in the past, it wouldn't be a system launch without the long-lived series Dynasty Warriors making an appearance. This time the ancient Chinese history/brawler mash-up is part of the inaugural PS Vita launch line-up. Does anything set this entry apart from the dozens of other Warriors games?

Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Sony Bend's take on Naughty Dog's massive license, is likely the most important game launching with the PS Vita, so we obvious grabbed it the second we had a chance. Now, we've taken the full version for a spin, and have, so far, really like what we've seen...

The Katamari series has gone pretty long without any innovation, and while it's maintained the same level of quality throughout, we really hoped that Touch My Katamari would bring something new to the table. Boy, were we happy to find out that it absolutely, totally does...

We've finally had a chance to sit down with Uncharted: Golden Abyss for a few hours and get into the story of Sony Bend's take on Naughty Dog's hit franchise. How is it? Well, check out the video above to find out…

Watching the opening cutscene of Final Fantasy Type-0, we were immediately struck by how brutal it feels compared to other Final Fantasy games – it definitely doesn't shy away from the horrors of war. From the start, there's blood everywhere as soldiers lay dead or dying on the battlefield, and we see a man stab a wounded enemy through the chest with a sword in graphic detail, making a sickeningly gory noise and blood spurts out. People die in FF games for sure, but usually not in a way that feels so real...

You know what chess needs more of? Stabbing. Over the years there have been many video gaming attempts at translating the centuries-old game of chess, but most have been fairly imperfect thanks to the limitations of artificial intelligence (at least, when super computers aren’t involved). Or maybe they just needed more violence. In Check vs Mate (formerly known as Battle vs Chess), you don’t simply get to remove a piece from the board when you capture it. It’s as if the defending rook said to the attacking knight, “why don’t you make me get off the board, punk?” The two pieces then meet face to face with a squad of friends in mortal combat...

Sony has had a tumultuous 2011 so far. Highs included LittleBigPlanet 2, Killzone 3 and all the positive buzz about its follow-up to PSP, and the lows included its hardware being hacked to the point of a total online shutdown that ended very recently. Sunnier skies seem ahead, including more concrete details on the NGP (perhaps an official name that may or may not be Vita?), plus probable appearances by Resistance 3 and Uncharted 3, we couldn’t wait to soak in Sony’s E3 press conference...

As the lights came up from Sony's pre-E3 presser in Santa Monica, you could sense how eager they were to thrust an NGP – or whatever the hell they're gonna call it – into as many people's hands as possible and spread the word. Connectivity options like 3G and wi-fi, possible carriers and price plans were not the focus. Rather, Sony made a wise move in focusing on how games will rule the ray. Case in point: Little Deviants, a collection of 30 minigames all designed to highlight different portions of the NGP's functionality...

A brown-skinned Gandhi appears with our face, complete with glasses. He's trim and muscular, unlike us. He wears a yellow trucker hat, sports a Snidely Whiplash mustache and pink-printed jacket straight out of 1991. With golden, pointy shoes in tow and a gigantic hammer to wield, our fighter steps onto a coffee-table outfitted with LED lights and proceeds to destroy a zombie fighter, while avoiding my half-filled Coke...

It's hardly surprising the meteoric success the Uncharted franchise has experienced when you think about the elements of success that go into each game: locations that include beautiful vistas, long-forgotten temples and snowy peaks, fast stop-and-pop gun play, intricate puzzle-solving, death-defying platforming and great stories with even better voice acting. With the much-anticipated third installment's release date crawling towards us, we're turning our attention to another entry in the stand-out series...