This isn't news in the sense, this is more of a wake up call to those still paying against the odds on your games. We've almost forgotten about the issue on whether you should import games or not, whether it's entirely legal to do so or not, and thirdly, whether it's less of a hassle to do so -yup, you've guessed right - or not. Well, we decided it would be good to remind you how easy it is, and explain the savings you can make. Of course, you can only do this if your console is region free (Xbox 360/PSP) or if you have a console from another region.

If you head down to Play-Asia, you can pick up Xbox 360 games that are $20 less than US retails price ($59), and remember, most Asian games are made primarily in English, so you should have no problems. Knowing this, you can profit from the information, why dont you start importing your own games and sell them to friends and family. Think, for every 2 to 4 games you buy and sell, you can purchase a new one for yourself. Remember though that in order to keep it fully legal, you have to pay all taxes and duties.

This argument has almost disappeared, ever since the large manufacturers (Microsoft, for one) started making their consoles region free. Surely this should have pushed import sales, but it seems the makers don't care that they are loosing revenue. If you want to save even more money, you could try places like eBay in international territories, so you can pick up games at new prices - discounted and even purchased at auction prices.

PSPownage has released a new game for the PSP. His game has the basis set on worms and birds, however I fail to see the resemblance in the in-game graphics. Basically your role as a worm (red square) is to dodge all the birds (blue square). Every bird you touch, your health goes down, once you reach 0 you die. Every 25 dodged birds means progression to the next level. Controls are simple, directional pad to navigate throughout the main menu, and the analog stick to move your worm around the birds.

While obviously still in its early stages, this basic game does feature some core aspects that haven't really been seen in a whole lot of homebrew games.

Installation requires you to unzip the file into the root of your memory stick so the following file configuration is met:

ms0:/PSP/GAME/Eaten/eboot.pbp
ms0:/PSP/GAME/Eaten%/eboot.pbp

Credits go to Slasher from *Team Duck* and PSPownage...

Download: [Eaten v1.0]

One of our forum posters has designed another game to add to his growing collection for PSP LUA releases. Zion has created and began work on a new RPG called Future-Resurrection. The storyline starts with a man who awakes from a coma, but realises that the world is no longer the same. In this sense it already reminds me of the hit film "28 Days Later."

The current v1.0 only allows you to move the player around the map, however he has stated that the next releases will bring it closer to a fully fledged RPG. Have a look, and let Zion know about any fixes or improvements that can be made on our forums. Please bare in mind again that this is only a beta release to show it off, and fixes are bound to come in the future.

To play this, you need Lua-player.

Download: [Future-Resurrection v1.0]

 

LostSideDead/LostJared has posted a very weird game in our forums. You assume the role of Super Stoner in a Mario style game, and as he puts it, Mario is a Super Stoner wannabee, when it comes to eating mushrooms. The idea is to blast as many wheelchair-ridden lobbyist grandma's as you can with your trusty shotgun. Here's the basis of the game:

Taking place in the year 2006, Super Stoner is found surrounded by grandma's from the planet Copyright. His aim, is to blast away as many of them as possible with his trusty shotgun.

According to the developer, Super Stoner is not Mario, instead Mario wishes he was Super Stoner. All in all, it seems this is a good old look at the war between gamers and the big corporations. Somehow the characters are stereotypes of each side, but somehow I fail to see how gamers can be classed as stoners.

The game has some entertaining potential by the looks of it, and its many features include Window's compatibility for those without a trusty handheld, 100% 1.5 firmware use, all the levels from SuperMaster 2 + 8 new ones and also a hot soundtrack from dEEp logiC.

Controls are simple:

for the PSP -
D-Pad to move
Circle to Jump
Cross to Shoot your shotgun.
Select to Pause

for Windows -
Arrow keys Move hero
A jump
S shoot

Something tells me that this is a good place to mention that the views of homebrew authors doesn't necessarily reflect the opinions of PSPUpdates and QJ.NET. ;)

Download: [SuperMasterX 0.1]
Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]

Well personally this is one of the cheapest prices I've seen for a 1GB Pro Duo Memory Stick. The internet superstore, Buy.com have a current discounted price of $35.95 for the stick, however adding to this, SanDisk have their own rebate worth $11 for this stick. This takes the overall price to $24.95. The particular model is the coloured gaming version, SDMSG-1024-A10 (pictured). The rebate form is available here, and also extends to offer you $12 off a Cruzer 512MB micro, and $13 off a 1GB CompactFlash all made by SanDisk. The rebate for Buy.com is only available till the 4th of June, so get buying!

The newly detailed Ratchet & Clank title, Size Matters, has given way for more details courtesy of SCEA. The game developed by High Impact Games, is due on the PSP during Q1 of 2007. There will be a possible 4 players via WiFi multiplayer. The sci-fi action adventure made for the PSP will feature new weaponry, gadgets, levels and further gameplay.

Ratchet's sidekick, Clank, will be featured in a leading role, which will develop the already iconic status this title has reached over its multi-million sales history. The multiplayer will be same as similar as other action adventure games, whereby up to four players can blast each other away in maps designed for action packed fun.

The story of the game begins on Ratchet & Clanks' holiday, which is unsurprisingly cut short by a new mystery. Following the trail of a kidnapped girl, they find the Technomites, who are a genius race of inventors. The plot soon thickens and danger comes their way.
 
- Ratchet & Clank feature new 'Clank' roles in their PSP debut.
- Journey the universe, full of new destinations, all within the Sci-fi based adventure game.
- All new destructive weaponry, including the Blitz Cannon, Agents of Doom and the Shrink Ray.
- All new customizable armor system, themed for gameplay, which also allows you to gain upgrades and advance through challenging action packed areas.
- Use a host of vehicles of to race and battle with enemies in a multitude of battlefields.

NBA 2007 is set to be a hot title when its release comes for both the PS3 and PSP. Officially licenced by the NBA, the next one in the series will set to include hot new game modes, mini games and a new layout. Two of the main modes include Conquest, whereby it is the players option to take a team and challenge any NBA squad from the whole country, and Pick Up mode where the user can choose the team players and go head to head in a playground style match. The many mini-modes include small games such as skee-ball, pinball and pop-a-shot. Some more notable mini games include Dodgeball, HORSE, rhythm dunk contest, ladder challenge and finally card trading modes.

For a full list of the game modes and features, check out the Full Article!

Gaming accessory company Brando has released an item which many of you action/fighting game addicts may be interested in. It's a replacement 'chunky' analog stick which enables you to fight better with more comfort. It is very similar to the product announced by Capcom to aid fighters out there. This costs $5 and comes with two replacement sticks. They are reportedly easy to fit, I'm guessing just lift the old one off, and place the new one on. The Cross-pad installation seems like it would be a bit more interesting...

There are four new gameplay video's available for viewing of Juiced: Eliminator, THQ's forthcoming release. This is a pre-E3 teaser, and shows some good gameplay together with the full HUD and sounds. It looks quite promising, and shows availability of some top cars and the tracks seem quite good for PSP standard. The game is expected to be quite a good release, following in the footsteps of similar titles like Need For Speed.

Download: [Gameplay Video's]

Bethesda has announced a contradictory statement to recent news that Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion will not be available on PSP or PS3 anytime soon, they have no plans for a format change. "At present we have no announced plans to bring Oblivion to any platforms other than PC or Xbox 360," said a representative of Bethesda. But having no "announced" plans doesn't necessarily mean it isn't in the works.

The statement was in reply to a post made by 'Snatches' on the Gaming Age Forums stating that games were due out November. He apparently sourced his information from a release list from Bethesda, and he's again replied with the statement "if this news isn't true it's because some sales idiot at Bethesda sent out incorrect info". So who do we believe, a person who could actually have some news, and seems convinced, or a company who might be trying to cover any leaked information. Stay tuned for further news on the matter.