Fresh after his adventures with the Titans, Crash Bandicoot is at it again! Sierra Entertainment has announced Crash Bandicoot: Mind Over Mutant, where Crash has to save his friends from Neo Cortex, who's back with a new device of ultimate evil... and can send out text messages too. Details and screenshots in the full article.

Sierra and Radical Entertainment's Crash of Titans (Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, PSP) is the fourteenth game in the Crash Bandicoot series and has quite a few novel features that fans will enjoy. The one addition that stands out the most though is Crash's new ability called "jacking."

Some of the larger enemies (titans, as they're called) can be jacked by Crash to make them do his bidding. While it may seem like a no-brainer to just keep taking over opponents, it is very important to choose the right titan for each stage. To help you make your decision, here are some facts (with screenshots) about each one:

The first enemy on the list is the Ratcicle, one of the biggest assets of Neo Cortex's mutant army. After you jack it, you gain the Freeze Punks ability which launches two ice beams that will freeze anything it hits. The unit is listed with a threat level of three out of a maximum of five making it a good all around mount. 

  

The second titan - Scorporilla - looks like a cross between a scorpion and a gorilla (duh!). Rumor has it that even Neo Cortex feels nervous when around these behemoths. While jacking one of these creatures is no easy task, it is well worth the effort. The special ability this mount gives Crash is called Ground and Pound, a move which has your new best friend pounding the island with both hands sending a dust cloud at your foes. No one will question the fact that it is rated at a threat level of four out of five.

  

The rest of the titans, their bios, and screenshots in the full article!

Buy: [Crash of the Titans (Xbox 360)]
Buy: [Crash of the Titans (Nintendo Wii)]
Buy: [Crash of the Titans (PSP)]
Buy: [Crash of the Titans (Nintendo DS]

PlayStation One updates galore for people who connect to Sony Computer Entertainment Japan's PlayStation Network. Whether over PC for your PlayStation Portable or over PlayStation 3 for your... well, PS3, SCEJ has stuffed eight more PlayStation classics on PlayStation Store shelves and offers them to nostalgic gamers.

For PS3 and PSP owners, you get Ganbare Goemon: Uchuu Kaizoku Akogingu, Memorial Series Sunsoft Volume 3, Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped (or Flying! in Japan), Blue Breaker, Popolocrois, Azito, Michinoku Hitou Koimonogatari Kai, and Shadow Tower. PS3 owners get one extra: Armored Core Project Phantasma. Almost all go for at JPY 600 (US$ 5.19) each.

To download over PC, you're going to need the PlayStation Network Downloader, which is also provided over the PC portal. The path to that same portal is provided via the Read link below, though you will not be able to avail of the service if you're not from Japan.

Crash may be the naughty and fun-loving critter that we love for most of the time, but there are times in a video game character's life when he has to stop, think seriously and take the side of the angels in a noble cause. He's set to stop Dr. Neo Cortex in Crash of the Titans on the Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStation Portable and mobile platforms later this year but before he does, he's got more important things in mind.

Crash is currently involved in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's School & Youth program which aims to raise awareness and support from America's youngsters about various blood cancers. He'll be appearing in posters, leaflets and different activities to drum up the campaign and get help where it's needed.

If you haven't heard, Crash has been part of the same movement before. Last year, the Society and Vivendi Games have joined forces in a similar plight and ended up with US$ 18 million in funds to donate to research institutions. They hope to top that this year by bringing in more kids to the scene.

Vivendi's executive vice president of Human Resources expressed the company's sense of honor in the part they are playing to fight blood diseases and said, "Crash is a bandicoot with a big heart; he’s brave, he’s loyal and he’s always ready for a good fight and a great cause. We feel this is a winning combination for a tremendous cause."

Crash Bandicoot is one of the most popular platform-type video game franchises of all time, selling more than 35 million copies of its games ever since its field day in 1996.

 

More retro joy coming from Sony as five great titles hearkening back to the PlayStation One's golden age of gaming is now confirmed of availability to its next-gen big brother and handheld little cousin. Strap on your rose-tinted goggles, it's going to be one heck of a nostalgia trip - just as soon as they get here!

For your reading convenience, here's the list of the PlayStation One titles confirmed for release on the PlayStation Store (22/06) for the UK:

• Crash Bandicoot
• Wipeout
• Medievil
• Jumping Flash
• Syphon Filter

These games *have* been released in the US since way back when, so give your European cousins some love. Who could forget the revolutionary Crash Bandicoot that ushered in a new age of platforming? Or how about Wipeout and its white-knuckled racing action of the future? And then there's some vintage slash-em-up action from Medievil, long before the world even heard of Dante. Last but not least, Syphon Filter for those of us itching for some espionage action that's not about a certain Snake for a change.

Besides these titles, there's a few updates you should take note of, too - specifically, Calling All Cars being available at the same date as the PSOne games previously mentioned. SuperStardust HD will be available seven days later (29/06). And finally, for MotorStorm fans, the promised Time Attack mode will be available later today on PSN stores.

A good haul, don't you think? Stay locked right here for more updates on PSN booty as we catch wind of them!

While reading up on POPS in the Exophase forums, we found an intriguing post by x3sphere about some new developments with emulating Resident Evil 2. According to something he found from graz68, all you had to do was change the Game ID to SLPS 01222, and the game freezing bug at the police station should disappear.

It seems that for some games, it's a simple matter of changing the Game ID to remove certain bugs. In fact, Mathieulh also chimed in with a list of games that need specific Game IDs to function properly, which you can find after the jump.

How about you? Any POPS games you're having trouble with? Maybe you should check out the list and see if you need to change the Game ID. Better yet, include your own solutions as a comment or in the QJ.Net Forums.

The Game IDs after the jump!

We've just been informed that Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) has updated the PlayStation Store. As usual, classics, as well as PlayStation 1 (PSOne) titles, are available for download alongside a couple of film and video game trailers.

Take note that the PSOne titles listed below are both playable on the PlayStation 3 (PS3) and PlayStation Portable (PSP). You can purchase them for US$ 5.99 each but PSP owners who already dl'd the games before can download them again for free. The titles are as follows:

• 2Xtreme
• Crash Bandicoot
• Destruction Derby
• Jet Moto
• Jumping Flash
• MediEvil
• Rally Cross
• Syphon Filter
• Tekken 2
• WipeOut

Also, Super Rub a Dub can now be purchased for US$ 6.99. If the previous gameplay videos and game features were still not enough for you to get this game, don't worry because there's a free starter pack/demo waiting to be downloaded as well. Gauntlet II will be representing the retro games for US$ 4.99.

Finally, here are the trailers that can be downloaded for no extra charge:

• Game Trailers: Super Stardust (HD), Rampart, and BlackSite: Area 51
• Movie trailers: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Steve-O (probably not the one from "Jackass") let us know of a clip he put up on YouTube. If there's one thing Dark_Alex's OE-B can definitely do, it's bring some decidedly dead videogame characters back to life.

Duke Nukem is a case in point. You could have raised a puppy from birth to death in the time it's taken for Duke Nukem Forever to see the light of day, and it's still not here. For all intents and purposes, the pretty alien babes he's been trying to save are now old and decrepit, and his guns fire rust instead of bullets.

Here's a video showing Steve-O playing the PS1 version of Duke Nukem: Time to Kill on his PSP. The video is kind of spotty due to the use of a camera phone, but there's enough detail to show that it really is the Duke blasting away on your handheld.

How can we be sure? He ends up dead as a doorknob at the end of the video, kinda like the rest of the franchise.

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Update: PSPMeep sent us another tip with a video of him playing Crash Bandicoot#@%!13

Like it or not, QJ has a new slogan: "We're in ur intarwebz, grabbing ur newz!" Of course, when your trained brigade of hamsters spot a couple of related webpages that have pics of the same basic idea, you know we won't pass it up.

What you see above is a picture of Sony's PlayStation Store and its first batch of PS1 games for PSP play.  As you can see, Tekken 2, arguably the most memorable Tekken in the franchise, is there, along with Gabe Logan and that blasted bandicoot. Applefiend of the E-mpire forums took the shot and also confirmed earlier news of the PS1 games' prices by mentioning that Crash Bandicoot costs US$ 5.99 to pick up.

On the NeoGAF forums, theBishop decided to try his hand at downloading Syphon Filter, the results of which you can see in the screenshots below. Some observations he mentioned were that you were actually downloading both the game and a license file to play it, and the game shows up in the memory stick area where you can find your downloads. You might want to check for specific tweaks with each game, as he noticed that they also implemented a full-fledged manual into the game and video output options for easier viewing on the handheld.

Of course, the whole thing is not without its setbacks. The file sizes are huge, ranging from 157 MB (Hot Shots) to 535 MB (Tekken 2). As for transferring and installing, theBishop says it best:

As far as the installation processes. The download went pretty quickly, and it will require the PSP to be plugged in prior to the download. Hopefully this restriction will be removed once the PS3 itself can play the games. It is clear the download is stored on the PS3 HDD, but it does not seem to be accessible from the XMB interface.

After the download is complete, there is an installation process to the PSP, which actually takes WAY too long. Clearly its doing more than just copying the file because 383MB over USB2 should be done in a few minutes. It took at least 10.

In any case, if you have both of Sony's gaming platforms, consider yourself lucky to be one of the first handful to try it out. It should be interesting to see how much mail Sony will be getting over the implementation, and whether people will like it or not. Let's just hope the criticisms and praises for their plans are constructive rather than plain old shouting and screaming.

Are you sure you can handle more PS1? Alright then. Click "Full Article" for more.