Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions will finally be released in Europe this October. War of the Lions is a update of the original Final Fantasy Tactics which was released on the PlayStation (PSOne). The game revolves around two characters, Duke Goltanna who fights under the banner of the Black Lion and Duke Larg who battles under the White Lion.

Although the game plays similar to the original, fans will be pleased to know that certain changes have been implemented to improve gameplay and deliver a better overall experience as compared to previous iterations in the series. The game should hit stores on October 26th 2007.

The rumors about the PS3 and XBox 360 price drop have spread across the Internet like wildfire. Information about the price drop has popped up on several websites claiming that the price drop has been confirmed. Circuit City is said to be dropping the price of the PS3 to $499 from July 15th. However, according to Reuters, Sony has no to cut the price of the PS3 at present to pep up demand and counter surging sales of Nintendo’s rival game console Wii.

“At present we have no plans [to cut the PS3 price]”, Ryoji Chubachi told Reuters in an interview.

The higher price tag has been cited as one of the main reasons the PS3 has been trailing the Wii in sales, and analysts have been widely expecting Sony to soon slash the price to increase demand.

[Via: Reuters UK]

UPDATE (6th July 2007, at 19:14):

Once again, further confirmations of the PS3 price drop are surfacing despite Ryoji Chubachi’s earlier statement. GameDaily has confirmed with “a merchandising manager at one of the world’s biggest retailers” that the price drop was true. Also, moles at both Best Buy and Target state that they too have word of a price drop. The Target mole reports that the retail chain’s inventory tracking program is listing retail for the 60GB PS3 at $499.99. And a mole at Best Buy tells us they just received their upcoming ads and that they all list the PS3 price at $499.99 as well.

Sony is obviously trying to keep the rumors under wraps to avoid loosing hardware sales. If indeed the rumors are true, we should hear from Sony next week at E3. Until then, we will keep you updated on any other developements.

The X360 and PlayStation 3 both have a hefty price tag, and that’s one of the reasons stopping gamers from purchasing them, but that could all soon change. Recent rumors suggest that some kind of price drop will be revealed at this years E3 for both consoles. The Xbox 360, currently priced at $299 (core model) and $399 (premium model) could both see a drop of $50 in price come September, during the same month that the mega-hits Project Gotham Racing 4, Mass Effect and Halo 3 debut. The PlayStation 3 on the otherhand may recieve a $100 drop in price, bringing the price of the 60GB version to $499.

There are only rumors, so lets wait and see what announcements are made next week. As for Nintendo, well, don’t expect any kind of price drop, since it is already much cheaper than the competition. We will bring you an update on this story next week.

[Via: GameDaily]

The UMD format has received a lot of criticism from both the games industry and movie industry, however, Sony isn’t going to adandon the format so easily. This stand was recently echoed by PlayStation Portable Senior Marketing Manager John Koller as he reiterated the different strengths (and weaknesses) of the format.

“UMD possesses many strengths, from size to form factor to portability. Duplication of UMDs is much easier, cheaper than cartridges. We’ve really optimized time and cost by going with a disc-based format. UMD is a unique medium to create games and developers need to understand that when tackling the system.”

He added, “There’s no question the biggest weakness is related to porting games from other platforms. Publishers are concerned about the size of UMD because they can’t cram a DVD game on to it”.

Given all these, the marketing manager explained that Sony really believes in the format and is not going to drop it. Koller shared, “We’ll never walk away from our base. Whether it’s movies or game content, third parties have an incredible opportunity to utilize it. The future of UMD is bright”.

According to Matt Brown, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment VP, “the launch of the PS3 had a had a tremendous impact on Blu-ray software sales across the board. Recent sales figures are a clear indication that the PS3 is seen as an entertainment device.” Figures announced by Sony Pictures strongly support the statement. According to the announcement, 180,000 Blu-Ray discs have been sold in Europe after experiencing a 1000 increase in sales since PS3’s launch back in March.

“Casino Royale” got special mention for being one of the biggest titles. Combining 500,000 copies given away to PS3 owners and the actual number of copies sold easily makes it the most widely distributed Blu-ray film to date.

XTREME PS3 is proud to announce the first issue of the XTREME PS3 Magazine. This is only a prototype issue to see how popular the magazine is and contains over 30 pages of content. The issue includes previews of Ninja Gaiden Sigma and GTA IV, reviews of Super Stardust HD as well as several articles related to the PS3. The magazine can be viewed on your PlayStation 3 or you can use a PC. Download it now and let us know what you think.

The magazine is viewable on the PSP but will require a lot of scrolling. Please let us know what you think of the first issue by posting comments or emailing us using the Contact Form. See below for a full summary of the issue:

• Previews:
  • Final Fantasy XIII
  • Ninja Gaiden Sigma
  • Grand Theft Auto IV
• Reviews:
  • Super Stardust HD
  • Rainbow Six: Vegas
• Features:
  • Yellow Dog Linux
  • Future of the PS3
  • Remote Play

[Download XTREME PS3 Mag Issue 1]

That time of the month has arrived! XTREME PSP Issue 25 is now available to download. The newest issue is packed with 100 pages of great content including previews of Final Fantasy I, Hot Pixel, and Transformers, reviews of Mega Man Powered Up and CRUSH, plus all the usual content. Also in the magazine is another music review, the results of our competition and a homebrew review.

Summary of Content

• Previews:
  • Final Fantasy I
  • Hot Pixel
  • Transformers: The Game
  • Star Wars Battlefront
  • Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes
• Reviews:
  • Mega Man Powered Up
  • CRUSH
  • Brooktown High: Senior Year
• Homebrew:
  • PiKey
• Music:
  • Foo Fighters

[Download XTREME PSP Mag Issue 25]

Dark_AleX is leaving the PSP Scene and as a result, 3.51 OE development has been seized. Dark_AleX’s website states that he will no longer continue developing Custom Firmware OE for the PSP because of various reasons. We were very suprised by this news since only a few days ago did Dark_AleX announce development on 3.51 OE. Dark_AleX will surely be missed because if his great contributions to the homebrew community.

Quoted from Dark_AleX’s website:

“Bye, scene.
I’ve decided to cease OE development, and leave PSP scene.
The reasons are various.
One of them is the time it consumes, which i’m losing from other things.
The other is related to my security. I didn’t like Sony menaces to PS3 hackers.
I think it is better to leave now rather than end paying the consequences.”

We would like to wish Dark_Alex good luck to whatever he decides to do in the future. Only one question remains: What will happen to the OE custom firmwares with the absence of Dark_AleX?

The recent Resistance: Fall of Man patch, which was released Friday, seems to have a bug in it. After updating the game, it is impossible to connect to the new WW servers of the game.
Numerous users are reporting across all forums boards, that after the update they cannot log into the new online server. When users try to connect they receive error: “Network Connection Failed”.

This is believed to be a bug in the recently released update. We suggest RFOM users with the game to NOT update just yet and wait for a fix if they enjoy the online play, if not go on right ahead. We are currently waiting for a fix from the Developers. We will update you on any new developments.

UPDATE (03/07/2007 at 3:54 AM):

It seems that there are no bugs with the patch. The connection error is specific to the PlayStation 3 and not the patch. If you experience connection problems please reboot your PS3 and check that you are connected to the Internet. We have tried to connect to the game server lots of times and we did not experience any problems.