Square Enix's pre-order bonus for Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep might not be extravagant, but it is ... adhesive. Putting money down at Amazon, GameStop or Best Buy will net you the system-bestickering decals shown, in light and dark variants so as to stand out on any color scheme.

Stick Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep into and onto your PSP originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 22:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When we announced Front Mission Evolved's September 14th launch date we joked that Square Enix had neglected to check the calendar. You know, because September 14 is also "International Halo: Reach Day," a notable religious holiday. Also there's another video game coming out that day.

Now Front Mission Evolved has been pushed back two weeks, to September 28. The funny thing is, other high-profile games are arriving on that new launch date -- sometimes you just need to mecha decision, we guess.

Front Mission Evolved pushed back to September 28, 2010 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 22:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New footage of WayForward's Batman: The Brave and the Bold for Wii introduces three of Batman's brave, bold pals. Green Lantern Guy Gardner, seen here as a playable co-op character, is given many opportunities to hit things with various bludgeons, cudgels, clubs, and other heavy things created with his power ring (and his mind) -- even, at one point, encasing himself in the shape of a giant hard-light person.

Captain Marvel and Aquaman both appear in this footage as summonable partner characters, who appear to help out with a screen-clearing attack. Marvel (commonly referred to as The Big Red Cheese) uses his ability to punch stuff really hard, and Aquaman floods the entire world on demand. A bit of overkill, perhaps, but it's not The Meek and the Measured.

Continue reading See Batman's chums in action in Brave and the Bold footage

See Batman's chums in action in Brave and the Bold footage originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For those of you wondering why the Final Fantasy franchise has seemingly betrayed its roots, you're probably about to encounter some seriously mixed feelings. According to Andriasang, Square Enix recently announced Final Fantasy Legends: Hikari to Yami no Senshi (Warriors of Light and Darkness), a retro-style entry into the franchise featuring all the crystals, job systems and 2D sprites which fans of the company's classic RPGs could ever hope for.

Unfortunately, the game will be distributed episodically through Square's Final Fantasy Mobile platform for Japanese cell phones later this year. However, it is being developed by the team behind Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, which started as a mobile title before making it to the much more accessible WiiWare platform. We've got our fingers crossed that Legends will get a similar treatment.

Final Fantasy Legends announced for Japanese mobile phones originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Square Enix is remaking the original Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, for PSP, under the (non-Queen lyric!) title Tactics Ogre: Wheel of Fortune. According to Siliconera's summary of the Famitsu article announcing it, it's more than a simple port, with many of the original Quest staff returning to work on it -- including director Yasumi Matsuno, who basically disappeared after leaving Final Fantasy XII's development, only to show up as a writer for MadWorld in 2009.

Akihiko Yoshida, most recently behind the character designs forFinal Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, is doing new design work for Tactics Ogre, and composers Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata are once again providing the soundtrack. The game is being expanded and redesigned, with new characters, storyline elements, and upgrades to the battle system. The ten-on-ten battles can now support up to 12 party members against 18 enemies.

Siliconera notes that the English title "Wheel of Fortune" was trademarked in Japan, suggesting plans for an international release.

Tactics Ogre being remade for PSP by original staff originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In 2007, D3Publisher created a role-playing/Bejeweled hybrid called Puzzle Quest that took the gaming world by storm.  Puzzle Quest became famous for being ridiculously addicting and fun.  The cross-genre title had the appeal of an RPG with the replayability of a puzzle game.  On the surface, it may not have made sense, but after spending some time with it, gamers agreed that it was a blissful combination.  Three years later, the true sequel has finally arrived, but has it brought with it the elements that made the original so delightful?

For those that are unfamiliar, Puzzle Quest 2 is a quest-based game, in which you battle enemies by playing a puzzle.  The puzzle is a match-three format, and matching colors will build mana to cast spells, and matching skulls will deal direct damage.  New to the series, you can match gauntlets which you can use toward action points for attacking with your weapon.  It’s a system that may be a bit confusing at first, but after a few battles, you’ll have gotten a feel for what your optimal strategy should be.

At the very beginning, the player will choose one of four available heroes: a barbarian, a templar, a sorcerer, and an assassin.  In true RPG fashion, each of there characters has a different style that suits them best.  For instance, a barbarian may be optimized through use of melee weaponry, but an assassin may work best with poison-based attacks.  It’s really up to the player’s personal preference, but each class is well-equipped to perform the task at hand.

The visuals of Puzzle Quest 2 have received a tremendous upgrade over it’s predecessor.  While the original employed a top-down camera, Puzzle Quest 2 puts you right up by the action.  This allows you to get a better look at your surroundings and somewhat adds a more personal and engaging feel to the overworld.

One of the weaker aspects of Puzzle Quest 2 seemed to be the story.  The fact that the town needs to be saved is abundantly clear, but the nuances of the tale may be somewhat lost in translation.  I found myself running around and completing several quests for reasons that were unknown to me.  Given that RPGs thrive on their ability to tell a story, you’d think this is a crippling blow to the game.  Amazingly, it didn’t end up detracting from the overall experience even a little bit.

The reason that the lacking story doesn’t subtract from Puzzle Quest 2 is because the gameplay is just so damn addictive!  That’s really all there is to know about this game.  The RPG elements aren’t super strong, and I’m the type of guy that gets sick of Bejeweled quickly, but when the two are added together, D3Publisher and Infinite Interactive have found a formula worth capitalizing upon.  It may not completely make sense, but I know that there were several times that I said to myself “just one more quest” or “just one more battle”, and guess what?  98% of the time I was lying to myself.  So while none of the parts of the whole are particularly amazing, Puzzle Quest 2, as a sum of those parts, simply is amazing.

First and foremost, that headline is the most skin-crawlingly nerdy thing we've ever committed to virtual paper, and we write about video games professionally on a daily basis. Moving on.

In an interview with Official Nintendo Magazine (as transcribed by ZeldaDungeon), Eiji Aonuma commented on the placement of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword in the oft-speculated timeline of the franchise. More notable than the game's positioning was Aonuma's confirmation of an overarching Zelda timeline -- though he explained that it's a "confidential document" to which only "myself, Mr. Miyamoto and the director of the title" have access.

Aonuma revealed that Skyward Sword comes before Ocarina of Time in said timeline, but wouldn't comment on whether it's the first game in the chronological series. He explained, "for us to add titles to the series, we have to have a way of putting the titles before or after each other," hence the secrecy. That makes sense -- as long as they're all comfortable with the swirling, black morass of insanity that's surfaced due to their reticence.

Existence of a secret master timeline for the Zelda universe confirmed originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tired of popping slotting a disc into your PS3 every time you want to watch a streaming Netflix movie or TV show? Soon you won't have to, as the online video rental service has plans to make Netflix Instant Streaming a native PS3 application by the end of October.

In delivering his company's Q2 2010 financial results, CEO Reed Hastings stated, "Before our next [earnings] call in October, we expect to be launching a major new version of our Sony PS3 user interface which doesn't require a disc, and is dynamically updated continuously with the latest Netflix UI improvements."

So, there you have it. When contacted for comment, PS3's Hulu Plus app said that it "welcomes the competition for media streaming on PS3 ... and prime placement on the XMB."

[Thanks, Vallanthaz]

Netflix on PS3 going disc-less by October originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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G4 has a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier full of surprises in store for you at this year's Comic-Con, one of the biggest being the exclusive DVD of "Awesomer Than You." What's "Awesomer Than You?" It's G4's latest collaboration with musical genius Parry Gripp, an action packed music video with enough visual effects and wire work to put your average summer blockbuster to shame. You'll have to wait till you get to Comic-Con to buy the DVD and see Kevin and Olivia fly around and destroy each other (and a huge chunk of Los Angeles) with their super powers, but you can, and must, take a look at the behind-the-scenes preview now!

It's always a pleasure when adult film star and talented actress Sasha Grey drops in to let us know what's going on in her fabulous life of fame and glamour. That's not only because we're admirers of her work, both on the silver screen and off, but because she's just plain awesome. You know what else is awesome? These behind the-scenes photos of her on today's show. Behold them and bask in their glory!

Want to find out what Sasha Grey is up to on Entourage? Check out her interview with Kevin Pereira from today's show!