Entries from September 2006 ↓

CDV has just e-mailed me some screens for, Panzer Tactics, their upcoming WWII turn-based strategy wargame for the Nintendo DS. Sounds kind of fun. Although, I am a bit sick of WWII as a setting – what would game designers do if it had not happened?

*Click Image for Full Size*

Key features:

Playable via DS Stylus, face buttons or a combination of both

Three unique campaigns (German, Russians and Western Allies) in 30 thrilling missions, including "commando" operations taking players behind enemy lines

Optional mission objectives to unlock bonus missions and other tactical enhancements

Over 20 different special attacks and 150 different land, sea and air units for all sides

Different battle animations for all units on any terrain and a wide range of special effects, explosions and weather effects

Nintendo Wi-Fi and multiplayer wireless mode with up to four players per game, along with hot-seat mode play for two-players on the same DS. A online ladder system keeps track of high scores.

10 multiplayer maps of various sizes played on 14 varied terrain types

This story has been brewing since early this afternoon! Dark_Alex and Mathieulh have released a working downgrader (downdater) for PSPs running firmware version 2.71! QJ.net has all the information you need! I'm sure now it's only a matter of time till we see a downgrader for 2.80 firmware.

I can almost hear those Sony engineers uploading the 2.81 firmware to the server…

Via QJ

*update* Here is the link to the original release site. 

Back in the beginning of August I pointed PSP Fanboy to an article on GI.biz in which Sony spokesman David Wilson acknowledged that a beta version of Gangs of London had, in fact, been leaked onto the internet. "It is not the complete game and it has anomalies in the code since it hasn't been through our QA process yet", Wilson explained.

Well, it has come to my attention that a "PSP release group" known as "psyfer" has released what they claim is the final European retail version of the game. The interesting bit is, according to the NFO, they "dumped the retail UMD of this game and it turns out to be the same as a 'beta' that was leaked onto P2P a month ago".

That brings me to my point. If the leaked beta and the retail version are the "same" what happened to the QA process Mr. Wilson was talking about? Early reviews are saying the game is just another less then stellar game for the PSP catalog (the system has far too many already). The whole thing sounds a bit fishy to me and I don't have any way to verify the groups claims but I'm sure someone out there might be able to…

*update* Added MetaCritic link.