Corsair unveils Vengeance gaming headsets

We had previously reported that Corsair had unveiled new gaming keyboards and mice, and not content with just those peripherals, Corsair has also announced their new set of gaming headsets, which we think ought to compliment their Vengeance keyboards and mice, and with three to choose from – Vengeance 1500, Vengeance 1300 and Vengeance 1100 – there should be something there for everybody.

The Vengeance 1500 and 1300 are the two top end models that Corsair is offering gamers. The difference between either model is that the 1500 offers support for 7.1 and 5.1 Dolby Headphone positional audio. Other than that both feature 50mm drivers and closed back earpads. Another difference is that the Vengeance 1500 connects via USB while the 1300 connects via the regular two-3.5mm jack configuration.

The Vengeance 1100 is simpler in nature and comes with 40mm drivers and a noise canceling cardioid microphone. It will also come with both USB and 3.5mm analog connectors.

The Vengeance 1500 will be priced at $99, the Vengeance 1300 at $79 and the Vengeance 1100 at $39, and similar to the Vengeance series of keyboards and mice, the headsets are expected to be made available come October 2011.
source:Ubergizmo

Sony PlayStation Vita battery life: as little as three hours on a charge

We've had plenty of QT with the Vita on the floor at TGS, but battery life is hard to judge when you can't take the device away with you. Back at our earlier hands-on in June we were told that longevity should be on a par with first-gen PSPs, which were all rated at 4-6 hours and - with the PSP-1000 - achieved around 3.5-5.5 hours in real-world tests. Now though, Sony says the Vita has just enough juice for 3-5 hours' gaming. We need to play this thing to death before we can be sure, but this does sound like a potential 15-25% drop in minimum play time. Do we care at this point? Not particularly. We're too busy salivating over this.
source:Engadget

Square Enix to bring Chrono Trigger onto iOS and Android

If you're into classic games like Street Fighter II, you will be pleased to know that Square Enix has announced their plans to bring over their classic RPG, Chrono Trigger, onto both iOS and Android devices.

The port has been talked about ever since December of last year, but it looks like the wishes of gamers everywhere has come true. It appears to be keeping true to the original game, with different endings being unlocked depending on the time you face-off against the end boss.

Unfortunately there was no mention of how much it will cost on either platform or when exactly they will be made available. In additional news, it appears that Square Enix will be launching their very own Android Marketplace on Japan's NTT DoCoMo, NDDI and Softbank, which will provide Android users in Japan access to a variety of Square Enix's titles such as Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy II, Chaos Rings, Chaos Rings Omega, and Crystal Defenders.
source:Ubergizmo

Portal available for free until September 20th

If you've been playing video games for at least the past few years, I'm pretty sure you would have heard of Portal, the highly-acclaimed puzzle game that was released way back in 2007. Well, just like its recent give away of Team Fortress 2 that happened a few months ago, Valve has decided to give Portal away for free. But unlike TF2 which Valve made free to play permanently, this giveaway will only last until September 20th.

This give away is in conjunction with its learnwithportals.com website where it attempts to boost kids' interests in physics, math, logic among other things. Sure, Portal might be more entertaining than Physics or Advanced Math in school, but that doesn't make it any less challenging to complete. While most of you probably own this game already, for those of you who don't, this is one sweet freebie that you shouldn't pass up on. Head over to learnwithportals.com for more details.
source:Ubergizmo

Sony PlayStation Vita debuts in Japan on December 17th, partnering with NTT DoCoMo for 3G

Sony's just announced in SCEJ press conference, Tokyo that the PlayStation Vita will debut in Japan on December 17th, and it'll partner with NTT DoCoMo for the console's prepaid 3G service in Japan. Customers will have two choices of connection here: 980 yen ($13) for 20 hours, and 4,980 yen ($65) for 100 hours. The first 500 units sold will come with 100 hours of prepaid 3G connectivity. Pre-orders open on October 15th. Alas, the rest of the world will still have to wait until 2012.

Capcom's Yoshinori Ono was on stage and mentioned that Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 would launch simultaneously with the console. Square Enix also announced that the PS2′s Final Fantasy X will be remastered for the PS Vita, and it'll be in PS3-like quality; sadly, there was neither date nor demonstration.
source:2DayBlog.com

Splitfish FragFX Shark 360 starts shipping for your first-person shooting pleasure

What better way to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Halo than the release of a new way to first-person shoot people on the Xbox 360? Splitfish today announced that its FragFX Shark mouse / analog stick hybrid controller device thingie is finally hitting the Microsoft console. The peripheral offers in-controller setup, customizable precision and should give you around 50 hours of play time on two AA batteries. The $80 device uses 2.4GHz wireless, but, as outlined before, requires a wired controller to get in on the action.
source:Engadget

New PSN Terms of Service Forbids Class Action Lawsuits

Sony Computer Entertainment today issued changes to the PlayStation Network's Terms of Service that seek to limit member participation in legal action against the company. These new terms are likely a direct result of the class action lawsuits brought against the company in the wake of the PlayStation Network hack that occurred in April, 2011; they require that members agree to settle legal disputes with the company via single party lawsuit only, and not as part of any class action:

Class Action Waiver.  ANY DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEEDINGS, WHETHER IN ARBITRATION OR COURT, WILL BE CONDUCTED ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT IN A CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR AS A NAMED OR UNNAMED MEMBER IN A CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, REPRESENTATIVE OR PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL LEGAL ACTION, UNLESS BOTH YOU AND THE SONY ENTITY WITH WHICH YOU HAVE A DISPUTE SPECIFICALLY AGREE TO DO SO IN WRITING FOLLOWING INITIATION OF THE ARBITRATION.  THIS PROVISION DOES NOT PRECLUDE YOUR PARTICIPATION AS A MEMBER IN A CLASS ACTION FILED ON OR BEFORE AUGUST 20, 2011.

The updated terms of service also contain acknowledgment by Sony that the requirement to foreswear participation in any class action suit filed after August 20, 2011 may not have a legal basis:

If any clause within this Section 15 (other than the Class Action Waiver clause above) is found to be illegal or unenforceable, that clause will be severed from this Section 15, and the remainder of this Section 15 will be given full force and effect.  If the Class Action

Waiver clause is found to be illegal or unenforceable, this entire Section 15 will be unenforceable, and the Dispute will be decided by a court and you and the Sony Entity you have a dispute with each agree to waive in that instance, to the fullest extent allowed by law, any trial by jury.

The new agreement is presented to all users when they login to the PlayStation Store. Members who decline to accept these changes will be removed from PSN membership and any relevant fees refunded. Members who do agree to the new terms will have 30 days to rescind their agreement to them. For a full understanding of these changes, the new terms of service have been posted in full onSony's official site.
source:2DayBlog.com

PlayStation suite SDK arriving in November

The PlayStation Suite SDK will allow developers to create one game across numerous Android-powered and Sony devices. Thursday Sony Computer Entertainment said that a software development kit (SDK) for the PlayStation Suite (PS Suite) platform will be released this November. The kit will allow developers to create content for PlayStation Certified (PS Certified) devices, hardware certified through the PS Suite license program, and for the PlayStation Vita (PS Vita) handheld console set for a Q1 2012 release.

“Supporting C# as the programming language, PS Suite SDK can run programs developed in C# on virtual machine equipped on both PS Certified devices and PS Vita. By supporting development for multiple devices and by adopting libraries to create a variety of content not only limited to games, PS Suite SDK will not only help developers save their cost in creating new content but also allow them to efficiently create their content on one SDK and without having to create on several different SDKs.”

So far the only devices that support Sony's PlayStation Suite platform are the Xperia PLAY smartphone, and Sony's two Android-powered “S” and “P” tablets. However, Nvidia has stated that it's working with Sony to bring the PlayStation platform to Tegra-equipped Android phones and tablets. So far an actual release date is unknown, but Tegra device owners may actually see a release next month.

“SCE will provide a variety of content towards these PS Certified devices from end October through PlayStation Store on PlaySation Network, starting with original PlayStation games (PS one classics),” the company said. “‘ The service will start in nine countries including Japan, United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Australia and with more countries to follow. In next spring, SCE will enhance the PS Store for PS Certified devices and provide content created by PS Suite SDK, further prevailing the world of PS Suite.”

The detailed information of Sony's PS Suite SDK, including how to download, will be announced via a dedicated PS Suite section on SCE's official website. The site currently isn't live, so stay tuned.
source:2DayBlog.com

Tokyo Game Show 2011 wrap-up

All good things must come to an end, and likewise with this year's Tokyo Game Show which wrapped up yesterday. Despite the PS Vita's dominance and the lack of newly-announced hero hardware at the show, we were still able to keep ourselves entertained with the odd peripherals here and there, alongside some very interesting exhibits both at TGS and the Amusement Machine Show next door - head past the break to humor yourselves. Alternatively, feel free to catch up on our TGS coverage while you're here (we have a list after the break as well), and don't forget to check out our awesome buddies over at Joystiq for even more gaming news.

• Nintendo launching 'Misty Pink' 3DS handheld on October 20th
• Nintendo 3DS to add 3D video capture, upgraded eShop and more
• Nintendo 3DS slide pad add-on is official, ships December 10th in Japan
• We're live from the Tokyo Game Show 2011!
• Sony PlayStation Vita debuts in Japan on December 17th, partnering with NTT DoCoMo for 3G
• Sony announces bucketload of PlayStation Vita launch games, teases PSP downloads for UMD lovers
• Sony shows off PlayStation Vita's initial setup process and user interface (video)
• Nintendo 3DS extended slide pad add-on, first hands-on
• PlayStation Suite SDK beta coming in November, offering new games in spring 2012
• PlayStation Vita's slick augmented reality demoed in Reality Fighters, we go hands-on (video)
• PlayStation Vita's Torne app pulls in live TV streams served up from a PS3
• Razer unveils arcade fightstick prototype at TGS, looks to gaming community to hammer out the details
• Visualized: PS Vita in eight unlikely colors, mockup game cards chill on the sidelines
• Sony PlayStation Vita battery life: as little as three hours on a charge
• ViviTouch haptic technology hands-on: electroactive polymer giving a 'high definition feel'

source:Engadget

Star Wars: The Old Republic is gay-friendly

Stephen Reid, BioWare's senior online community manager for Star Wars: The Old Republic, recently stated that “same gender romances with companion characters” will be added after the MMOG launches at the end of the year.

That's a seemingly 180-degree turn after the MMO's producer Cory Butler previously confirmed that the relationships will not be available to players. Even community manager Sean Dahlberg saidthat the terms “gay” and “lesbian” do not exist in the Star Wars universe. “As I have stated before, these are terms that do not exist in Star Wars. Thread closed,” Dahlberg stated.

But according to Reid, same gender romances with companion characters in Star Wars: The Old Republic will be a post-launch feature.

“Due to the design constraints of a fully voiced MMO of this scale and size, many choices had to be made as to the launch and post-launch feature set,” he said on the official SW:TOR forum. “Because The Old Republic is an MMO, the game will live on through content expansions which allow us to include content and features that could not be included at launch, including the addition of more companion characters who will have additional romance options.”

BioWare is still shooting to get the Star Wars MMO out the door by the end of the year, but there's talk that the game won't be done until early 2012. Electronic Arts CFO Eric Brown made this revelation at this year's Citi Tech Conference, echoing familiar words that PC gamers have grown accustomed to hearing since the early days of id Software's Quake: we're not done until it's done.

“We have a date set internally [for calendar Q4], with a lot of assumptions around it,” he said. “We're not done until we're done. ... We're not going to know with enough certainty to publicly announce a release date.”
source:2DayBlog.com

Dance Central Receives New Songs From Pussycat Dolls, Rupee, And Timbaland

Harmonix is ready to launch three new songs for Dance Central on September 20th, 2011. You will be able to purchase “Don't Cha” by the Pussycat Dolls (featuring Busta Rhymes), “Tempted to Touch” by Rupee, and “The Way I Are” by Timbaland (featuring Keri Hilson and D.O.E.) via the in-game store and on Xbox LIVE. Each song will be available for $2.99, or 240 Microsoft Points. [Dance Central Blog]