Much beloved Gamespot editor Jeff Gerstmann was unceremoniously fired on Friday, apparently over his low-scoring review of the console title Kane & Lynch. Evidently the publisher, Eidos, was running an expensive ad campaign on the site when Gerstman’s 6.0 review was published — much to the embarassment of advertisers and the Gamespot marketing department. While Gamespot executives have niether confirmed or denied that this is in fact the case, rumors have been circulating on the web from various insiders who believe this was the real reason Gerstmann was canned.

Personally I have always associated Gerstmann with the Gamespot brand, so this news comes as a bit of a shock to me. Despite some occasional discrepancies, I always found his reviews to be thorough, informative, and fair. Hopefully he will find another employer soon, and I expect that with a resume as distinguished as his he will be fighting off the job offers over the weekend.

This episode also highlights a major difference between large corporate gaming websites and small, independent blogs like PVG. Since we rely on Adsense revenue rather than corporate sponsorship from large developers (we wish) there is no pressure to give a game a high score just because the publisher has purchased a major ad campaign. You won’t see us giving mediocre games artificially inflated scores, at least not until that dumptruck full of money that EA promised us arrives.

December; ever so cold. Not only temperature-wise, but this time around the last month of the year marks the possible start of a serious DS drought. There are a few 1st party games planned for next year, alongside a plethora of third party software we look forward to, but this winter will be a chilly, bitter one. Well, we can take some time to go back to what we missed; there are a lot of remarkable DS games that many of us missed. Let’s take a look at some note-worthy DS releases for the month of December:

Draglade – December 4: A mix of rhythm and fighting games, Draglade features multiple characters on 2D fighting environments, complete with unique weapons, items and styles of play. Create your own musical combos and press buttons alongside the beat of your ‘song’ to damage your opponent as much as possible; an interesting idea, no doubt.

Left Brain Right Brain – December 4: What seems to be yet another Brain Age rip-off could turn out quite decently. With the attractive idea of making you ambidextrous, the game offers a variety of mini-games and activities for you to play using your weak hand. Simple gameplay and design could make Left Brain Right Brain a hit with casual gamers.

Warhammer 40,000: Squad Command – December 17: The Warhammer franchise reaches the DS with a strategy turn-based game of epic battles. Engage on a story-driven single player campaign and advance through missions as you obtain new units and weapons, or jump online and enjoy battles with up to five other players, including text chat and possibly voice chat.

Everybody’s Nintendo Channel made its debut on Wii systems accross Japan today. This new channel features a number of cool additions, including the ability to recommend games to others, download gaming videos, stream demos for DS games, and check out release dates for upcoming titles. DS demos will not be downloaded directly to memory card. instead, they will stream from the system using its wifi capability, and players will need to be within game sharing range of their Wii consoles to take advantage of the trial content. Unfortunately, only Japanese gamers have access to the new content for the moment, but we are hoping that it won’t take long for this channel to make its way to other territories.

For now, there isn’t too much to get excited about in terms of downloadable DS content, either. The system currently offers a handful of Touch Generations demos and a patch for the Japanese version of Pokemon Diamond/Pearl.

Eight years and ten games after its creation, the Mario Party series hits the Nintendo DS. The franchise had been on a downhill slide in quality for a while. Mario Party 8 for the Nintendo Wii started a decent shift toward better gameplay, and thankfully the DS version does so as well. We have seen quite the amount of mini-game packages for the system, but as far as board games go Mario Party is the brand of choice, and its DS installment could very well be one of the best of the series.

Many elements of the classic Mario Party formula return. Playing as one of various Nintendo characters such as Mario, Peach, and Yoshi, you become a piece of a board game. When your turn arrives, you hit a number block and advance the specified number of spaces. When everyone has moved, a mini-game begins and one or more winners get coins. You can use this coins to buy stars, and whoever has the most stars at the end of a certain amount of turns wins the party and becomes the Super Star. You can also buy items and place traps on the board to squeeze out coins or stars out of players, or to roll two or three die consecutively, among others. Mario Party enthusiasts will feel right at home with the familiarity of things, while players new to the series won’t take long to catch up to the basics. Nicely done 3D graphics and a decent soundtrack that matches the mood of the stage or the craziness of the mini-games enhance the experience.

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OK, so you know that game where everyone sits in a circle and one person comes up with a phrase, repeats it to the person next to them, and by the time the message gets all the way around the circle it is completely garbled? Well we have something like that in DS news to share with you today. Apparently English-language gaming forum Neogaf is reporting that French gaming blog Wiiz.fr is reporting that Japanese gaming mags are saying that maybe, just maybe, Mario will be making an appearance on the DS in RPG form sometime in the future. Whew. Oh, and if this gigantic internet game of telephone is to be believed, Nintendo is also working on versions of Golden Sun and Ogre Battle for the Wii. We went directly to the (French) source and were able to translate some of the details for non-French-speaking readers:

“To start, it seems that Square Enix is considering a new DS title featuring the mustachioed plumber. Following up on its original release for the Super famicom, this game would see Super Mario RPG return on the DS. It is even hinted that during gameplay, the player will encounter various famous characters from the Final Fantasy universe.”

There is not a whole lot to lend credibility to this rumor, but what we’ve heard so far sounds intriguing. Given the stratospheric popularity of the Nintendo DS, it seems like a pretty good fit for this type of game. What’s more, the series is due for a revival. We will, of course, have more news if this rumor turns out to have some actual meat to it.

Thanks: [Wiiz.fr]

Today is a special day. Our beloved Nintendo DS turns three years old, and continues to provide countless hours of pure gaming entertainment at its finest. With over 54 million units sold worldwide, and over 500 US-released titles, the system has something for hardcore and casual gamers alike. And not just something; a whole lot. Two special edition bundles are soon to be released, rumors of yet another DS redesign continue, and a ton of games are coming in 2008. To name a few:

Fire Emblem DS

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin

Professor Layton and the Curious Village

Kirby Super Star DS

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

Dragon Quest IX

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates

Assassin’s Creed

Final Fantasy Tactics A2

Etrian Odyssey 2

Viva Piñata DS

Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games

Dragon Quest IV

And don’t forget that these are the titles we know of; surely there are many more in development, hidden from view, awaiting a glorious day to be announced and for us to giggle with excitement. Yep; 2008 will be yet another great year for the DS. Happy birthday, DS!

It’s that time of the year again. Black Friday is upon us, and our wallets are starting to panic. Hopefully you saved up; there are a ton of great deals out there, on many stores. We have compiled a list of the most impressive portable gaming offers up for grabs, from cheap games to sweet system bundles.

$3.99 and under select PSP UMD movies at GameStop / EB Games this Friday from 7am – 11am.

$9.99 Mortal Kombat Unchained (PSP), Virtua Tennis 3 (PSP), Konami Arcade Hits (DS), New York Times Crosswords (DS) and $14.99 Tony Hawk’s Project 8 (PSP), Call of Duty: Road to Victory (PSP), Full Auto 2 (PSP) Friday thru Sunday at GameStop / EB Games

Buy 2 get 1 free on all used games / accessories Friday thru Sunday at GameStop / EB Games

$9.99 Meteos Disney (DS) and Brunswick Bowling (PSP) Friday and Saturday at Toys “R” Us

$9.99 Cooking Mama (DS), GTA Liberty City Stories (PSP) and Midnight Club 3 DUB Edition (PSP) Friday and Saturday at Best Buy

Circuit City Friday / Saturday sale:
$4.99 – Guilty Gear Judgment (PSP), Bust-A-Move (PSP)
$9.99 – Napoleon Dynamite (PSP), Super Monkey Ball (DS), Sonic Rush (DS), Cooking Mama (DS)

Target: purchase any PSP system and get 5 free UMD movies: Talladega Nights, Open Season, Jumanji, Air Force One, and Casino Royale

And if for some unusual reason you don’t have a Nintendo DS, this is the perfect time to snag one of two special bundles:

We don’t expect these sweet Zelda and Nintendogs DS bundles to be limited-edition, but there are a lot of great deals on them for this upcoming weekend. Each bundle costs $149.99. Kmart stores will give you a $25 gift card with purchase, whereas Target gives you a $10 one, while Circuit City will cut $10 off the retail price. The most attractive deal, however, is offered by Best Buy. Purchase either bundle and get a free first-party starter kit (good quality accessories including a system pouch, game cases and headphones) and a free copy of the game Over the Hedge. Ignore the movie tie-in; this title is a fairly good game.

Ready. Set. Spend! Happy shopping from PVG!

Thanks: [CAG]

I am not quite sure how this escaped the attention of the mainstream gaming press, but Microsoft quietly released a new handheld gaming platform this month. We have been speculating for a long time that the company was considering entering the portable video game market. Last spring, we envisioned a device that could seamlessly take our Live Arcade games with us on the go, and perhaps even connect with the Live service for some additional connectivity features (gamertags, etc.). But later on, Microsoft faked us all out by beginning development on Viva Piñata for the competing Nintendo DS. Not the kind of behavior we would expect from a company that was planning to compete with Nintendo and Sony by releasing their own new product.

Despite the mixed messages, it is now clear that the company has been secretly developing its own handheld system, even while developing games for competitors (thus cleverly concealing their true intentions). We are here to announce that Microsoft handheld is a reality, and best of all, you can go and get your hands on it RIGHT NOW!

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People have wondered if videogames can really scare you. Not only that, but regarding portable gaming the chances decrease considerably, keeping in mind the structure of play and the limits of the system. On the DS side, Resident Evil DS and Touch the Dead have tried to creep out players, and they succeeded to some degree. If you’re familiar with the PlayStation classic or turned down by Touch the Dead’s low-res graphics, though, something is missing; a game that really feels scary. Enter Dementium: The Ward, Renegade Kid’s entry on DS survival-horror titles. With great 3D visuals and excellent atmospheric sound, Dementium is quite creepy and a great DS experience, although with some flaws here and there.

The game starts you off in an eerie blacked-out hospital. Pouring rain outside and an evacuation radio message is all you hear. Close to you is a notebook with something written on it; “Why did you do it?”. It’s up to you to find out exactly what in the world is going on, as blood trails and destroyed objects signal that something is wrong. Oh, and there’s zombies and monstrous creatures lurking around as well. Dementium does a great job of introducing its core premise right at the start, building tension and familiarizing players with the game’s controls and layout. Stylus controls change your viewing angle while the D pad or face buttons allow you to move; spot-on control system. Soon enough you find a map of the hospital and a trusty flashlight. You can easily change between available items by tapping them, and pressing either shoulder button to use them.

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Japanese gaming site Watch Impress has posted up a detailed preview of SCEJ’s upcoming “indie” PSP game, For a Hero You’re Pretty Impudent. We are way excited about this title, which has decided to go the safe route and position itself in the well-trodden and established retro-strategy-RPG-dungeon-sim genre. Wait a minute, I don’t think I’ve played one of those before…

There is, in case you haven’t guessed it, absolutely nothing conventional about this game. It exudes quirks in just about every aspect of its design, and yet still manages to somehow make a lot of sense. Basically you play as a pick-axe wielding villain, who has decided to carve an underground lair out of the rocks beneath a peaceful village. Every so often a pesky hero will rise up, gather a party, and enter your dungeon with the objective of kicking your ass. Of course, being the supreme master of the underworld that you are, you will simply sit back and laugh in the hero’s general direction until he succumbs to the hordes of monsters that have taken up residence in your cave. And that is where the strategy comes in: you won’t be able to place monsters anywhere you feel like on the map. They are attracted by certain types of soil and other monsters, so managing your dungeon’s ecosystem becomes your primary concern. Other obstacles like traps and moats can be purchased as upgrades if you kill enough of those aforementioned “heroes”.

See? I told you it all makes sense. For A Hero You’re Pretty Impudent is slated to ship in Japan on December 6th. Sony has been pretty good about bringing us English localizations of nearly every popular Japanese PSP game, so here’s hoping this one makes it to North America and Europe.

Screenshots added November 15, 2007: