NIS releases its latest PSP RPG and we’ve got videos of the game in action.

Developed by HitMaker and published by NIS America, Dragoneer’s Aria is a tale of dragons, their protectors, and the struggle to save the world. In this PSP RPG, the balance of peace comes from six elemental dragons, worshiped by all, especially Dragoneers, elite knights who train and live to protect them.

Valen, a young academy graduate, is the hero who must fight a powerful black dragon set on destroying the world. Dragoneer’s Aria features item customization, timing-based mechanics, chain combos, dragon orbs that can be combined with weapons, and strategic turn-based combat. Besides the single-player adventure, there is also a team mode where up to 4 players can take on enemies together.

Check out the videos below for a look at some of the combat elements to Dragoneer’s Aria.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya9APFQkPP8

Summoning Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkjJoyys1v4

Dragon Skills Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYn0c5jLY5A

Guarding Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYgPzaKmIKA

So here's the deal. I've been working at my company for 9 years now, making a good living and sort of enjoying what I do. Since the company got bought this time last year, though, things have steadily gotten less interesting, more stressful, less enjoyable, and overall kind of depressing.

So I've been interviewing, and there's a new company that wants to hire me as their Director of Professional Services. A nice raise (but not an extravagant one), a longer commute (that does not involve taking the train anymore), and the ability to go back to a small software development company and make a real difference.

If I leave my current job, I'll also be forfeiting a nice annual bonus that is to be paid in November, one that will really come in handy since my wife is no longer getting a paycheck now that she's a full-time Mom.  The job offer I have now won't wait until then, or they'll continue their search. On the other hand, the new place will pay a pro-rated bonus in the first quarter of 2008, but that will be only 33% of what I would get later this year.

This is going to be the toughest decision of my life. I have less than a week to make it, and I have no idea what to do.

Achievement unlocked.

Virtual carrot on a stick, now appearing on Wii. 

The demo of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, now playable at finer gaming retailers across the USA, has brought to light a heretofore unknown feature: achievements.

As you progress through the game, tokens of various colors will be awarded based on scanning enemies, items, and lore, as well as for completing certain objectives and defeating bosses on various difficulties. These can then be redeemed in-game to unlock content. You can also receive "friend vouchers" which, when sent to friends, will award them special tokens.

While this is unlikely to become a feature of every Wii title and is probably just something Retro cooked up themselves, it is still very cool and hopefully other developers will follow suit. I'm a big fan of good achievements, especially when they are tied to unlocking in-game content. In 360 games, too often the achievement is the reward. Unlockables have slowly gone the way of the dodo with the advent of microtransactions. Most games are unlikely to give up more than a harder difficulty nowadays and sometimes even those are offered as downloads.

[via GoNintendo]

Taking the sequel into unexpected territory.

The original Condemned was a great game with a story that was more than a little vague. At the end of the game you were probably left scratching your head. The recent announcement of the movie based on the Condemned universe, The Unforgettable, may shed some light on the direction of the game's sequel.

The movie was actually first announced as Species X (no relation to the Natasha Henstridge films) before Condemned even hit the shelves and was always planned as a tie-in to the series, to be released alongside "a planned sequel to the game that will expand the universe of the original."

The weird thing is that the movie is apparently about a "war between good and evil aliens" which the first game certainly was not. Since they are still billing the film as a tie-in to the games it's looking like this alien war may feature prominently in Condemned 2: Bloodshot. While introducing aliens into a storyline that seemed to be more supernatural or psychological seems odd, at the very least this has been their plan all along.

Condemned 2 is currently scheduled to be released in February 2008 so a summer release for The Unforgettable isn't out of the question.

[Hollywood Reporter via Kotaku]

After nearly a year, a console's lifespan is unexpectedly cut short.

We all know that Microsoft gets a ton of flack when it comes to the hardware woes of the Xbox 360. Red lights and disc read errors appear to be a problem which numerous consumers throughout the globe have faced. All except me. I've owned the same console [knock on wood] since launch. Yeah, I am one of the lucky ones — it's just a matter of time I figure until the system kicks the bucket. And till this day, all of my PlayStation units have operated without any noticeable flaws. Unfortunately my beloved Wii recently decided to hang it up and isn't working correctly. The New England area has been hit with a random heatwave which ultimately lead to a few power surges. I came home to discover all electronic equipment was either shut off or in need of configurations (see: alarm clocks and microwave).

When the power surge occured, I never bothered to think about how the consoles would have been affected since I've been regularly playing with my Xbox 360 on a regular basis. But last night, my family pointed out that they couldn't play the Wii at all. Game discs can't be read, I can't access the internal settings, the Mii area or any of my Virtual Console games. So that's when I decided it was time to consult Nintendo.com's knowledge base for answers. As it turns out, the system was definitely defective, which left me with two possible solutions: a. send it back to Nintendo for repair or b. purchase a new Wii. Obviously the second option won't be happening anytime soon due to the nationwide shortage of units, not to mention that $250.00 is quite a bit to swallow. I've sent off a repair request and now it's just a matter of time before the UPS pre-paid shipping label arrives. Then I'll have to wait for 4 - 7 business days without the console, leaving my family Wii-less for the time being. (They love play the latest Mario Party and nothing else). 

It just puzzles me how the power surge only affected the Wii. All the other consoles were plugged in and they all work perfectly. Although it's my least played console in the household, it's absence from the entertainment unit will be painfully obvious — which makes me realize actually just how much I appreciate owning one when there are still so many gamers out there still waiting to get their own.