Three chances to win, just by entering.

You’ve got your tactical warfare in my shooter. Atlus introduces R-Type Command, the first-ever turned based strategy title released for the PSP. Up to two players can compete as either the human race or the ruthless Bydo empire vying to obliterate each other from the very face of the universe. Choose from over 80 different units to buy and upgrade; only effective strategies will guarantee the success of your armada in battle.

GotNext is giving away three copies of R-Type Command for the PSP. That’s not all - each lucky winner will also receive a R-Type figurine to live your their space age fantasies, courtesy of Atlus USA

To win, all you have to do is send an email with the subject header “R-Type Giveaway” to contests@got-next.com. Please be sure to include your full mailing address. Entries will be accept through 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday, June 16, 2008. Three winners will be chosen at random the next day from among the eligible entries. All winners will be notifed by e-mail. You may only enter once per mailing address. This contest is only open to residents of the United States… and Canada. See, we haven’t overlooked our pals up north. Void where prohibited.

If you have any questions about the contest, please use our contact form. GotNext reserves all rights and can cancel the giveaway, change or add to the rules as we see fit. Your information will only be used for the purposes of this contest and will be deleted upon its completion. We will never reveal any of your information to any third-parties for commercial purposes.

If you want to know more about R-Type Command, visit the official homepage and here to enjoy the demo.

High quality designs at an afforable low price.

“Handheld gaming systems and cell phones have become a big part of our everyday lives,” states Matt Witek, Co-Founder of GHskinz.com. With the increasing trend of consumers looking to add personal custom designs to their personal gadgets ranging from the Nintendo DS to the iPhone. GHSkinz has announced a new lineup of high-quality skins offered exclusively online for $4.49 a pack. Each set includes 20 different designs for each of the following systems including the PSP, DS, Wii, Xbox 360 as well as Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch.

This is the perfect solution for anyone who lacks the resources or funds to invest in custom designs that typically end up expensive. Rock Band enthusiasts should especially take note that the site features a lineup of skins and accessories including guitarOn a different note, the site also has a section dedicated to Rock Band enthusiasts, featuring a lineup of drums skins and other Rock Band related accessories including guitar stands, guitar straps, mic stands, mic covers and drum sticks.

Editor’s thoughts: The skins are actually impressive, but the designs seem to favor the females more.

I'd like to order some perspective.

It's been a good six weeks since the Echochrome demo hit the Japanese PSN marketplace and, after tweaking it six ways from Sunday, it's finally good enough for the US.  The full game is going to take just a bit longer to hit, but the demo offers the smallest taste of the puzzle-y goodness in store.

Echochrome is a game about perspective.  It tells you that what you see is what actually is, playing with the idea of 3D space as represented on a 2D screen.  A mannequin walks along a path suspended in air, but it's a broken path filled with holes, dead ends, and even a few trampolines.  Navigating Echochrome's twists and turns looks impossible at first, as the mannequin mindlessly walks forward in a straight line and only turns when coming to an edge or corner, and your only tool is the camera.  Who knew that perspective is one of the most powerful tools ever created, aside from maybe Anton Ego?

As the camera moves, parts of the path align get covered up or even seem to connect, and what you see is what's really there.  You know there's a gap but it's blocked by a column, so the mannequin cheerfully strolls past it without breaking stride.  One path is 20 feet up and 30 feet across from another, but the angle of view connects their ends so it's an easy step from one to the other without a second thought.  The paths only look like a 3D structure, and Echochrome is more than happy to use that misconception to mess with your head.

The demo is five tiny tutorials and three levels, and both the PSP and PS3 versions are available for download right this very moment.  It weighs in at a tiny 34MB, small enough that it shouldn't be too difficult to find the time to snag it.  Check it out, the demo is well worth the look.

And for those curious, check out the PC original freeware here.

I don't really care about all these hoops you seem intent on making me jump through.

Yay, the R-Type Command demo is up on the Sony store!  This makes me happy, because I've been looking forward to playing it for a while now.  So off I go to power up the PS3 and get downloading.

First off, though, it's time for a required update before I can access the Sony store.  Rolling my eyes at yet another one of these endless time-wasters, I start it up and do something else for ten minutes.  Once that's out of the way it's theoretically time for some R-Type Command.  A quick download and it's on the PS3's hard drive, and a bit of transferring over to the PSP and I'm almost good to go.

The last game I got for the PSP was Patapon, back in early March the week after it came out.  Apparently in the intervening three weeks a new update hit the PSP and now I need to take care of that.  So I set up my PSP with my home network (should have done it earlier, that one's my fault for being lazy) and get to downloading firmware upgrade 3.93.  Once that's done I plug my PSP into my PC's USB cable for a shot of power to make the update run smooth and am promptly told that's just not good enough.  The battery is "low" at 2/3 power and the juice from the USB AC hookup just isn't cutting it.  I drag my PSP into the other room where I've got the AC adaptor plugged into the wall and, finally, decide I've had enough of this.  The PSP goes back into its case and I go do something else.

This is how this story should have gone-  The R-Type Command demo was up on the Sony store and I downloaded it.  One quick transfer to the PSP later and I was playing the game.   That didn't happen, and now I just don't feel like dealing with this silly crap. 

Seriously, Sony, all I wanted to do was play a game. 

The best baseball man in the biz takes a giant risk in 2008.

I loved MLB 2K7, from its gorgeous visuals to the near-simulation-perfect gameplay (after a couple of slider adjustments) and solid pitching controls. Naturally, I expected a few tweaks here and there to 2K's followup this spring…perhaps a modified (and easier) hitting mechanic, some more nuance in the franchise mode, and even more online options.

Boy, were my expectations way off.

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