Gameshastra, the Hyderabad-based company which developed Desi Adda, will make their debut on Sony’s PlayStation Store, with the game ‘Cart Kings’ making them the first Indian company to do so. This move boosts GameShastra’s role as one of Sony’s major partner in India.

The relationship encompasses innovation and delivery of new downloadable games by GameShastra to Sony consumers worldwide which include Desi Adda for PlayStation2 , PSP and Eklavya (under development) for PlayStation 3 platform.

The company is also expanding their studio in Hyderabad, in particularly their development team of designers, artists, animators, developers and QA specialists. It has also established a new game design studio in Hyderabad to accelerate this growth plan and cater to the growing demand of its services worldwide. This facility has the capacity to accommodate 1000+ associates – making it one of the largest Game Studios in South Asia.

With the launch it’s clear that Gameshastra and Sony are targetting Indian diaspora rather than resident Indians as Playstation Store is not accessible in India by default (there are work arounds).  The launch could also mean that Sony will open up their stores in India sooner or later considering the competition they’re facing from Microsoft despite slashing down price of PS3.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Sony starts bundling Gameshastra’s under-development game, Eklavya, along with PS3 when it launches. Sony is already bundling Desi Adda and Human Boy Warrior with PS2 in India.

Good news, you don’t need to connect your PS3 to a PC any longer to record your PS3 gameplay footage. Just Cause 2 for PS3 comes equipped with this feature baked into the game. And like in Spore, you can upload the videos directly to youtube from the game.

From the press release:

The in-game menu has a 10 minute capture feature which allows players to create more detailed and planned presentations. Gamers will be able to capture and share in-game mission walkthroughs, create online speed-run competitions, direct their own South East Asian-inspired Machinima and more, with the best YouTube videos linked from the official website allowing users to vote on their favourites, with prizes awarded for the best of the best.

Just Cause 2’s video capture and upload feature will be available exclusively for the PlayStation3 computer entertainment system. Just Cause 2 will also ship for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Games for Windows and will be released under the EIDOS brand portfolio. All formats will release in-stores on March 23rd, 2010, in North America and March 26th, 2010, in Europe, Middle East, and Australasia.

The game will be released in India on March 26 by e-Xpress Interactive.

Now the big question why can’t Xbox360 users capture and upload video?

Hope you’re enjoying playing as the cape crusader. Don’t worry about being jobless once you play through the game in a hurry. Eidos has announced that a map pack – Insane Night Map Pack – of the game will be available on September 17 for PS3, Xbox360 and PC.

In the ‘Totally Insane’ FreeFlow Combat map, players will be tested to their fullest as scores of escaped lunatics bear down upon Batman as they make their escape through the asylum’s secure records facility.

These fast-moving foes will challenge all but the most practiced players, with quick reactions and expert timing needed to fend off wave upon wave of insane inmates, bent on taking down the Dark Knight.

In the ‘Nocturnal Hunter’ Invisible Predator map, players take on a wholly different approach, practicing their predatory skills to remain in the shadows, utilizing the Arkham watchtowers and Batman’s arsenal of gadgets to gain the upper hand on The Joker’s army of goons patrolling below.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is rated “T” and is available for PS3 and Xbox 360 for the suggested retail price of $59.99. It will also be available for Games for Windows LIVE at retail outlets for the suggested retail price of $49.99 on September 15. For more information, please visit www.batmanarkhamasylum.com.

Following announcements of drop in prices of PS3 by $100 at Gamescom yesterday, the price of the 80GB version of the console has been dropped by 20% to Rs19,990 in India. Hold on, the good news doesn’t end there, it will come bundled with Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and GT5 Prologue.

These are just the steps India needs to boost sale of the console which looked over-priced in comparison to Xbox360 Arcade selling for around Rs16-17K and Wii selling for Rs21K.

No news on the release dates of PS3 slim in India as yet, but hopefully it will happen at the same time as it happens internationally. (September 1)

Just as it was rumoured, at Gamescom, Sony has cut the prices by $100 for 80GB PS3 to $299 and 160GB model to $399 from $499.

The price cut was inevitable with Microsoft and Nintendo reducing the prices of their console periodically making Sony models look twice as costly. Recently Microsoft phased out Pro console which made their line-up look cheaper.

Another thing to be noted is that this models with reduced models are not PS3 slim, but the old models of PS3. Some suspect this of being a clearance sale despite the fact that PS3 slim was launched. Yet another of the shrewd pricing tactics from Sony?

Sony has a history of pricing up their goods despite bringing down the production cost. Their latest, PSP GO according to many sources is much cheaper to produce but is priced almost as costly as an Xbox360. The previous avatar of PSP was selling for around Rs9.5K in India.

SLIM LAUNCHED

PS3 slim meanwhile will be available from September and the 120GB version of Slim will be selling for $299, the price at which the old 80GB model will be sold at. So will you wait for a month or two more and buy a Slim or jump the gun and buy a cheaper model of the bulky PS3? You decide

HOW ABOUT YOU NINTENDO?

Now that MS cut the prices and Sony followed, it’s Nintendo’s turn to cut prices. Their console Wii now sells at $250 while Arcade sells for $200. With competition edging closer Nintendo has to make their low spec console much cheaper or else juice it up, make it HD compatible and re-launch it.

Sony’s LittleBigPlanet got everything right from the beginning. It created buzz before it  was launched, was received with great reviews, was praised by gamers for the intuitive gameplay and became modders new playground. One chap even proposed to his girlfriend through a modded level he created within the game.

The latest news is that the developers are working on other games based on the character. The one under development is Sackboy Kart Racing.

So why did I compare him to Mario? Well like Mario, Sackboy is…

…cute don’t know about cuddly

…loved by girls

…easy to play. Not too complicated

…being featured in a kart racing game (remember Mario Kart?)

Any other similarities folks?

What do you get if you bake a 60GB PS3? Check the video to find out

Warning its a really long video

(via: engadget)

Sony recently said that it has 20million users on its Playstation Network, 2 years and 3 months since it launched. Microsoft, definitely hates being beaten down by figures..

According to Sony’s own figures, the number of accounts reached 5 million in 14 months, 10 million in 20 months and passed the 20 million mark after 2 years and 3 months from the service’s launch in November 2006.

Immedietly after the story came up, UK chief of MS Gaming division, Stephen McGill comes out and questions Sony’s figures.

“All I’m really worried about is, I know I’m the largest online video on demand service in the UK, we are worldwide, we’ve got a great online service the others can’t come close to. They’re not right now. When you think of our heritage as a company Microsoft has proven we are probably the only company in the world that can offer great online experiences for millions and millions and millions of people. And that’s what we do every day with Xbox LIVE.”

The dude definitely has a point! This means Sony’ figures might include multiple accounts, inactive ones among others. Well that’s such assumption Sony hasn’t released in-depth figures as yet. Nor will they considering the trouble they are facing to sell-off PS3s around the world.

According to Fudzilla, then MS might no longer bring out its Xbox Elite edition. Elites priced at $400 is currently one of the costliest consoles in the market along with PS3. However with a rumour of PS3 price drops Elite might soon live upto its name!

The story that we are hearing goes something like this… Microsoft will stop taking orders for the Xbox 360 Elite at some point during the second quarter and allow inventory of the Elite consoles to start to run down. The majority of retailers would prefer just a low-end and a high-end console, so this change will be made during the second quarter, which is the fourth fiscal quarter for Microsoft.

Once inventory is depleted, the Elite system will move to more of a limited edition role that will be available only at select retailers, and likely only in North America and Europe. The Elite consoles that will be available in these areas sbould be more like the recent Resident Evil 5 Red Elite Limited Edition console, rather than the standard Elite package that Microsoft has offered in the past. 

It is possible that the price tag on these Elite limited edition consoles could be higher, but they will be themed and likely include a top shelf title like Microsoft is doing with the Resident Evil 5 Red Elite Limited Edition console.

Well this looks like Microsofts idea of milking an old cow. Create artificial shortage.. make them look rare. Sell at a higher price later on.. But hey ain’t that illegal?

I have always been a big fan of God of War series. It remains one of the most classic games ever brought out on PlayStation. The third installment which was previewed by Kotaku might change the fortunes of PlayStation 3 which has lacked a games which can make the console sell.

Not only does the game have better graphics, it also packs in new weapons for Kratos while keeping the good ol’ arm blades intact. He also has some slick new moves.

Meanwhile do check out a preview video (ehm… not in-game video – booo!) posted by Kotaku again. Might make you want to get a PS3, if you don’t have one already!

PS: India based Paprikas studio worked on the animation till now in God of War series. No idea if they did it for God of War III as well.