The trailer shown at the Tokyo Game Show shows some slightly different game play, but it’s pretty much similar to what was shown at E3 2011. So if a few seconds of differences and Japanese voice acting excites you, then be my guest.

Region locking is a pain. If you ever want to import games, movies or Xenoblades, you’ll have to jump through quite a few hurdles to actually play the software. Thankfully, Sony has been kind with their latest platforms and now their upcoming platform as well.

Shuhei Yoshida,  Sony Computer Entertainment’s president of World Wide Studios, was asked on Twitter if the PlayStation Vita would be region free. Thankfully, he answered “yes.”

Now gamers can import Dream C Club and watch drunken women dance and sing without the need of a foreign system or system modifications.

PlayStation Vita will be launching December 17th in Japan, followed by a North American and European release early next year.

Finally we get some solid news on the Japanese RPG Ni No Kuni’s localization. It looks like the Level-5/Studio Ghibli collaboration’s PS3 incarnation will be making it’s way over here early next year. I was hoping that the DS version would come, but considering to play that game it requires that it comes shipped with a large manual I thought it might not happen.

The PS3 version looks absolutely gorgeous and should be a treat to play either way. You can check out a trailer for it after the jump in case you don’t know what I am talking about.

Have you been hiding under a rock for several years? Perhaps I can suggest you play the fantastic PC/Mac Puzzler Portal, because it’s free now. Atleast for the next 4 days you can pick up Portal on Steam for absolutely free. In case you don’t have Steam you can get it here and not only are you on your way to an amazing puzzler, but you also finally have the best way to buy PC games.

Portal 2 is also available for 30 dollars and just as fantastic and even funnier than the first game so if you like what you see with Portal 1 then you need to pick it up.

(Joystiq)

In a surprising announcement during Sony’s Tokyo Game Show press conference that is sure to cause much distress to Spoony fans everywhere, Sony confirmed that the PS2 game Final Fantasy X will receive a HD re-release for the PSVita and the PS3. There aren’t many details known about this (at all) other than this was done to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Final Fantasy X (Expect a HD re-release of FFXI on May 26th 2013 Oculin). While this may not be the long awaited FFVII remake that fans of the series have been waiting for a long time, this development is likely to make fans of the original game very happy.

Source: (Joystiq)

On a specification page published by Sony a couple of days before this years Tokyo Game Show (which started today), details were given surrounding the battery life of Sony’s upcoming PSVita. On the sheet it gave a range of average times depending on the application being used. For PSVita games, the system is expected to last between 3 to 5 hours, which is the same range of times given for the 3DS system when playing a 3DS game (This only applies with WiFi and Bluetooth settings turned on with the default brightness setting). When using the PSVita as a video player, the average battery life is said to be in the region of 5 hours while as a music player it reaches up to around 9 hours. Charging the PSVita from zero to full should take 2 hours 40 minutes (again, similar to the 3DS). While this is following a rather unfortunate trend in the reduction of battery life through portable consoles (A trend started by the DSi), the PSVita is building a strong lineup of games to make sure that those 3-5 hours can be used well.

Source: (Siliconera)

It’s the news some people wanted to find out about, Sony have announced what the twenty six games will be at launch, learning from the backlash at the 3DS release when the only two good games where Ridge Racer and Super Street Fighter 4.

Japan gets a hold of the next-gen portable on the 17th of December, with six games download only from the PS Store, ninteen will be downloadable or in the form of PS Vita Cards, with Ridge Racer – the working title for Namco’s latest addition to the series – yet to be confirmed in terms of distribution. The full list of games, and what genre they fit into are below – a few of the games still have Japanese-only titles, hinting they may not see release in the US and Europe.

Following his company’s press conference at the Tokyo Game Show, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata stated clearer than ever that Nintendo would not be releasing any titles on Apple and Google’s platforms.

Iwata gave this statement, almost seemingly determined to stop these questions from appearing in future interviews. He said that:

“This is absolutely not under consideration. If we did this, Nintendo would cease to be Nintendo. Having a hardware development team in-house is a major strength. It’s the duty of management to make use of those strengths. It’s probably the correct decision in the sense that the moment we started to release games on smartphones we’d make profits. However, I believe my responsibility is not to short term profits, but to Nintendo’s mid and long term competitive strength.”

After a mixed showing at TGS with the positives of confirmed release dates for the new Mario Kart and Mario’s solo adventure, as well as the negatives of that extension, is this a wise move to rule out an avenue of profits?

(Source: Nintendolife )

Celebrating The Legend of Zelda’s 25th anniversary, Nintendo has decided to give all DSi/DSiXL/3DS owners a free download of Four Swords Adventures: Anniversary Edition starting on September 28th, with the game being free until February 20th, 2012.

It’ll also have a single player mode to compliment the times you might not have anyone available to play with via wireless multiplayer. Included is a Japanese trailer after the break.

(Source: Joystiq)

The new Expansion Slide Pad(The english name will likely change, as this is a rough translation) add-on for the 3DS has been confirmed by the Big N at their big 3DS Conference earlier, as well as being priced and dated… In Japan, that is…

Well, if you live in the Land of the Rising Sun, it’ll set you back ¥1,500(or about $19) and it will be debuting on December 10th. This expansion requires 1 AA battery and adds a second circle pad and an R2 button to the 3DS, as well as acting as a grip.

As for software support, Monster Hunter Tri 3G will support it, as well as the newly announced Monster Hunter 4, Resident Evil: Revelations, Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D, Ace Combat 3D Cross Rumble, Dynasty Warriors Vs, and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. Games featuring compatibility with the accessory will display so in an icon on the box, a la Wii titles, and it looks like it’ll at least be more successful than the Wii Speak, although one of the big titles pushing that was a Monster Hunter game as well….

Moving on, Nintendo also announced a new color to the 3DS assortment: Misty Pink. It’s planned to launch in Japan on October 20th, and Nintendo of America and Nintendo UK both were in the dark about the existence of this shade of handheld, with no plans to release it anywhere else in the world anytime soon.

There’s a gallery of both the system and accessory after the jump.