DECA SPORTS 2 released

DECA SPORTS 2 for Wii has been released at North American retail outlets today. The sequel brings 10 new sports, online multiplayer and the same gameplay that helped the original DECA SPORTS ship over two million copies worldwide. With the addition of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection online multiplayer, DECA SPORTS 2 allows players to remotely challenge other gamers across the country in tennis, ice hockey and dodge ball. The game also features diverse sports such as synchronized swimming, motorcycle road racing, speed skating, mogul skiing and darts, as well as lesser known international sports such as petanque and kendo. Gamers will also be able to design their own teams, customizing uniforms, athlete skills and their appearance.

And on a related note, Hudson Entertainment will sponsor complimentary tournaments featuring DECA SPORTS 2 at GameStop stores in San Jose, Boston and Denver. Each Deca League Challenge Event will be two separate days featuring a private weekday event exclusively for members of local Boys & Girls Clubs and a public weekend tournament where winners receive GameStop gift cards. Dates, times and locations of the events after the break:

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LittleBigPlanet and MotorStorm Coming to PSP

So, you thought the PSP was dead, eh? Or at least living on borrowed time? Not so, says Sony, especially if its recently announced 2009 lineup is any indication. According to Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Sony’s Little Handheld That Could will be chugging along uphill in 2009, as some of the most popular titles on its PlayStation 3 big brother get shrunken down for new PSP releases.

“There are a lot of big claims in the gaming industry but we’re confident when we say that 2009 is going to be an exciting year for PSP,” said Mark Hardy, European Marketing Director, SCEE. “Our fans have demanded big PSP titles and this year, we’re going to deliver again and again. With Resistance: Retribution, already on its way to stores, PSP gamers are going to get one big franchise after another.”

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DSi Gets Dated and Priced for U.S. Market

With all the different video game news that’s been coming out lately, one thing suspicious in its absence is any mention of the Nintendo DSi. Well, Nintendo can’t have any of that, so the company took this morning to finally give the U.S. market a date to mark on its calendar, as well as a price to start saving up for. In a release sent out this morning, Nintendo announced that the DSi will hit U.S. shelves on April 5th at a retail price of $169.99. For the fashion conscious gamer out there, the DSi will make its stateside arrival in black, but not white. Giving the import markets something more to salivate over, the U.S. will initially replace the white model with a new blue color.

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EA Posts Q3 Losses, Revises Game Releases

Lately, with all of the economic news I’ve been writing, I’m feeling more and more like the Crispy Gamer financial analyst. This time around, it’s Electronic Arts’ financials taking the spotlight. The publisher released its third quarter numbers for the 2009 financial year today. With all the news of layoffs at the company, and throughout the rest of the industry for that matter, I was more than a little curious to see just how EA was faring in these rough times. The answers were, well, a little mixed.

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Ghostbusters Set to Drop in June

It’s almost time to fire up the ol’ Ecto-1 again, Ghostbusters fans. Terminal Reality’s upcoming video game take on the classic comedy flicks has been lost in ethereal plane for some time now. First, the game was set to come out last year via a publishing deal with Activision. The game even got a huge push from the publisher at Comic-Con International in San Diego. Then, in the wake of the massive Activision/Blizzard merger, the game was surprisingly cut from the Activision lineup. Eventually, it ended up with a new home over at Atari, but with no firm release on the calendar other than sometime in 2009.

That all changed yesterday, though the news didn’t come out of Atari, but rather Sony Pictures, who is gearing up for the 25th anniversary of the Ghostbusters film debut. In a release sent out yesterday, Sony Pictures announced plans to bring the film to hi-def Blu-ray on the week of June 16th. The Blu-ray disc will be released, according to Sony Pictures, in time with the “simultaneous launch of Ghostbusters: The Video Game, the highly anticipated videogame from Atari, celebrates the film’s 25th anniversary, with an all-new adventure from by the film’s original writers.”

“This great franchise is one of the crown jewels in the studio’s library,” said Lexine Wong, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s Senior Executive Vice President, Worldwide Marketing. “With Ghostbusters 25th anniversary upon us and the forthcoming release of an eagerly anticipated new video game, this is the perfect opportunity to release this exciting new edition on Blu-ray Disc.”

So, come the week of June 16th, gamers will finally get their hands on Ghostbusters, and both Activision and Atari will know for sure just how smart it was to cast off and pick up the eagerly anticipated title. For fans, all they’ll have to remember is “Don’t cross the streams!”