PLANET gaming

GameStop might be worth roughly $3.27 billion, but if reports are correct, a group of folks at a private equity firm may be considering an offer of $4.94 billion (a 33 percent raise over the current, rumor-inflated stock prices) to acquire the publicly held game retailer. The Street is reporting that the rumors of a buyout have already raised stock prices by nearly six percent to $19.86 per share since just five days ago, as of this afternoon.

Make music in your PlayStation Home space with musicality.

Have your very own home away from home in paradise in PlayStation Home's Tropical Apartment.

Offering a much more attractive alternative to the hideous licensed shirts from TapouT, geek/gamer apparel shop Splitreason is now selling this silver/blue Tekken-themed tee with Heihachi Mishima's face emblazoned in the center for $18.95.

At GDC last week, En Masse was showing off its first MMO localization effort, Tera. Those who attended the show floor might have had trouble spotting the booth from amongst the slew of other Asian-market game artwork displayed though; Tera's art style is distinctly Korean -- especially obvious if you're familiar with the likes of Lineage II -- with its long-limbed light and dark elves, and strange rock-like armor covering little-to-no body parts with protruding bits in all the most useless places. Personally, it's an aesthetic that I begrudgingly find attractive (along with the majority of Asia apparently). But whether you love or hate the art direction, a quick glimpse at the monitors stops most people in their tracks. Fact is, Tera's graphics look good for what I've come to expect from MMOs. This might be due to its use of the Unreal Engine; it just doesn't look like what I'd peg as an MMO. If it weren't for the telltale user interface, with its hit point and quick bars, I would have guessed it was some sort of fantasy action game for consoles.

Which, I suppose, wouldn't be that far off the mark. Tera has controller support (at GDC, the booth had XB360 controllers hooked up, along with mouse and keyboard for you to feel the difference), and it's probably the first MMO that I felt controlled easier with a gamepad than the good ol'M&K; set up. The reason for this is the game's combat system; rather than the usual standing-still-and-firing-off-hotkeys approach to battle, which relies primarily on a numbers game (damage versus hit points at a basic level), Tera employs an action-oriented system. Your mouse controls the camera, and the left and right mouse button fire off keybound spells or skills. Alternately, on the game pad, the camera controls via the right analog stick, with movement mapped to the left analog stick, and attacks on the face buttons.

Still, it's hard to know if EA Sports has what it takes to go up against THQ in the MMA arena. Will EA get its foot in the ring, or will it be KO'd before the fight even begins?

Gallery: EA Sports MMA (3.16.10)

VP Kevin Butler brings you the future.

Phineas and Ferb get into more hijinks on the go with their iPhone app from Disney Interactive.

Disney Interactive's popular iPhone game rolls back for another go with the sequel.

Atlus has proven to be the distributor of some of the funniest press releases we regularly receive. The party responsible for a majority of that humor, PR manager Aram Jabbari, recently stopped by Playstation.Blog HQ to give a brief video demonstration of 3D Dot Game Heroes , which you'll find posted above.

The video shows a walkthrough of one of the game's Zelda-esque dungeons and, appropriately, includes a number of irreverent jabs at 8-bit classics. Though legal reasons prevent Jabbari from naming specific games the title lampoons, he was more than happy to show off his homemade Vampire protagonist's massive sword, remarking, "I'm sure Bella will find that impressive." Oh, Aram. Don't ever change.

Rockstar Games captures the quick and desperate lifestyle of the American Western Frontier in Red Dead Redemption.

Rockstar Games captures the quick and desperate lifestyle of the American Western Frontier in Red Dead Redemption.

Disney's Breakspin breaks on iPhone and iPod Touch.

To: Ash More »

Priced at $15, Paradox Interactive's shooter is competing against the likes of Battlefield 1943 . Like DICE's shooter, the production values are impressive and highlight by colorful, animated visuals. The style is reminiscent of Team Fortress 2 , with the characters donning an almost psuedo-cel shaded look. Combined with the Wild West theme, it can oftentimes look identical to Valve's shooter.

Of course, there are far worse places to look for inspiration. In many ways, the gameplay is also similar to Team Fortress 2. There are four classes for players to choose from, and each features distinct and valuable traits. The primary difference between the four classes is their range: some classes are equipped with shotguns, best for short range fighting, while the requisite sniper is obviously equipped to handle long distances. Beyond their weapons, each class is equipped with a special ability. One can throw dynamite, while another can "mark" an enemy. (Marked enemies take twice the normal rate of damage.)

Gallery: Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West

Highlights from the seven45 Studios booth at GDC that featured the upcoming real guitar music game device.

It's safe to say few people really hated Puzzle Quest. Sure, there was some public gristling about gameplay bugs that led to A.I. cheating, but by then, it had already made its mark and wound up as a surprising smash hit, and there's little faulting that fact. Developer Infinite Interactive tried some new things in Puzzle Quest Galactrix and Puzzle Kingdoms, but now it's ready to return to the original RPG-meets-Bejeweled formula, and with the advantage of a few years to think things through, Puzzle Quest 2 seems to be on the right track, with several sound ideas thrown into the mix.

Upon first glance, PQ2 has a slightly darker/less colorful art style to go with it, and a move from the macro-view overworld map to a zoomed-in isometric look that makes the game look more like Diablo or many other classic PC RPGs (you still use a cursor and "click" on nodes as they appear, though). Your chosen character enters a town under siege, and from there, paths continue on out of town, into caves and dungeons, and so on, all from this same view.

The Legend of the Fu Manchu sets its sights on iPhone and iPod Touch.