Skip to main content

Jetsetter: Mega Man’s daddy Keiji Inafune comes to PlayStation Vita, Angry Birds makes Rovio Finland’s favorites

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Welcome back to Jetsetter, Digital Trends’ weekly look at the international gaming scene. The United States is the biggest game market in the world by a wide margin. Given how many games are made to suit the American palette—Call of Duty and Madden NFL just to name two—it’s sometimes hard to remember that there are 6.7 billion people beyond our borders making and playing games. Jetsetter is here to give you the tiniest glimpse into the immensity that is gaming in the other 195 countries covering the planet Earth.

Jetsetter is also intended as an open dialogue. If you’re in Polynesia and your next door neighbor is cooking up some sweet Nintendo DS homebrew game, let us know in the comments section below. Anything you want to tell us, any feedback at all, will only make the column better so hit us up or hit me up on Twitter at @ajohnagnello.

Recommended Videos

* Keiji Inafune brings Soul Sacrifice to PlayStation Vita.

The former head of Capcom Japan and creator of Mega Man Keiji Inafune is getting back in the business of making games absurd violence. Japanese video game magazine Famitsu announced his new game Soul Sacrifice in its Wednesday issue. A collaboration with Marvelous AQL (the company behind the never-ending Harvest Moon series), Soul Sacrifice is a multiplayer action game where you have to sacrifice things to cast spells. What kind of things? Trees, magic rocks, that sort of thing. The juicy spells though, those need you to give up a body part. Gross. More than one Japanese all star is helping on Soul Sacrifice. Joining Mr. Inafune is Yasunori Mitsuda, the composer behind Chrono Trigger and other great RPGs, will be handling the soundtrack.

* United Kingdom begins parliamentary procedure to adopt PEGI rating system.

While the US uses just the Entertainment Software Ratings Board’s system for age rating video games, the UK has to date used two. Most commercially made games use Video Standards Council’s PEGI system. Games featuring sexual content meanwhile come under the jurisdiction of the BBFC. After a two-year-long process though, PEGI will become the sole classification system for games in the UK. Only games that receive an R18, meaning it’s extra baudy, will receive classification from the BBFC going forward. PEGI has been, by and large, as reliable as the ESRB. The UK is nowhere near as stringent as Australia or Germany when it comes to refusing classification for games. 

*Rovio celebrates Angry Birds’ 1 billion download milestone.

Hooray for Finland’s favorite sons, Rovio. Angry Birds, the ubiquitous mobile phone game series that made Rovio into one of the most profitable game studios on the planet, has been downloaded 1 billion times across all different versions including the recently released Angry Birds Space. Rovio’s terrifying little game and the ocean of merchandise that surrounds it earned the studio just under $100 million in revenue last year. Good for Finland! It’s nice that they have a super power in the mobile business considering Nokia’s pretty much done for.

Anthony John Agnello
Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…
Is NBA 2K26 cross-platform?
A basketball character with a sweatband.

Football fans have the Madden games, baseball fans have MLB The Show, and basketball fans wait every year for the new NBA 2K entry. This year, we have NBA 2K26 with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Angel Reese, and Carmelo Anthony each appearing as the cover athlete on the various editions of the game. All the classic modes are back, including MyCAREER, MyTeam, MyNBA, The W, and more, but the big question is if you can play online with friends on other platforms like you can with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4, or is it limited like Madden NFL 26? Before you rush the hoop and grab NBA 2K26, I'm calling a timeout to fill you in on all the cross-platform details.

Is NBA 2K26 cross-platform?

Read more
3 PlayStation Plus games to play this weekend (July 11-13)
V rides a motorcycle while shooting at a mech in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty.

After last week hit us with an amazing lineup of PlayStation Plus Essential games, we have a small but agonizing wait to see what the next batch of Extra and Premium games will be for July. However, I know you haven't played every game in the catalogue yet, and I was able to hand-pick three games that seem like surefire hits for this weekend. One is an easy, major release that was just added this week as a surprise bonus game, but the other two are hidden gems that you might be craving right about now. Let's dive into the games so you have a good excuse to stay inside this weekend.

A Hat in Time

Read more
3 new Game Pass games to play this weekend (July 11-13)
tony-hawks-pro-skater-3-4-rio-nora-zion

We're officially in the throes of summer and, depending on where you live, suffering through the incredible heat. While I always think it's good to get out and enjoy the summer, there's a limit on how much sun we can take and need to head inside to relax with some cool Game Pass games. I'm especially excited for this weekend because there's one game here that not only screams summer, but also tickles that nostalgic part of my brain. I think even newcomers will love that pick, but I always throw in two other options just in case you're looking for something a bit different. Make sure you check out my last pick because I know you've never heard of it, and it might just be your weekend obsession.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4

Read more