IGN writes: "Imagine, if you will, an individual who thinks Tetris is a bunch of trash. Then imagine that this individual makes a game based around that opinion. While that's an extremely inaccurate way to describe the game Gomibako, there's a point nestled in there somewhere. This is Tetris in a trash can. Literally. Here at this year's Tokyo Game Show, I went hands-on with a Japanese PSN game that follows the traditional Tetris drop-down formula except you're dropping trash into some sort of container. The result? Pure confusion.
Because there were no English instructions posted anywhere, I could only assume that the point of this game is to keep the level of trash down and prevent anything from overflowing. Items are rotated in from the corner of the screen and you can use the X button to rotate them around and the Triangle button to slam them roughly into the container. The items that you'll be working with range quite widely in size and shape, including violins, teddy bears, fire hydrants, toilets, wooden horses and other such disposable knick knacks. Depending on the item, it would react differently to being dropped quickly into the bin. For example, a wooden item would shatter into pieces while a toilet would spray water everywhere."
Nofi from TheSixthAxis writes that Sony have just released their first pay-to-play game on the PlayStation Store.
Gaming is moving towards pay to play model. Started off on a small scale with paid DLCs, charging for Home Items and now with could computing coming out of the shadows, it inevitable that the industry would move to pay to play model.
I am not sure if it would be beneficial or detrimental to gaming in general though.
Sony is just days / months ahead of its competitors. I am sure Nintendo & Microsoft (and possibly Apple) would also come up with such models in the near future.
Microsoft was already looking at a pay to play model for one of its downloadable games... Unfortunately I cannot remember the game right now.
I own the full version of Trash Panic and that game is not easy. Anyone who has played it knows what I mean.
Josh Kramer: "The game is fairly expensive for a PSN title at 1500 yen (or about $15 US dollars), and that, combined with the ridiculously tough difficulty, makes it really hard to recommend. I suppose if you are absolutely dying to pick up a new puzzle game and have some extra money to spend, you could do worse. Just remember, after failing to clear Stage Five for the hundredth time in a row, be sure to throw your PS3 controller at something soft (and not your cat)."
Pros
+ Unique theme
+ Addictive, physics-based gameplay
+ Polished visuals
+ Fun multiplayer mode
+ Allows for the uploading of in-game videos directly to YouTube
Cons
- Cannot save progress in Main Mode
- Excruciatingly difficult
- Too many things to worry about in the last few stages
- Horrendously annoying title screen music
- Expensive price point
Eurogamer writes: "Rubbish is a serious business here in Japan. Every week I have to separate my empty plastic bottles from their very wrappers and caps, because they're not to be thrown out together - and that's before I sort my plastic from glass, glass from metal, food waste from non-food waste, and flicked-through copies of Famitsu from everything else (because paper has to go out unaccompanied, on Thursdays). And no, I can't just sneakily put everything out together: What would the neighbours think? How long would the friendly concierge remain friendly? Besides, the city council generously supplies its citizens with a 40-page pamphlet that explains in unnecessary detail every possible rubbish-related faux pas. I can have no excuses."