Welcome to the first entry of PadSmashing, a feature on SmashPad that features our staff heading to release parties and gaming conferences across the United States for one thing and one thing only–getting down with the get down.

Our first event?  The Final Fantasy XIII Release Party at the Regency Center in San Francisco!

Just a little while ago, the highly anticipated Final Fantasy XIII arrived in western shores.  Developed and published by the RPG masters at Square Enix, the game is ..read more

We are just hours away from the release of what is probably the biggest RPG this year.  RPG enthusiasts are expecting Final Fantasy XIII to revolutionize the genre for this era.  But while reviews, including our very own, are still coming in, the fact remains that hype for this title is high.

The hype is so high that Square Enix Public Relations officials have been doing as much as they can to feed off this attention… literally.

You may have seen it ..read more

The Ghost of Sparta makes his real debut on the PS3 to seek revenge against Zeus and the other gods that are to blame for his suffering. God of War III is the epic conclusion of Kratos’ tale of vengeance and brutality that continues the Sony’s string of very good games this spring.

God of War III continues where its predecessor left off, as the Titans are climbing to the top of Mount Olympus with the help of Kratos as ..read more

Capcom’s cult hit, Ace Attorney, has found itself a lot of fans during the DS lifespan.  Whether gamers pointed Phoenix Wright’s finger of justice or used the bracelets of truth of Apollo Justice, no other series has come with the humor and addictive gameplay the Ace Attorney games have held.  Now Capcom is trying its luck on the opposite side of the spectrum with Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth.

As its title suggests, Ace Attorney Investigations puts you in the shoes ..read more

A widespread bug on the Playstation Network that seems to be linked to the upcoming 2012 Leap Year has caused numerous problems for many PS3 owners including a 8001050F error code that seems to pop up on PS3 systems linked to the internet.  This error code allegedly causes trophy information to be corrupted (causing players to lose the ability to earn trophies in certain games) as well as erases save files and game data on certain PSN games.  Other potential ..read more

Since we are not in San Francisco for the big Nintendo Media Summit event that is going on right now, we will at least try to give you a quick summary of all of the news that is coming out of the event so you can better grasp why your spring and summer just got a lot busier.

Let’s start with third party news, shall we?

Capcom’s Monster Hunter Tri will be coming out for the Wii on April 20 ..read more

When Dante Alighieri wrote his famous Divine Comedy back in the 14th Century I bet he never imagined how shameless his poem would turn out in the present time.  Dante’s Inferno is hard to describe on its own merits mainly because it blatantly rips off one of the best action games of the past few years (God of War) with a story loosely based around the Italian poets work.  While Dante’s Inferno does have some interesting level design and combat ..read more

2K Games will be adding more multiplayer features to BioShock 2 as soon as next month with the release of the Sinclair Solutions Test Pack DLC. Among the new content will be new trials, weapon upgrades, playable characters, and higher rank levels.

Due out next month for the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3, the Sinclair Solutions will the first part in what 2K games calls “an aggressive post-launch downloadable content plan” for BioShock 2. Aggressive downloadable content plan may be an ..read more

When trying to create a dynamic story where the decisions the players make will create unique experiences for each player, very few games have come close to succeeding on that promise. Quantic Dream had a lot to prove when making those kinds of claims about Heavy Rain’s story and most of it works exactly as promised. This reinvention of the adventure genre does a great job of creating an immersive experience

Heavy Rain is a psychological thriller that stars ..read more

Back in the beginning of this month I said I would be returning to the site on a more regular basis. That goal stayed alive for about a week, when I realized cutting one job from my daily activities simply allowed the opportunity for the other to consume those newly freed hours.

I have returned to gaming since that day, though. I purchased Mass Effect 2 and sunk about 6 hours in. I like it, mostly, but also have a lot ..read more

The Shiren the Wanderer series has been around for 15 years with quite a few ports of the original Super Famicom version to the Nintendo 64, Game Boy, and DS. The latter release from Sega and Chunsoft gave the series new life so that the developers could work on this latest installment in the roguelike series for the Wii. Atlus has certainly done a better job in bringing over Shiren the Wanderer to our shores in better shape ..read more

Introversion Software’s Darwinia was a low-key release on the PC and Mac in 2005, but steadily gained critical praise and mainstream success. The next year they released Multiwinia, a real-time strategy game based on Darwinia’s gameplay. Seeing an opportunity to bring the experience to the console market, Microsoft courted Introversion to bring their games to the XBLA. The result was Darwinia+, and it’s definitely worth the download.

Darwinia+ includes the original Darwinia campaign and story, as well as the ..read more

Whenever a game has to install some data to the hard drive, you usually have to sit with a blank screen as a bar fills up or stare at a few screenshots or some sort of video while you wait for the install to finish. The ideal way to deal with those kinds of situation is to switch to the TV or find something else to do for ten minutes, but Heavy Rain offers the chance to do a little ..read more

Blizzard has recently announced that they are opening up registration for the StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty beta.  As posted on their website the beta will allow gamers to “play, test, and experience the multiplayer aspect of StarCraft II, as well as get a first look at the newly revamped Battle.net.”  Those hopeful participants should head on over to Blizzard’s official website for the game and sign up for a chance to be one of the lucky thousand or so ..read more

It’s rare that any portion of the money we spend on our games goes to anybody but the various companies involved in making and producing the game, so our interest was piqued when Zoe Mode and their non-profit publisher OneBigGame announced Chime, a non-profit game for Xbox Live Arcade. This rhythm puzzle game offers a fun experience for the 400 Microsoft points it costs with a large portion of that money going to charity.

The way Chime works is ..read more

Peter Molyneux is no stranger to confrontation when talking to gamers about his Fable franchise and it seems that he is already causing tension amongst fans with his brief glimpse at what Fable III has to offer.  Already promising a big shift for the series, Fable III looks to improve upon many of the features that Fable II itself improved, while adding many new ideas that should please fans wanting to have more control over their character’s outcome.

Probably one of ..read more

Digital download services on each of the three consoles seem to be quite a home for old-school games such as Mega Man and Castlevania, and they’ve especially been a haven for sci-fi style shooters as well.  With this, Konami has brought back Assault Heroes for the PlayStation Network.

The game was actually released on the Xbox Live Arcade a few years ago, and the only difference is that the PSN version is five bucks more expensive at $9.99.  But if you’ve ..read more

I love to get a good deal on the games I’m interested in and it’s probably safe to assume that you may be interested in those kinds of things, too. So I wanted to share with you a few deals that started this week that you might want to check out. There is also a nice set of freebies from one of EA’s classic PC series that is seeing a new installment later this year.