The Final Fantasy series is a franchise that is widely known for taking chances.  The first game in the series was essentially a last attempt at a dream to make it big in the gaming industry, hence the name Final Fantasy.  In the mid 90s, Square left Nintendo in favor of Sony’s disc-based platform, the PlayStation, and revolutionized the genre again with Final Fantasy VII, a much darker Final Fantasy title that featured 3D graphics.  Then, years later on the ..read more

With Metal Slug’s arcade days behind it, SNK Playmore has the tough task of trying to figure out where the series should be headed to best serve its style of gameplay. For now, they’ve brought the series to the handhelds with Metal Slug 7 on the DS two years ago and now the PSP with a semi-enhanced port, called Metal Slug XX. While Metal Slug XX has its moments, it doesn’t really match up to any of the earliest games ..read more

Do you love God of War as much as we do? Ten times as much you say?! Well in that case, you may want in on a chance to win a free strategy guide from BradyGames. We know you’re good enough to not need it, but winning it in this contest proves your zealous devotion unmatched. Here’s the official press release:

To honor the release of one of this year’s biggest titles - God of War III on PlayStation ..read more

Taking a jab at Modern Warfare 2’s controversial Fight Against Grenade Spam video, Dice has released this PSA for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 about random grenade spam. Starring in the video is New York Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia and Private Terrence Sweetwater, one of the stars of the Bad Company series, as they continue to slam Modern Warfare 2 with this great parody video. You can find the video after the jump. The video itself features C.C. warning players against random ..read more

From time to time, Gamefly’s database is a nice way to find early hints at release dates and physical releases of games that you may not have been expecting. This latest rumor involves two of Sony’s PSN exclusives for the PSP, PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe and Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake being released on UMD at some point in the future. We reviewed the PixelJunk game when it was released last fall and Fat Princess just went gold recently, so ..read more

Battlefield has been around for a long time now and throughout the years we have seen the series evolve from standard multiplayer matches to gigantic 24 player onslaughts complete with vehicles (both land and air), various class integrations and solid campaign modes.  While the single player campaign is nothing to write home about, Bad Company 2 does exhibit a very well-tuned multiplayer component that at times can be frustrating but ultimately rewarding.

Bad Company 2’s single player is probably not the ..read more

While we’ve only seen one previous mainline game in the Shin Megami Tensei series, the latest game has quite a few familiar aspects for those of you that have played some of the spin-off series that Atlus has published over the past decade. Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey takes a lot of cues from the previous Shin Megami Tensei games and spin-offs to make for a great RPG for the DS.

Strange Journey’s story is something of a tale about the ..read more

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